MY landlord walked into the office yesterday brandishing what looked like a club. My mind raced for a second: had I not paid the rent? Had I said something indiscreet? Had I sneezed too loudly?
None of these – thankfully. The club in question was actually the gearknob from his Mercedes SL.
Now, for someone who has had a series of AMG Mercs you suspect that Peter Edney, landlord of BCM towers, is not your normal accountant (his day job). Nor, come to that, are some of his rather famous clients who occasionally pop in which gets us all very excited.
Anyway, I digress.
“Do you know how much this cost?” spluttered Peter. I looked blankly. Obviously too much. “£170 plus the VAT and they charged me £11 for the Mercedes decal that sits on the top!”
Leather it might be but over £200 all in did seem a little excessive for a short stubby gearlever.
Apparently the leather on top of the original gearknob – part black-eyed maple, part leather – had started to wear and was looking indecorous inside the SL’s smart leather and wood cabin. And not good now we have sunshine and there’s the opportunity to take the hood down and make full use of the car. So it had to be changed.
That expenditure aside, the V8-powered Mercedes has not cost him a lot. “It’s minimal,” says Peter. “There’s a service once a year, but that’s about it.”
Running a prestige used car for your business is a great way to drive something very special without taking any of the early depreciation hit: all that glorious engineering on offer for so little money compared to its cost new.
You must watch out though if you are a limited company and running a high value prestige used business car through your business. The company car tax rules changed at the beginning of April with the removal of the £80,000 price cap – see our Special Report on April changes to company car tax. That could suddenly make your canny used car buy a touch more expensive.
That’s not a problem for Peter, though. As a sole trader such things don’t affect him. Well, what do you expect? He is an accountant after all!
Editor’s Blog on business car expenses
