Fleet Fuel Cards For Your Leased and Purchased Business Vehicles
Andy West
April 12, 2011
If you are looking to decide if it makes sense lease or buy a vehicle for your business, you may want to look at the fleet fuel cards you are using. You may be able to get certain discounts on makes and models of vehicles if the card you are using is associated with a particular manufacturer. If that is the case, you may want to look at how it is associated and what kind of discounts the card company would provide to you. Think about all of the different types of cards you could be carrying and look at the options that they offer as well. You may want to switch cards as well if you can find a way to get the discounts you are looking to get.
Once you have investigated to see what types of offers you can get through your fleet fuel cards, you will need to determine if it is best to buy or lease the vehicles you are using. There are pros and cons to both of these as you can have major drawbacks and incentives for going either way. The biggest drawback on a lease is the limited mileage you have to use when you are leasing a vehicle. However, that depends on how much driving is being done by the person who is using the car. If you set limits and only allow the car to be used for company business you will have a good idea of the necessary mileage and whether or not you will go over or under the usage.
If you are to buy the car, you will have the car to either keep or trade in for a new one when the time comes. There will be no limit and you will not need to turn it in after a certain period of time. However, you will not have the privilege of updating your cars every few years as the lease would dictate. These are things you need to look at and consider as well. You will also want to think about how you are going to pay for these vehicles. Buying the car does have advantages as you can modify it as you like and not have to worry about extra costs on the lease trade in since you will not need to change the vehicle back to its original condition before you have to give it back.
One consideration is to use the fleet card to pay for the lease and or car payment you will have on the vehicles. This will allow for the proper tracking of all business expenses in relation to the vehicle. This is not to say that you would not keep track of the records, however it will keep all expenses related to the vehicles your company uses in one bill. This can be beneficial for tax purposes as well as when trying to determine when you will want to trade it in. you will be able to track all of the repairs done to the vehicle. As they become more prevalent and frequent you will want to look at all of the options and consider trading in or buying a new vehicle for your business.
Choose whichever the more economical choice is for you. You need to decide if it makes more sense to spend the money every three to five years to get a new car and have nothing to show for it or if you are going to go and buy a vehicle. Incorporate your fleet fuel cards into your decision to see if you will get any discount for the choice you make.
Once you have investigated to see what types of offers you can get through your fleet fuel cards, you will need to determine if it is best to buy or lease the vehicles you are using. There are pros and cons to both of these as you can have major drawbacks and incentives for going either way. The biggest drawback on a lease is the limited mileage you have to use when you are leasing a vehicle. However, that depends on how much driving is being done by the person who is using the car. If you set limits and only allow the car to be used for company business you will have a good idea of the necessary mileage and whether or not you will go over or under the usage.
If you are to buy the car, you will have the car to either keep or trade in for a new one when the time comes. There will be no limit and you will not need to turn it in after a certain period of time. However, you will not have the privilege of updating your cars every few years as the lease would dictate. These are things you need to look at and consider as well. You will also want to think about how you are going to pay for these vehicles. Buying the car does have advantages as you can modify it as you like and not have to worry about extra costs on the lease trade in since you will not need to change the vehicle back to its original condition before you have to give it back.
One consideration is to use the fleet card to pay for the lease and or car payment you will have on the vehicles. This will allow for the proper tracking of all business expenses in relation to the vehicle. This is not to say that you would not keep track of the records, however it will keep all expenses related to the vehicles your company uses in one bill. This can be beneficial for tax purposes as well as when trying to determine when you will want to trade it in. you will be able to track all of the repairs done to the vehicle. As they become more prevalent and frequent you will want to look at all of the options and consider trading in or buying a new vehicle for your business.
Choose whichever the more economical choice is for you. You need to decide if it makes more sense to spend the money every three to five years to get a new car and have nothing to show for it or if you are going to go and buy a vehicle. Incorporate your fleet fuel cards into your decision to see if you will get any discount for the choice you make.
Print
Email
