"NY" wrote:
"Recliner" wrote in message
...
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 18 Feb 2015 16:43:05 +0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

BevanPrice wrote:
On 18/02/2015 08:57, Recliner wrote:
It is all too easy for some affluent traffic manager, sat in her/his
plush office, or chauffeur driven Rolls, to claim "they can carry more
passengers", neglecting to mention that more of you will have less
comfortable journeys.

I don't think any TfL managers have chauffeur-driven Royces, and I don't
suppose many have more modest company cars either. But they're well aware
that Amersham is in Herts, well outside Greater London, and so isn't a high
priority. There aren't any votes for the London mayor in Amersham and
Chesham.

Company cars in LT / TfL were scrapped many years ago. In fact just at
the time I reached a grade when I was entitled to have one! It was a
very sensible move so my nose wasn't out of joint as a result of the
policy change.

These days, perk company cars aren't much of a benefit, now that they don't
have the tax advantages they once had.

The problem with company cars was that you were often told what car you
would get - you had no choice in the matter. The company that my dad
worked for was apparently unusual in that you could have any car with a
list price up to that of a specified grade of Cortina.

Some companies only allowed you to use the car for business use, which
meant you still had to buy a car of your own to use for shopping,
holidays and other private use, so it was no perk at all: the sole
benefit of it was that you didn't put as much mileage on your own car.

At management level, there was usually a lot more freedom. I had company
cars for 17 years before becoming self-employed, and in every case I got
them from new, built to my choice of spec and colour. For example, for my
second company car I chose an Alfa Romeo Guilietta (the old, rear-drive
version), hardly a stereotypical company car at the time (and the only one
in the company). And later, when my director colleagues mostly opted for
Jaguar XJs, I went for a big-engined BMW 5-Series (ironically, I now own a
Jaguar XJ, bought privately after I retired, as I prefer the aluminium
bodied Jags to current BMWs).

The limit was on the leasing cost, not the price, and the benefit was
untaxed back then. In every case, I was free to use it for private as well
as business purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't
recall there being any mileage limits, either. Nowadays, with the benefit
in kind tax rules, people are much less likely to choose an expensive car.