New Car Time
 

My job requires that I drive a vehicle with 4 doors, no older than 4 years old, with a new retail value of about $30k.

I've got 2 options:

1. Pick a car from among a catalog. Pay $1,040 per year for personal use of vehicle, including fuel and insurance.

2. Buy a vehicle of my choosing and get reimbursed $400-$500 per month plus 12 cents per business mile driven.

I was considering to Lease a Bolt, since I pay about 2 cents per mile in electricity, this would be a very small money maker on any business trip, plus I like the car. The downside is less utility and trips to Medford from Portland would require a lengthy charge, which I probably should avoid on a business trip. Another consideration was the Volt 2.0

The 2 cars from the catalog I'm considering are the Forester and Mazda CX-5. Initially I was leaning towards the Forester since I really enjoyed my Legacy and it gets better MPG, but the CX-5 appears to beat the Forester in most categories such as cabin noise, handling, acceleration.

What are your thoughts?

1. A flat $1024 makes for a budgetable expense. Does it include maintenance?
   
2. A choice between two, or anything two-year-old off-lease and used?

Lease a Telsa and pay the difference out-of-pocket to upgrade your image?
Tesla Model S For $500 Per Month? No. Just No.

Maybe consider a third option? Job change.

Prius Prime or Ioniq are also options

1. Yes, all maintenance is covered. It's primarily a business vehicle, with personal use allowed.

Option 2. is the Runzheimer program, which is a personal vehicle used for business purposes.

I care less than most about image, but I am a bit of a technophile and would love to drive a Tesla.

Do you have the option of NOT using the car for personal use? We have to pay fairly high tax if you get a company car that can be used for personal use, so the option of not using it is also offered. You commute to work as normal, pick up your pool car for work, and leave it at night as you take your own car home. Same as I do with my company van.

Spoilt for choice, I'd say.

I'd say so too. Many wonderful perks of the job. Downside is the travel away from family.

If the Bolt's range and charging options won't work for you, then my vote is for the gen2 Volt. I took one for a spin and quite liked the way it drove, plus the Apple Carplay/Android Auto should treat you better than your Prius' nav system did. ;)

The CX-5 would probably be my choice if I had to pick a small CUV/SUV.

I had a Honda CRV i-VTEC 2.0 litre SE+ as a courtesy car, today, and I'd have one at the drop of a hat. 6 speed manual transmission, very flexible engine, and going by the dashboard display, surprisingly economical.