Company car choice

I am a couple of months away from replacing my company car and was curious as to anyone’s suggestions and experiences.

A couple of guidelines which I have to work within. The car needs to be a four door saloon, needs to be a diesel and has to be a booted saloon (no hatch backs or estates). I average about 50,000 miles a year and cover the whole of UK with work. Regular 150-mile plus trips are the norm & the longest drive I have done in any given day was Glasgow to Bristol.

My current car is a Honda Accord iDtec 2200cc turbo diesel. This is a very capable car, top spec with the sat-nav, multi changer and Bluetooth/iphone connectivity (both of which must be in the new car). It’s a hard car to criticise and the local dealer support has been extremely good. I only have two minor grumbles with it. One is the company car tax, where a number of its competition beat it and could therefore save me money. But is that money saving worth the hassle? The second is the tyres, which are 19” low profiles and nearly £300 a corner (which annoys me as they need changing every 20,000 although my local tyre fitter now sends me Christmas cards). The Honda is a 6-sp manual which I like but I wouldn’t rule out an auto.

I’ve got around £26-£30k to play with (although the less I spend, the more that goes back into my annual bonus). Current likely contenders are the Audi A4/5, BMW 325 and potentially an entry-level Merc E class. I haven’t looked at the VW/Skoda or Nissan as I don’t think they could cope with the mileage as well as the Honda (I had a Passat a few years ago and wasn’t especially impressed with build quality. Same with a Nissan).

And don’t even waste your breath suggesting anything French. Much as I love France, they really ought to stick to wine & philosophy and leave car-building to the grown-ups.

So, your thoughts and experience please? Especially any dealing you have had with Audi, BMW & Merc dealers.

Cheers, Taff

 

There you go Taff...tis' the perfect choice for the discerning welsh gentleman.

 

Does your Honda have run-flats? It's ruined the ride in a mate of mines BMW compared to his old one.

 

Been looking at this recently because somebody is trying to flog us a "Green Car Scheme"

In that price range and in terms of company car taxation, there is one really that stands out: BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics.

BMW 3 Series 320d Efficient Dynamics 4dr Review | What Car?

 

I have to say Mercedes, you can fly out and pick it up from the factory, drink German beer and have a pleasant drive back.
Very good engines and auto box, refined, economical and fast.
My boyfriend has a Toyota Avensis which is alright, not caused him no trouble and he drives high miles.



Posted from the ARRSE Mobile app (iOS or Android)

 

You forgot to mention the Satnav that gets you lost

 

The Volvo S60 appears a good motor. A mate at work has the V60 and he loves it.

The SE LUX Diesel is priced around £28 - 303k

All the spec, safe and *cough* reliable

Volvo V60 - Premium 5-door Sportswagon

http://www.volvocars.com/uk/Documents/Volvo-S60V60-pricelist.pdf

 

Oh yes, the SatNav is ****.


Posted from the ARRSE Mobile app (iOS or Android)

 

I don't have one, but two of my friends have Skoda Octavias - they rate them highly - plenty left over to go in your bonus too.

 

Octavia's only come as Hatches or Estates

 

no, got the 19" Pirelli's that are unique to the car apparently, along with a repair/inflator kit in lieu of a spare

Much as I would enjoy that, I can't see the boss letting me have that jolly. Though he might fancy it!

Hmmm, hadn't considered the Vulva, wll look at that one, cheers F-C. Do they still come with motorcycle ditectors as standard?

Good point Ugs. I don't pay for the fuel (though personnal mileage is claimed back at source - and I keep this low) so thats not my concern. I am more interested in lower emmisions (and hence lower company car tax) than I am in actual, acheivable mpg

 

Is a double cab pickup tax viable?

 

Yes, 13% in 2013/14, rising by 1% each year.

If you do not want to pay tax at all then you have got a problem: even Zero emission vehicles now get a 5% tax hit, so what CO2 band are you happy with.

It really limits the choice

 

No they don't.


Posted from the ARRSE Mobile app (iOS or Android)