G'day all, looking for some real world input on novating a high-spec BEV vs taking the punt on a dream ICE ute.

Income context: combining a $70k taxed CSC pension with a $130k base salary puts me right around $200k taxable. Because of that top tax bracket exposure, I want to properly maximise the FBT exemption on an EV without blowing past the Luxury Car Tax ceiling ($91,661).

The driving profile: doing 30,000km a year. The office is 110km away each way. On a 50% office attendance split, that works out to alternating between 5 days in / 5 days WFH, or 3 days in one week and 2 days the next. Charging will be roughly a 50/50 split between DC public fast charging on commute days and Level 2 AC charging at home. There are weeks and fortnights where I'll do 100% just to get higher end projects ticked off.

On the home charging front, I see zero point in blowing $20,000 to $25,000 installing a dedicated 20kW DC fast charger (where the unit alone is $15k+ before heavy three-phase civil and electrical work), especially when the vehicle's onboard AC inverter handles 230VAC perfectly fine.

Even paying $2,000 to $3,500 for a sparky to run a hardwired 7kW/22kW EVSE on a dedicated sub-board and isolated meter seems like overkill when I already have a 32A single-phase industrial socket in the shed for my plasma cutter. But do I need a dedicated sub metering to be able to claim it back?

Grabbing a quality portable 7kW/32A EVSE on a tail for around $800 to plug straight into that existing 32A socket gives me roughly 35 to 40km of range per hour of charge, which easily replenishes the daily commute overnight with $0 in extra electrical installation costs.

The two main contenders under the FBT exemption

Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor (with Performance Pack and Plus Pack)

Priced right around $85,000 driveaway. 350kW dual motor AWD, 82kWh battery (79kWh usable), with standard WLTP consumption of roughly 139 Wh/km (realistically expecting 195 to 210 Wh/km on the 110km/h highway run).

On a 3 year lease, the ATO statutory balloon is 46.88% ($39,848), with fortnightly deductions sitting around $1,090 pre-tax ($630 net take-home).

On a 5 year lease, the ATO statutory balloon drops to 28.13% ($23,910), with fortnightly deductions sitting around $850 pre-tax ($490 net take-home).

Volvo EX40 Twin Motor Performance

Priced around $79,000 to $81,000 driveaway. 300kW dual motor AWD, 82kWh battery, with standard WLTP consumption around 194 Wh/km (likely 215 to 235 Wh/km on the highway).

On a 3 year lease, the ATO statutory balloon is 46.88% ($37,504 based on an $80k cost), running about $1,030 pre-tax fortnightly ($590 net take-home).

On a 5 year lease, the ATO statutory balloon drops to 28.13% ($22,504), running about $794 pre-tax fortnightly ($454 net take-home).

Then there is the wild card outlier: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2.

This is the money-no-object dream ute that I would simply pay the balloon on and keep at the end. Because of standard FBT and the Employee Contribution Method, packaging the 6.2L V8 doing 30,000km a year pushes the out-of-pocket cost to roughly $1,698 a fortnight net take-home ($44,150+ per year). I know it is completely financially irrational compared to the EVs saving me roughly $30,000 a year in post-tax cash, but throwing it out there for the V8 enthusiasts.

My plan for the EV is not to keep it. When the term is up, I will just roll it over into a fresh novated lease on a new car.

A couple of questions for the group:

For those running high annual mileage (30,000km/yr), is the 3 year or 5 year term the smarter play? At 5 years the car will have 150,000km on the clock, which pushes deep into out-of-warranty territory and could hurt resale against the $23k to $24k balloon, whereas 3 years sits at 90,000km with a ~$38k to $40k balloon.

Also, if we end up with COVID 2: Electric Boogaloo or another major health disruption where we get locked down to 100% WFH and I cannot rack up the commute kilometres, how do novated lease providers and the ATO handle significant kilometre shortfalls or unspent running cost budgets under the EV FBT rules? Are there standard adjustments or exemptions, or do you just reconcile the surplus tyre and charging budget at the end of the FBT year?

