Buy A New Car
FBT and the proposed changes: the fallout.
Although it has yet to be put to the proper decision makers, Kevin Rudd’s proposed changes to the Fringe Benefit Tax have already affected companies that would normally be purchasing cars for their fleet customers. Unfortunately, there’s a human cost too, with Fleetcare having to stand down around twenty staff as their orders have dropped to virtually zero. Another company, based in Perth, Fleet Network, have also removed twenty staff whilst South Melbourne based salary packaging group, NLC, have shed seventy five people and McMillan Shakespeare, a major salary sacrificing has also placed on hold a core aspect of its business.
Part of the issue is the proposal to backdate the changes, causing companies to pause their fleet purchases, such as a major Sydney based university has been forced to do. It also adds to the parlous state of affairs the local car makers have; with 35% of fleet cars made locally, the current situation has the potential to potentially hasten Holden’s local manufacturing closure whilst it negotiates for more funding to keep its manufacturing operations underway.
Automotive industry leaders have called upon Mr Rudd to withdraw the plan and discuss better options. With so many jobs at stake, it would make sense to do so.
Fringe Benefit Tax Changes: How It COULD Affect YOU.
Disclaimer: this is not intended to be taken as financial or taxation advice. Please see your accountant.
As if Australia’s flailing car industry didn’t have enough to worry about, the Labor Government’s proposed changes to Fringe Benefit Tax and the Carbon Tax have sent a chill wind through their offices as figures show that a potential extra cost of around $1400 per year per vehicle could stop the car lease industry in its tracks.
PM Rudd announced on July 16 that a reversion to a emissions trading scheme would replace the carbon tax, with part of this change involving a $1.8 billion AU cut in FBT concessions. Under current measuring methods, FBT is calculated at 20 percent of a vehicles cost, regardless of whether used for private or business use or private use via salary sacrifice, with the assumption that the car is being used for predominantly business use anyway. The change will require a comprehensive log book keeping of the vehicle’s use. The Government Minister for Transport, Joe Albanese says: “There’s a lot of people clearly fiddling the system. Those people who are salary sacrificing who use their car less than 20 per cent but claim the 20 per cent offset – less than one kilometre in every five they actually use for work – the chances are it’s not a Holden Commodore, it’s a BMW.”
Federal Climate Change Minister Mark Butler said recent technology made it possible to get a far more accurate idea of work-related car use and the Government had considered the FBT changes very carefully.
“It’s not the same as it was in the 1980s. You can download these very easy apps that use GPS systems to do the work all for you,” he said.
“You effectively just press the button, let it go and after you’ve finished marking that travel or recording that travel over the 12-week period every five years it can be automatically sent to your employer or your tax agent.”
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has responded with CEO Tony Weber claiming: “The changes undermine the long-term certainty the FCAI and its members have called for from government and threatened to affect around one-third of new car sales in Australia.
“The effects will flow right through the industry, including to dealerships and service centres,” Weber said.
He said he doubted whether the government truly understood the consequences of its decision, and questioned why the industry was not consulted on such a significant change. I fear what this means for domestic manufacturing and I am urgently seeking meetings with the government to encourage them to reconsider this decision,” he said.
The Shadow Minister for Transport, Joe Hockey, had this to say at a meeting with automotive groups in western Sydney: “”This is going to be like a baseball bat to the motor vehicle industry in Australia. This is poorly thought out, there was no consultation with any stakeholders.”
Mr Hockey said 75 per cent of recipients earn less than $100,000 a year.
“They are going to be hit with a tax bill of $1400 a year, every year going forward,” he said.
Both Holden and Toyota have backed the calls from the FCAI to rethink its strategy, with other automotive industry analysts suggesting the changes further indicate an “out of touch with the real world” government, with the suggestion that technology will make the log keeping easier. It ignores the fact that the costs involved to companies to process manual log book keeping will result in higher prices of vehicles, more real time paperwork and the potential to damage the 80% fleet market sales Australian car makers have. It’s already caused one major fleet vehicle purchaser to freeze their order, pending further developments.
As stated, please consult your accountant for information, as it stands.
Iron Fist, Velvet Glove: The New Caprice V
The Holden Caprice V, in its new 2014 guise, is a combination of street savvy, world champion boxer melded with the smarts of a technical genius. Think Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky sitting down and talking quantum mechanics or relativity with the bushy headed wunderkind that was Alfred Einstein. Chevy’s ballsy 6.0L V8 with Holden’s US sourced electronics with some world class programming delivers what Holden has desperately needed and it’s a cracker.
