Maintaining your own company vehicles: factors to consider

1. Budget

Budgeting effectively demands knowledge of the Service, Maintenance and Repair requirements of the vehicle over the lifecycle. You often seen this referred to as SMR. Once the SMR has been calculated, an estimated budget can be set aside and used as a maintenance pool, or costs could just be paid for as and when required.

2. Booking

Taking the time to evaluate and book reputable service and repair agents can be frustrating and not all offer the same quality of service or hourly rate; lease companies have established networks of trusted suppliers with reduced rates for their maintained fleet.

3. Cost

It is highly unlikely that any SME small fleet will be able to negotiate the same sort of discounts that leasing companies can negotiate. Remember also that funders will make sure that all companies who have contracts with them are more than capable of carrying out the maintenance work professionally.

4. Expertise

Unless you are in a position to employ a fleet manager who has experience, you could face being “ripped off” by repair agents as there will be no in-house knowledge of repair validation or authorisation checking. And let’s face it, most SME company cars are managed by the MD or FD – not a full time professional.

5. Manufacturers

Getting goodwill for out-of-warranty repairs can deliver large savings as vehicles reach their age or mileage thresholds; it is not usual practice for manufacturers to volunteer discounts to replacement parts or labour without some pressure from an expert in this field.

6. Tyres

Tyres account for up to 50% of a maintenance budget so it is imperative that a good relationship with the tyre manufacturers and also reliable fitting agents is established.