What You Should Be Looking For In A Company Car

More and more businesses are making use of company cars, allowing them the flexibility of ensuring that their people get to where they need to go, whether it’s attending trade shows, visiting clients, or carrying out services on the road. However, before you make the big investment that any vehicle will need, you need to think about what kind of car is going to suit your company, first. Here, we’ll look at some of the factors you should be thinking about.

Cost of running

As with any investment, you should be thinking about how to manage the costs of your car. There are a few elements that go into affordability beyond the sticker price alone. For instance, there is the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, which means you should aim to choose a vehicle with a good MPG based on the environment you’re most likely to drive it in. You will also want to opt for a reliable vehicle that will not require you to take it in for repairs and replacements as often. Your choice of vehicle can even affect your insurance costs. Usually, the better the safety features, the more you can save on your insurance premiums.

Choice of technology

There are different types of technology you should consider investing in. The first is how the car runs. Petrol and diesel are the traditional options but if you want to run a more eco-friendly business, this should extend to your cars and you should click here to learn more about electric cars, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids and their pros and cons. Like most other kinds, you want to protect your company car investment, as well. To that end, you might want to look at some of the security features that modern cars offer, such as trackers, such as GPS devices, so you know where your car is if it disappears, and immobilizers, such as steering wheel locks, that stop drivers from making off with it. Many of these security technologies can be bought after the fact. Though not a technological investment, you may also want to look more closely at how much it might cost to insure the vehicle against theft.

Size and space

The size of your vehicle is going to play a role in how practical it’s going to be in a range of spaces and uses. A larger car might not be well suited for urban drives, but might be better if you need the extra seats to take team members across the country with you for a trade show. How much space you require depends on what’s you’re likely to take on the road, be it technology and tools, trade show resources such as booth materials, or otherwise. Even better is if a car is versatile enough to let you switch between extra seats and extra storage space.

Comfort and features

The size of the car can also be a major contributing factor in how comfortable it is for both the driver and the passengers, as it might determine how much legroom they have. There are plenty of cars that invest in offering features that make practical cars more comfortable, and you can click here to see some examples, such as skylights, sound systems, and infotainment systems. The ability to keep you and your passengers comfortable and entertained can be important for those long trips, making sure that morale is kept up. It’s not just a luxury, comfort and convenience can be important for the function of your team, too.

Where you are using the vehicle

There are several features that you should prioritize based on where you’re likely to be driving the car. As mentioned, size matters when it comes to the city, as more compact cars have an easier time getting around and finding parking spaces. The fuel efficiency of the car will change depending on where it is, too, as some cars have a better MPG when they’re in the city and others have a better MPG when they’re on the highway. If you’re in the city then you might want more in the way of connectivity features that allow your car to tap into networks since they’re easier to find there, as well. Satellite-powered features like GPS can work just about anywhere, but if you plan to work with digital technology in the car, you might want to rely on closer connections.

Buy or lease

We’ve already talked about some of the factors that can affect the running costs of the car, but how about the method by which you pay for the car itself? There are advantages to buying the car, such as retaining a valuable asset and being able to customize it to your needs, as well as to leasing, such as lower running costs and fewer requirements to maintain it over time. Consider which option best fits your budget, as well as whether owning a car is better for the business in the long term than simply accessing it for a period of time.

Is it for personal use too?

Some company cars are not only for company use. If yours is to be used as a personal car, then that will change your priorities somewhat. To that end, make sure that you keep in mind your personal priorities. This will likely include all of the above, but also factors like how it works as a family car, whether it fits in your garage or driveway, and the features that you personally find most convenient in a car. You need to think about how much you are willing to share your car with the business, however, and whose needs trump yours when it comes to it.

Think carefully before you put any money down on the car that you invest in. its worth is decided by its practicality as an asset for the company first and foremost, so ensure that you’re choosing based on how much value it’s really going to bring.