The Best Way to Buy a Company Car Take the time to consider your particular circumstances before deciding on a payment plan.

Ask three business owners the best way to pay for a company vehicle, and you'll likely get three different answers: buy, finance or lease.

Jonathan Crandall, who runs J.C. Landscaping in Danvers, Mass., is a big believer in holding out for financing deals that pop up at the end of a model year. "If you're in good shape financially and have some working capital in the bank, take advantage of 0 percent financing," he says. "It's free money."

If great deals aren't being offered when you need them, then lease. You'll usually have a smaller upfront payment and smaller monthly payments with a lease vs. financing. Matt Shoup, founder of M&E Painting in Loveland, Colo., wishes he'd followed this advice a few years ago, when he purchased a 2007 Honda Pilot, 2005 Chevy pickup and 2005 Chevy van. "We made the mistake of buying three vehicles all at once, in cash. We definitely needed the vehicles, but it really tied our hands from a cash-flow standpoint and limited our ability to grow the business," he says.