Cost of owning/running a car?

i'm currently on a company car + private fuel benefit with my company.  they pay the car lease, service, tax, insurance, all private fuel.  these 'benefits in kind' are then added to my salary via P11D, and i pay tax on them.

as of next jan (yes, i know i'm thinking too too too far ahead), my company will be switching me to car allowance.  i will be able to claim back business miles, but will have to lease (or buy) a car, tax it, pay for all personal petrol, insure it, service it, etc. 

they have been slowly switching everyone over to this new method, i'm the last to go.  i've done a rough calculation of what it would cost to lease a car + pay for petrol + tax it + service it + insure it. 

my monthly calculation is £812.  This seems high, right?
Here's the breakdown (per month):
Lease: £624 (includes atomorized $1499 initial payment)
Tax: £3 (very cheap car to tax!)
Insurance: £30
Service: £40
Petrol: £115

(calculations were done using the car i currently have, and will most likely try and lease- a toyoto prirus T3)

when i calculate this £812 to a pre-tax salary increase, it's very high.  I'm not sure my employers would accept such a large salary increase.

a couple of questions:
are my figures very high?  what are yours?
what are your experiences in negioating car allowances?

thanks in advance! 

Seems high, but also it's an expensive car, so maybe it's not. My car payment is around £250 p/m but it's just a bare bones little Kia (though we bought it new). I spend closer to £140 or £150 on petrol. We rarely get ours serviced, though I suppose if you budget it per month it means you won't be hit be a larger bill for new tyres, etc.

The lease does seem quite high, the rest of your figures are around the same as ours (with the exception of the service which we only do annually) and our car payment (not on lease) is £260 per month (VW Golf)

I agree that the lease seems quite high even with the initial payment.  I pay £135 per month on my Yaris (not lease, but, own) and spend about £148 per month on petrol.  My insurance is higher but that is because we are both insured on it (£63 per month).  I also do drive about 76 miles a day, so, I get great gas mileage.

Hi Meggles,

Yes, that does seem a very high figure indeed, I can only think that the lease is over a shorter than usual time frame.

I'm not so knowledgeable when it comes to leasing cars etc a) becuase you never own the car (generally) b) you end up paying much more overall (generally)

However, I do know the leasing market has always been around and has expanded the last few years for allsorts of deals and options etc.

Nip into WHSmith soon and pickup Which car or What Car or one of these type of publications - for circa £600 per month payment, I'm quite sure that's up in Jaguar and BMW 5 series and Porsche Cayman territory - a Prius although with its green credentials - is comprehensively bettered by a number of much cheaper Diesel cars - of which I'd say a monthly payment of maybe £180- 250 per month would be figures to look at.

I'm not 'knocking' the Prius - it's a technological showpiece - however for day to day use, other cars are better - I'd hate to see what the servicing costs are for that technology it uses is 3 years down the line!

Other more 'in the know' considerations - Try get a car that has a 'care package' built into the deal - A friend of mine runs a 55 plate BMW 530d - bought it with next to no miles on it a few months ago, and when new it had the servicing package included - ALL servicing included until 2010 - so all he has to do is pick up the phone book it in, it gets serviced and he gets no bill. His company gives him the Car allowance for fuel etc.

Have a look at those magazines and the lease prices especially in that PCP options exist and work out what car and payment and restrictions apply to you to get a shortlist of suitable vehicles - don't forget to include the Prius for comparisons sakes!

hope this helps a bit!
Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!