Company car rented in employee's own name

I just moved to Germany a month ago and I am the first expat working for my company (I came from a subsidiary). It has been a bumpy ride with my HR and every little victory has been amazing.

I am stuck on the vehicle...They have offered to 'rent' a car through the company (at the company rate) but the agreement would be in my name. The rental agreement would be 380 € a month for a VW Fox (15,000 km a year). The cost includes the insurance but it still seems extremely high to me.

I am throwing this question out to the wonderful world of Toytown and hoping an expert can help me out. Any advice would be amazing...I just need to know if this offer is ridiculous...and if it is what options I have going forward. There is a possibility to get my insurance through my company if I bought a car.

What will the car be used for? If you are using it on business and for private travel then IMHO 15,000 km a year is a very low amount.
What happens if you drive more? Do you or your company pick up the tab? In my company its calculated at 30,000 km a year. I work from home and still my company car exceeds 30k each year (my wife is allowed to drive it & she does...).

The car would be used for personal transportation and to get to work. I live 14 km from my office. I am guessing that means I need more km?

If I go over the price per km is very high. I guess my main question is does this monthly rate seem high? What other easy options are there?

Don't go for the Fox, it's shit.

But not to represent your company eg if you go to visit a customer?


Its VWs smallest car I believe. My wife test drove one & bought a Nissan Note (Vorführwagen)...
For the last 3*3 years I had a VW Passat Diesel as company car. Since April I downsized to a VW Golf Plus 2l Diesel & that (incl insurance) fitted inside our company leasing rate of max Eur 532- per month... the Golf Plus is great to drive - but as with any car it depends what your requirements are.

I would not use the car to pick up customers. I would take one of the nice cars from the car pool in that case.

So is the monthly rate high or do you think it is ok?

How long are you planning to stay in Germany? And how long would you be renting a car for 380/month? That's 4560 euros per year. For less than two years' rent, you could buy a 2007 VW Fox with around 25,000 km, add a bit for insurance and tax and have unlimited km. You'd get at least a one year warranty, but also would have maintenance costs to consider.

You can check out used car prices on mobile.de to help you make your decision.

If his company is paying the rental it looks different. And a company car is taxed based on the list price when that car was new even if its 5 years old....

My contract in Germany is for two years (part of my contract is that I am returning to the US). To be honest I don't want to have to deal with buying a car...but if 380€ a month is high then I will look for a used car. Also, my problem is the upfront cost of buying a car...

If you're only staying for two years then it isn't worth buying a car imo. Go for the rental.

Ok so I will most likely go for the rental...but I want to know if the monthly rate sounds ok?!?! If it does not, I may try to get my own rental or lease and do my insurance through the company. Also, I would go back to them and tell them I think it is high.

I am not sure if that would work...


Before you do that try to find out if your colleagues are getting the same deal.
If you try to go for the "Extra-Wurst" you could be unpopular from the start...

I've just priced a two year lease for a VW Fox on DirectLease.de. They price it at ~360€ not including petrol or ~400 including petrol. The one I priced was the 51 kW model.

On that basis if your 380€ includes insurance for business purposes, then it's probably not that far off the mark.

Having said that, 15,000 km sounds a bit tight to me, unless you're really only going to use it for the 14 km to and from work. As somebody mentioned (you?), extra km over the agreed limit tend to be very expensive.

So the price of 360 or 400€ would not include insurance?

It's certainly not mentioned and considering how much insurance varies according to all sorts of different factors (30% - 250% and more of the nominal price), I can't imagine it being included in the price.

That reminds me, don't forget to bring with you proof of your no-claims bonus. Most insurance companies will recognise at least 5 years, some more. I know you said the company is paying the insurance, but I'm sure it would make a good impression if you show them you've done your bit to try and help reduce their costs.

So I need to get a quote for insurance first before anything else. That is really the deciding factor...but being a young American with only 7 seven years of auto insurance I don't see that being a good thing

If you can prove those 7 years were accident free you will be off to a very good start with a German insurance company. It's proving it that is often the problem, but if you can get an official letter from your US insurance company stating quite clearly that you were insured with them for 7 years and you never made a claim you'll be way ahead of a lot of people who come here.

I had one accident when I was 17...not a bad one though...I will contact my US insurance and see what I can get. Thanks!

If your German's up to it, you can play around on the Direct Line insurance site and so get a pretty good idea of what your insurance might cost you. Direct Line is pretty competitive, so it probably represents something resembling the cheapest rate you'll get.

If for some reason you do finish up having to pay the insurance yourself, do look around a good few firms - there are huge differences between the way firms rate foreigners, especially non-europeans. In the same way that some state's driving licences are not recognised for direct conversion to a German licence (necessary after six months), some insurance companies are of the opinion that someone who has spent his life driving round the plains of Iowa may not handle driving in the middle of Munich too well!

While we're on the subject of licences, do check up on whether your US licence will be recognised for the straight swap for a German one. If not, it may be worthwhile nominally moving to another state and picking up a licence which is acceptable. If you do finish up having to take the full monty driving test over here, you're looking at costs in the thousands of Euro area. I don't know exactly how much, but 2000€ - 3000€ wouldn't surprise me.

I am working on getting a quote so I will have more information soon!

In regards to the license...I am EXTREMELY happy I am from Colorado!!! I am already getting my license converted (no reason having one now without a car ) Colorado is one of those states expats in Germany wish they were from! I don't have to take a test or anything...it's the one thing that has gone right