Company Truck or Truck Allowance

Careful on the tax assumptions in your math though - I am not able to claim mileage or other IRS writeoffs on my mileage because I am on a stipend. It’s one or the other - you can paid mileage or you get an allowance. Would hate to be on the wrong side of an audit in that.

Similar to if we work out of town and get a travel per diem - there are limits to how much we can be given per day, and after a specific number of months the per diem becomes taxable. Those are IRS rules, not ours. You can still make bank off per diem if you live smart on the road, but you’ve got to know the rules.

 

Yeah, the both sides of it isn’t true any more. Bummer.

I used to travel, mostly domestic, for a living. I always saved my per diems.

 

Having tried it both ways - company vehicle and then maintain your own as yours.

4 years from now when you look at your best to shit truck that the company “bought” you - you will be wishing you put all those miles on the Ford and maintained your personal vehicle better and used it less.

Right vehicle for the right job. There is a reason those “base” model trucks are so popular for company/fleet use. They give you what you need - but without all the options. When they wear out in 7-10 years - you don’t feel nickeled and dimed into keeping them going - you sell it and move on to the next vehicle. The Tundra - you will feel obligated to keep fixing as it’s worth 3x as much as a comparable F150.

Bonus - company cars are like rentals - you don’t care about small scratches/dents or wear. So long as it’s not huge that they are going to ding you for the cost at turn in - you run them hard and don’t think about it. Personal vehicles you will always care about (at least as long as they are newer).

Now I’ve in the past used my 20 year old S-10 or older Chevy 1500 as a company truck - but I didn’t care what happened to those. Kept them up - but they had plenty of wear prior to my ever taking ownership. If that’s on option - the monthly stipend might be tempting.

 

Forty years in field service for a few different companies. Always had company owned vehicles, sometimes for personal use too, with gas cards all maintenance and repairs covered. My personally owned vehicles all got to stay nice and only taken out when I wanted to, not when I had to. Makes a huge difference to the pay check when you're not running your own vehicle to go to work. I went for a time when I didn't have a POV because I had no use for one.
We always reckoned a company owned vehicle that you took home every day was worth $15/hr when you consider the cost of buying/running a vehicle.
Now I'm retired, the only thing I miss is the gas card.

 

Reposting here after a while as it turns out I will be moving to the company vehicle side of things and keeping the truck (for now)...any tips on maintenance or what to do as it sits for long periods weeks maybe without driving? It's parked outside all the time, so curious what people do that don't use their truck all that much or keep it stored for months on end...thanks for all the opinions so far.

 

Rodent proof it, and/or get a shade/something over the top for paint...

 

Thanks for the update on your situation, was a great discussion. What type of truck is your new company rig?

Like I said before, Heavy Civil Construction Management here with company trucks the last 25 years, and would prefer vehicle allowance in my case.

For my personal rigs that have always collected dust, I just try and drive them once every week or so. Have never had an issue on my last 3 Tundras over the last 20+ years (2001, 2010, and current 2018).

Real Estate Agent wife drives the wheels off the Tundra now, but my personal rig is a Jeep SRT, so I try and drive it a couple times a week for fun.

 

Pine sol soaked rags and bars of pink Dove in the engine bay are working well here. A shade sail or carport would be good as well. If or when I do a carport, I will fabricate hinged sides that can be folded up to the ceiling for both closed and open side wall options.

 

Appreciate the discussion that was had! New rig will be an F150, final details of it to be worked out. I figure I will still do weekend local drives in the Tundra, and see how the usage shakes out over the first few months.

 

Good info! Any particular locations for those items? Would love for a carport or cover over the top, not sure how I feel about a typical car cover though, as I don't want to deal with it on and off on the weekends if I do drive it that much.

 

Basically around the perimeter away from moving and hot components. Kinda common sense! Can still and do drive it with the prevention in place. Just reapply the pine sol periodically.

 

Good move, I'd want separate vehicles.


I wouldn't want to deal with accidents on company time in a personal vehicle or accidents in personal time in a
company vehicle. I would not want to mingle those.

 

I would invest in a good set of window shades for the entire truck or an actual cover if it sits for a week at a time. My trucks sits a lot so I bought the complete set of window shades for WeatherTech. Keep all that UV off the interior. Also, if I have a company vehicle for long periods I will fill my truck with ethanol free gasoline for the time is sits.

 

Starbrite marine protectant on the plastics and rubber

 

That’s a good idea on the shades. I was curious about that too. My interior is some leather seat covers so will want to keep those out if the sun. Along with dash, etc. thanks for the tip.

 

musing this on interior plastics too or just exterior?

 

Both, headlights a bit more often since they get a bunch of sun. Still looking new.