Outright Purchase is simply getting vehicles by purchase direct from the supplier without using finance.
The purchaser is then free to run the vehicle over any replacement cycle (or 'term') and sell the vehicle at any time (typically, though, business vehicle fleet operators will use a specific number or months or miles as a guideline on when to replace a vehicle).
Outright purchase avoids direct finance charges, but ties up cash reserves/savings ('capital') as the buyer will have paid the full purchase price of the vehicle around the time of
taking delivery.
This results in a loss of use of capital to the individual or business and this loss of use has a notional cost.
For example, the money now tied up in the vehicle could have remained in savings or have been put to another use, so the loss of use of the money has what is known as an 'opportunity cost' - the cost of the lost opportunity to use the money elsewhere.
You can read more about the opportunity cost of money and how to calculate this by following this link.
The major direct costs involved in outright purchase are likely to be:
Advantages of Outright Purchase
Because the purchaser takes ownership of the vehicle the purchaser can profit
from prudent management of the vehicle, such as achieving a better resale price than
market value through proper vehicle care, maintenance and management.
Vehicles can be sold at any time (e.g. when a driver leaves employment) without a
specific financial penalty (leasing companies usually charge an early termination
fee for disposing of leased/hired vehicles before the full term), though the depreciation
cost will be proportionately higher when a vehicle is sold before the end of its normal
replacement cycle.
Tax relief for the
purchaser on cars with a CO2 output over 110g/km is not limited in the same way as leasing,
thereby reducing the total costs of outright purchase for cars with higher CO2 emissions compared to leasing, but there are deferrals of tax relief where the CO2 output exceeds 110g/km.
From April 2021 the CO2 threshold for tax relief deferral ('special pooling') will drop to 50GP/Km.
Disadvantages of Outright Purchase
The purchaser is exposed to fluctuations in residual values and maintenance costs, in particular if used vehicle prices drop.
Money is tied up in the value of the car and the purchaser can't get any of this back without either selling the car or pledging it as security for a loan.
The vehicle will appear as a depreciating asset on the balance sheet of a business purchaser under accounting
conventions applying at the date of publication.
For passenger cars (other than pool cars) VAT on the purchase price of the vehicle
cannot be recovered, so the depreciation costs are higher than the comparable values
in contract hire or finance or balloon
leasing.
Lease or Buy?
To see the cost impact of leasing or buying your next new car or van click here.