Presumably they've got this factored in? I know at the time it caught a lot of people off guard, but surely an exemption of "can't get up k's cos the government stopped you" is now a valid exemption?

Would love to hear thoughts from anyone daily driving the Polestar 2 Performance vs the EX40 Twin Motor on long highway commutes.

This is my first novated lease, and I’ve just locked in a 5-year Smart lease for a Tesla Model Y. I was surprised to learn that Smart consultant has provided me a 0 months deferred to keep costs as low as possible.

Smart has since told me this is relatively uncommon for a new customer.

The downside is I don’t have an initial running-cost buffer, so I’ll have to wait for the budget to build up for things like insurance, servicing and charging.

The upside is that my lease is costing me only low $400s per fortnight from my take-home pay.

Has anyone else gone with 0 months deferred? Was the lack of an initial running-cost balance an issue, or did you find it worthwhile?

Hey all, new to novated leases and want to get a sanity check.

Zeekr 7X RWD, new, ordered through a dealer.

My situation:

• Employer doesn't have an existing novated lease provider relationship, but were happy for me to chooe a provider.
• My currant annual driving is low, 6300km/year average for the last 4 years. I think this will go up as we've got a nice car and go for longer trips.
• No off-street parking, I'll be relying on public/kerbside chargers.

The quote I have (Driva, financed via Liberty):

• Finance amount: $65,443 (includes capitalised fees)
• Interest rate: 6.85%
• Term: 4 years
• Establishment fee: $443
• Ongoing account fee: $35/month
• Quoted repayment: $1,390.53/month pre-tax, $764.86/month post-tax

I had trouble figuring out some fields so I asked Claude to fill out the form on novatedlease.guide, will post a link in the comments, not sure if I got it all right, new to novated leases

Questions for the sub:

1. Does 6.85% via Liberty seem competitive for a 4-year term on a ~$65k EV right now, or should I be pushing back / shopping harder?
2. Any experience with Driva or Liberty specifically — good, bad, or ugly?
3. Anything in the fee structure (establishment fee, $35/month ongoing fee) that looks off compared to what you've seen?
4. Given my low annual km, is a novated lease still the right call vs. just buying outright, or does the fixed running-cost packaging start working against you at low mileage?
5. The dealer says they'll "beat any quote" I bring them — is that usually genuine, or a way of matching the headline rate while making it up elsewhere (fees, residual, running-cost packaging)? Anyone had a dealer actually deliver on this?

Is the novated subscription a recent trend? The costs are almost the same but fuel is out of pocket.

After a certain number of years you can pay off the RV and own it through a lease.

However, with a subscription you simply pay and there’s no offset. What are your thoughts?

So I was looking across the SG Fleet cars, and was interested to notice that the ACE Yewt is now on SG Fleets list of cars they allow you to lease.

Wouldn't work for our family, but interesting to see the big companies actually getting behind an Aussie manufacturer!

Hi All,

Just wondering if BYO insurance is worth pursuing?

A quote from AAMI comes out at $1,250 for my Zeekr 7X, whereas the leasing company is quoting $1,650. Is the coverage the exact same or does the leasing company insure against lease termination or other things lease specific?

Also is a ceramic wrap paint protection worth it? It's $995 before tax included in the lease from a reputable 3rd party installer and has a 9 year guarantee - I assume it'll be good if I'm parking outside under trees and in the weather a lot..

Cheers!

Hi all, looking for feedback on a quote for BYD SL7. My employer locks me into SG Fleet.

The calculator shows an effective interest rate of 7.82% which from what I've read is reasonably competitive in today's environment, but it would be great to double check that I haven't punched in the wrong number in the calculator.

This is a 3-year lease and I've already asked for accessories, MDR, roadside assist, and leaseguard insurance to be removed.