Distance sensing radar, lane changing awareness, integrated internet radio, remote start from the keyfob, heads up display with multifunction info, blind spot alert, G force readout, voice to text messaging, voice control and reverse park assist add to heated seats, trailer sway control, reverse camera and Active Fuel Management from the 260kW/517Nm alloy block 
power source. Holden’s flagship, along with its Commodore brethren, also receives an interior redesign and electronic parking brake, doing away with the tired and unloved handle built into the centre console, that doubles up as a Hill Hold Control system.
It’s finally what Holden have promised for years, a world class luxury vehicle and I spent a wonderful week with the Caprice V, with a road trip to the mid south coast of NSW, to find out if that promise holds up.
The exterior design is virtually unchanged from the VE based WM model; now called the WN, it makes the new Caprice a real sleeper to those not inside it. The V spec has the V8 as standard mated to an uprated six speed auto with sports shift. The engine/exhaust note is muted, subtle, barely hinting at the animalistic roar the quad tipped exhaust lets loose when the go pedal is pushed in anger. It’s a free swinging engine, ticking over at just under 2000 rpm at freeway 
speed, revving cleaning and gutterally to 6000 as the speedo does indecent things. The potential to be a boulevarde cruiser or street brawler is well within its sphere of influence and the engine does both well. There’s no doubt at all that it likes a drink, especially when provoked, however the economy of the 6.0L comes into play with a judicious right foot (and Active Fuel Management), with over 700 kilometres provided from full to empty, including some spirited driving. The gearbox slurs through the gears, with just a hint of whine as it changes.
The ride is rarely disappointing; the bias towards comfort certainly shows, with roll and tip in towards the outside wheel noticeable. There is a skip across the road on certain bumps and with the roads still damp from (at the time of writing) the heavy rains of late June the traction control system was noticeable hauling in the near two tonne mass of 
the Caprice. The rear compressed hard on some of the heavier undulations but never lost grip. It’s smooth, unfussed 
and handles like a car smaller and lighter in the tight turns of the Kangaroo Valley Road. The interior, in its own way, is also rarely disappointing. A negative standout is the cheap feeling and cheaply fitted plastic shroud for minor storage ahead of the gear lever; the plastics would benefit from more of a suede feel throughout the cabin, including the seat supports, which still betray their low rent origins, as does the leather print plastic on the upper dash. The seats are well padded, supportive without feeling as if they crowded the thorax but the stylistic addition of a fabric strip, colour matched to the fabric on the dash, is questionable. The eight inch touch screen infotainment system and aircon layout is natural, ergonomic and much better overall than the WM/Calais in the preceding model. The view from the driver’s seat is also pleasurable, with a full colour LCD screen providing information such as fuel usage and economy, tyre 
pressures and more. The rear seat passengers, with heaps of rear leg room, can relax with wireless headphones to listen to the DVD playable from the centre dash mounted player but, disappointingly, USB access is from the console storage rather than from the aforementioned lower dash, whilst the same console also has, somewhat un-user friendly, a slot to put the keyfob. Unsurprisingly, there’s loads of boot space, thanks to the extra wheelbase.
Moving to the electronic system available in the US is a revelation and unlocks a bevvy of user friendly features. Collision Avoidance, for example, works on sensors reading the distance between the Caprice and the vehicle in front. Should that vehicle get closer whilst the Caprice is not braking, alarm chirps sound and the distance can be changed through a number of choices. Remote start needs the new electronic handbrake to be engaged, allowing the engine and dual zone climate control to come to life. Reverse park assist also uses sensors to judge angle and distance to help bring 
home the five metre behemoth to a parking space. The HUD (Head Up Display) gives speed, g force, revs and the posted speed limit, integrated with the satnav system whilst the infotainment system works on voice command. A button on the steering wheel is pressed to activate the system.
The much vaunted update to the Commodore range is more about the interior and electronics; with the flexibility and grunt of the V8 in the Caprice V with that level of intelligence, it’s well worth the mid $60K driveaway price with its mix of brawn and brains and certainly holds its own against the European competition.
http://www.holden.com.au/cars/caprice
Best Ever Private Sale Ad?
There’s a guy in the UK who wants to sell his car. It’s a Porsche and he’s probably created the best private car ad ever.
His name is Peter Bohus and he starts off in the ad with some fascinating copywriting:-
“I am reluctant to sell my beautiful Porsche 911 Supersport Targa as I no longer have the time or energy to cope with the pressures of being in the public eye of admirers, gorgeous women constantly falling at my feet, always having to arrive in style to decadent fetish parties, long drives to classic motor shows and trying to find a parking space at Les Trois Garcons. I’m now looking for the right candidate to hand down this hedonist roof down boxer engined lifestyle so that I may retire and have a long break in Nepal.”
But the killer punch is his link to his video clip on U-tube:-
Have you seen an ad as good as this for any private sale, let alone a 25 year old car??
Level 2, 9 Help Street