If you are lucky enough, you may have landed yourself a pretty comfortable job with some great benefits provided by the company. When we are job hunting, we are always looking for a company that can offer us more for our work. On a very basic level, you expect to get free dental care and insurance, as these little things make your life a bit easier.
If you are in a position where you have a lot of experience and a higher education degree, you can be expected to be offered more by the company that you work for. One of the most popular benefits that companies offer valued employees is a company car. A company car is a car that is paid for and insured by a company and it is not something that is often offered to employees.
If you have been offered the chance to get one of these cars, on first thought you may think it is an obvious decision. However, if you put some thought into it, then you may decide to accept a company car. To help you with your decision, here are some of the pros and cons of owning a business car.
Pros – Save a Lot of Money
As you are probably well aware, getting your very own car can be incredibly expensive. Not only do you have to cover the cost of the car, but you have to think about the cost of insurance and that can really stack up. The younger you are, the more expensive these costs are and so it can be incredibly off-putting. By getting a company car, they will be covering all of these costs for you.
Cons – Extra Responsibility
Owning a company car may be good, but it does come with a lot of responsibility. If you bought a car and crashed it, the only person that could be mad at you is yourself. However, if you happen to crash the company car, they may question whether or not you are responsible enough for the business. Looking after a car takes a lot of maintenance. For example, if you are lucky enough to receive an RV from your company, there are a lot of things you will have to buy to maintain it. For example, you will need to buy an RV cover which may be expensive. You may be wondering why you need to buy an RV cover, well a cover protects it from the elements and increases the lifespan of the vehicle.
Pros – Getting to Work is Easier
If you are someone that is able to drive, but you cannot currently afford to drive, something that you likely have to do is depend on public transport. As you know, public transport can be incredibly unreliable and it is likely that you have been late at least once because of it. If you were to get a company car, then you wouldn’t have to deal with public transport and it would make you much more likely to get to work on time.
Cons – Cost of Fuel
Though your company may cover the cost of the car and your insurance, it is likely that you are going to have to cover the cost of fuel on your own. As you have probably noticed recently, the cost of fuel has increased all around the world. Filling your car up costs almost double what it used to cost and you can expect to sink a lot of money into the cost of fuel, especially if you are using the car to travel to and from work every single day.
Pros – Less Unexpected Costs
If you own a car of your own, anything can happen at any point. You may pop a tire or you may even need to repair your brakes. These unexpected costs can hit you hard if you are not in the best financial position, but you will be glad to know that if you have a company car, then it is their responsibility to cover any of the costs that you may have. If they are covering the costs, then this means that there are fewer unexpected costs that you have to deal with and you can invest this saved money into other aspects of your life.