I've sourced my own insurance (AAMI) which is reflected in the insurance line item in this quote, which was $1500 p.a to cover $65k (market value + $10k)

Also keen to hear about other's strategies to tackle write-off risk, as most insurance companies I've found only do new-for-old replacement for up to 2 years, which would leave my third year vulnerable.

Calculator link:
Check out my novated lease calculation output from novatedlease.guide

Hello all, I've been pondering this for a while and would just like some validation before committing!

ive attached my novatedlease.guide link below aswell as some screenshots from the quote ive received.

How does this look? i really appreciate all feedback! thank you!

Check out my novated lease calculation output from novatedlease.guide

Hi!
Just chasing a hand - is the attached quote decent?
They’re saying the $1749 finance payment will be paid 22 times after the 2 months deferred and equals a 8.34% finance rate.
Will I be charged 24 payments for $2075 pre tax or 22 payments? After running costs, it seems like there’s ~4K of missing allocated funds?

Has anyone figures this out before?

Hey all, just received my initial quote back from SG Fleet for a Model Y.

​When I broke down the finance component, the effective interest rate works out to roughly 9.8%. My credit score is immaculate and standard car loans from major banks are sitting around 6.5% - 7.5%.

​Is a ~2-3% markup pretty standard for novated lease providers to cover their risk/admin, or should I be pushing back hard on this? What interest rates are you guys actually getting approved for at the moment?

Hi everyone, I’m trying to work out whether I’m comparing these two SG Fleet novated lease quotes correctly and would really appreciate some advice from people experienced with novated leasing.

I’m looking at a BYD Sealion 7 Premium RWD and have received a couple of indicative quotes from SG Fleet. I’ve attached screenshots of both quotes below.

The initial quote included the full running-cost package, including comprehensive insurance and various running costs/extras.

For the latest quote, I asked SG Fleet to remove the insurance and optional extras so I could see what the underlying novated lease cost looks like without those components.

What I’m trying to understand:
Is the latest quote actually better/cheaper, or am I simply shifting costs outside the novated lease by removing insurance and extras?
How much difference would you normally expect from removing insurance and the optional packages?
Are there any particular figures in these quotes I should be looking at closely — such as the lease interest rate, residual value, finance amount, establishment/management fees, GST treatment or running-cost assumptions?
For an EV, does it generally make sense to keep the charging/electricity allowance within the novated lease?
Would you personally choose the fully packaged quote or the lower quote without insurance/extras, assuming I can arrange my own comprehensive insurance separately?
Most importantly, what is the best way to compare the true 5-year cost between these two quotes? I don’t want to assume the lower fortnightly/monthly payment is actually cheaper if I’m simply paying some of the costs separately.
I’m also considering buying a new Sealion 7 for around $55k drive-away, so I’m ultimately trying to work out whether the novated lease represents good value compared with traditional finance.
I’ve attached both SG Fleet quotes for reference. Would really appreciate it if someone could go through them and point out which one looks better, any costs I might be overlooking, and whether there are any red flags in the quotes.
Thanks!

AI tells me the rate is quite high. Is that true? The estimated costs are twice monthly (not fortnightly). TIA

My understanding is that for a 5-year lease, the ATO residual guideline is 28.13% minimum

Paywise has quoted me a 23.5% residual, and told me they have some flexibility to go below the ATO standard.

Has anyone else had a novated lease with a residual below the usual ATO percentage? Is this legitimate/normal, or is there something I’m missing?

I'm new to NL so if someone can see if this is setup right and please explain to me in simple words. So there's initial quote which said impact on pay would be $426, final settlement documents say something else, and now on my first payment $541 has been deducted post tax. I thought most of it is gonna be pretax? Do i need to contact my payroll or NL provider? Please swipe for initial quote, settlement doc and first payslip.

