A car for business is an indispensable thing, because it simplifies all the processes associated with work needs, business meetings and is also an indicator of success.
When having an official trip to another country, the leaders of large enterprises also try to comply with their high status by renting a prestigious car. Fortunately, this is very easy to do – even if your destination is California, a large number of luxury cars are available at 9000 Bellanca Ave 90045-4708 in Los Angeles.
As you can see, a car is something a successful corporation can’t do without, but very often when choosing a car for a business – attention is paid only to price and warranty. This is not always enough to understand how much money will be spent on maintaining the car, for example, in three years.
Businesses should consider a number of factors that will help to roughly estimate how much the maintenance of the fleet will cost…
Warranty features
Warranty is important, but advertising promises are not always worth believing. The fact is that often the long warranty period promised by advertising extends only to individual elements of the car. For example, an engine or a body.
When choosing a car, be sure to check with your dealer for specific warranty conditions by finding out:
- Which components and parts are covered by the warranty service?
- Is there a mileage limit after which the warranty doesn’t work?
Also, don’t forget to carefully read the contract and clarify all incomprehensible points regarding the warranty.
Obvious costs
The obvious expenses of the car owner include:
- The cost of compulsory liability insurance.
- The cost of registering a car.
- The cost of passing the planned maintenance.
- The cost of a tyre-fitting service.
The price and regularity of all these events must be clarified by the dealership specialists in order to understand how much money you will have to spend during the operation of the car.
Also, the sites of some dealers have an online calculator that allows you to estimate costs without resorting to specialists.
The cost of spare parts
When choosing a car, you should take into consideration not only the price of car consumables (oil, filters, timing belt), but also the cost of other important spare parts that may fail.
In order to do this, ask the dealer for prices for spare parts and study the prices of different companies selling cars. Then select the best option.
Engine type: gasoline or diesel
The difference in the cost of a car of one model with a diesel and gasoline engine can reach several thousand dollars.
In favor of diesel versions is their efficiency. For example, the latest generation Volkswagen Passat with a 2.0 TDI engine with 170 hps and an automatic gearbox consumes 4.7 liters per hundred kilometers in combined cycle, but a gasoline car equipped with a 1.4-liter power unit with 122 hps and a similar gearbox – 6.4 liters per hundred kilometers.
You should also check the difference in the cost of maintenance for a particular type of engine. This is due to the fact that modern diesel cars are usually equipped with a particulate filter in order to meet the ecological requirements, and this requires the use of more expensive engine oil. There may be differences in cost of other supplies. This information can also be provided by dealership specialist.
Availability of post-warranty support
Check to see if the dealer offers special prices for service and spare parts after the vehicle leaves the warranty period. Does it have loyalty programs for regular customers?
The presence of such proposals indicates the interest of dealers in long-term cooperation, and which means it will help the owner to always be sure of the quality of service of his car.
Residual value of the car
In order to understand how much the car will fall in price in three or four years, look at how much cars of the same model, but older are now on the secondary market. Thus, it will be possible to predict how much the price will fall.
Estimating the residual value is simple: just study the offers via Internet. It’s important to consider that much in the price also depends on the general technical condition of the car, mileage, etc.
Residual value is affected by:
- Brand popularity in the region.
- The development of the dealer network (number of car centers, quality of service).
- The cost of spare parts and other parameters.
Dealer program for corporate clients
When buying a car for business needs, it’s important to consider whether the dealer has special conditions for large customers. For example, are there bonuses and discounts on services?
Some dealerships offer a car buyback service when, at the agreed time, the buyer has the right to exchange his car for a new one in order to keep the fleet up to date.
