When showrooms will tentatively start opening again shortly, it does seem harsh insisting that she makes a decision without even having sat in the vehicles. Can she apply some pressure to defer the choice even by a couple of weeks?
Our company scheme is run by Lex Autolease and aside from vehicles for key workers, they’re not placing any new vehicle orders at the moment. Depending on how her scheme works, it could be the same, in which case she should be allowed more time. I think she needs to push past the admin person who has sent the list and understand whether she can have more time.
Assuming she can agree more time, it’s worth establishing whether her scheme ‘supports’ test drives. For example, Lex allow two test drives (the manufacturer provides a vehicle from their demo fleet, delivered to your door). Previous employer used Hitachi Capital. No test drives there, leaving you to try to scrounge a test drive locally when you knew you weren’t going to be buying!
In terms of minimising BIK liability, it’s surprising not to see any PHEVs on the list. Typically, this reduces tax to around 10%-14%. Most of the vehicles on the list will be (I’d guess) in the mid to high 20s, which if she’s a higher rate tax payer could make £,£££s of difference to her take home pay.
Also worth understanding how they reimburse the fuel for business mileage. If they use the HMRC AFR method, check the engine size, as a 2-3 pence difference in reimbursement could make a fair difference over 20,000 miles.
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