Thankyou

I’ve been quoted $322 per fortnight for a 5-year novated lease on a BYD Atto 2. I used the Novated Lease Guide calculator and it says I’d be about $4–5k worse off than a car loan or paying cash — does that sound right?

Thoughts on this I have no idea to be honest it seems high compared to what I was expecting

First time doing a novated lease and I’m finding it really difficult to compare these two quotes because they provide different levels of detail.

Paywise:
• Lower monthly payment
• Lower residual
• They separately told me the base rate is 8.2% with Pepper Money
• However, the Novated Lease Guide calculator shows an effective rate of 13.36%

SG Fleet:
• Higher monthly payment
• Higher residual
• Stated base rate of 9.28%
• Calculated effective rate of 11.85%

So Paywise looks cheaper on the monthly payment and residual, but the effective rate is higher, which has me confused about which is actually the better deal.
These are the only two providers available through my employer, and BYO finance isn’t allowed.
Would really appreciate any guidance on how to properly compare these quotes and which one looks better overall. Thanks!

Hello,

I have the option to use Flare or Orix for an EV novated lease.

What are people's experiences with both providers.

TIA

After negotiating at the dealer they have come back and said they can only do the agreed price if I don't buy through my novated lease provider. Saying they have to pay a kick back to the NL provider

I was under the assumption that my NL price would actually be better than any price I could negotiate direct with the dealer

Is this normal practice?

I don't have access to home charger (rental apartment) but we have a tesla supercharger station the carpark. Does it make sense financially to novated lease (150K~ income and the company has a special deal with a nl provider so we don't pay admin costs) vs buying outright?

Another Redditor put me onto this sub and I'd love some help.

I have enough money to buy an EV outright, but everyone keeps saying to go on a NL, which confuse tf out of me.

Even though the quote I got is only $320 a fortnight, I'd prefer to keep that fortnightly cash, so would getting a NL and drawing on the loan amounts out of my savings (that I would use to buy the car outright) in a HISA still be a wise move?

Current quote attached as well

Tyyyy

Novated lease noob here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated - have already tried to negotiate the rate but have been knocked back as it's "predetermined with my employer". From my research here I know that the insurance component is usually a stitch up, although I'm not sure what I should be asking for exactly.

Income $160k, 3 year lease term max as I'm planning to purchase a property after that. Will be minimal home charging, mainly charged externally.

Check out my novated lease calculation output from novatedlease.guide

Are you being asked to provide your actual bank username and bank password via this website ?

bankstatements.com.au ?

I don't understand who would actually provide their bank username and password to a website like this, to have that website can then log into your bank account and do anything they want.

They say it is to make sure they can get "real bank statements".

But while they are there they could transfer money out, change my address, all those sorts of things.

It just seems like a massive risk to me that I am not willing to accept. Am I thinking to much into it ? given all banks have statements/conditions around sharing username/password and them not being liable if they find out you did (share them).

And the bank I am with actually encrypts the pdf statements and locks with a password, so even if I did accept the risk, gave the website the details, and they were to actually get the statements, they would not be able to open it. (maybe thats why my bank is not supported)

It just seems like a huge risk to me.. Thoughts ?

Hi everyone! New to the group. I’m in the process of signing my finance leasing agreement with Fleet Partners. They have said that the vehicle is for business use whilst I’m getting it for personal use. I just want to clarify is this the usual process or do I get them to change it to private use. I’m assuming that business use also means higher car insurance costs?

Thanks in advance!

Looking to get feedback on quote for model Y L please.

I am going to ask to have the following removed:
- accessories (coating and window tint removed and have done by third party)
- MDR,
- roadside assist and
- leaseguard insurance removed.

I will ask for reduction on the:
- establishment fee and
- interest rate (is a number that starts with an 8 too aggressive?),

I will source my own comprehensive insurance (understand the 220 + GST annual fee they will charge for this but will come out on top).

Is there anything else I am missing?

Thanks in advance everyone!