So....
I posted here a while ago wondering if I should purchase a used car or take my company car.... well the stakes just got a bit higher.
The used car I bought about four months ago has blown the transmission and the quote is too high to be worth it.
I have the option of taking a company car.... Here are the facts:
My Car:
Cost me about $3200 four months ago. No warranty. Got really great gas mileage, which I loved (+50mpg) because I drive a lot (pet sitting/tutoring).
Company Car:
Large repairs, registration, insurance paid by company
Oil Changes, small repairs (think sub $100, although this is not specified in the policy, it just says "regular maintenance), and inspection covered by me.
I would be required to reimburse the company $0.22/mile for personal use. To/From work is considered personal use.
Ideas/extra info:
>We have a fleet of older vehicles that are maintained by me and loaned out when staff who have assigned vehicles need to borrow a car while theirs is in the shop, etc. I could probably "float" in this fleet and just use whatever is available. This would eliminate the regular maint. needing to be paid by me, as they are maintained on a rotation and it's part of my teams budget. I would still need to reimburse for personal mileage... and be sure to transfer my apartment tag back/forth between cars as ONE slip up and my complex 100% will tow the car if I park it in the lot without the tag.
>I could take one of the company cars that gets "ok" gas mileage and that would just be MY car and I'd suck it up and pay for maintenance.
My car, as-is, could probably sell for about $1,000 - as it has a fairly new bumblebee hybrid battery in it and the interior/shell is FLAWLESS. It's a 1st Gen Honda Insight, so it's got a bit of a cult following and should sell- I hope.
>I have about $1200 in my emergency car savings account. This would get me a pretty crappy used car, or MAYBE I could buy one of our older fleet cars for $800 and throw $300-$300 into it to get it to run. But the one I am thinking we are about to sell only gets 19mpg... YIKES.
>If I calculate/estimate that I drive 15k miles/year that is $3,300 I'll pay out to the company, not counting oil changes, etc. (maybe estimating those at maybe $150-$300/yr)
>I currently pay $368/yr for liability insurance.
Ideas? Input? Suggestions? Need more info?
I am admittedly feeling panicked... I had a trip planned for later this month and was really looking forward to it-- now my reimbursement for it (if I used a company car) would be $275 as opposed to just the gas + wear and tear on my own car.
My 5-year plan, if it's helpful to know: I plan to stay with this company for another year or two, and then request to work remotely and move 12 hours away back to my hometown where I have a good support system and cost of living is very low.
