I’ve been offered a company car. I’d really like a big estate such as Mondeo but it’s outside my pay grade. So I have to go down a model size, apparently they are cheaper for our company to lease.
What is the best medium sized estate car with comfy seats for long journeys e.g. Leeds to Fort William. I’m quite tall at 6ft 1.5 so prefer as big as possible for comfort
Also, I want one that can take an old fashioned flange towbar (not the detachable swan-neck types) so I can use my current bike rack.
I’m new to all this but comfy, medium sized with low emissions and lots of oomph and able to get a flange towbar fitted is what I need.
Any ideas?
thanks

Skoda Octavia new model?

I had an Octavia estate, it was great. You can have a flange type towbar fitted to most cars, just check with the lease company about fitting them, the company we use just said as long as it was fitted by a proper company & E marked it was all good. The local Nissan dealer wanted £450 to fit fit a towbar when I ordered my car, but a local company came out & fitted it for around £200 & after chatting to the fitter, guess who fits all the towbars at my local Nissan dealer.

Seat Exeo Estate?

What a shit thread! Clearly you want an A6 avant Le Mans so go and get it!

I want Jaguar XF Sportbrake but HR don’t agree with me
😉

Focus will probably be one of the options. You should ask them for a list from the lease company that meet your criteria, thats what I do when new cars are due.

Rockape63 – Member
What a shit thread! Clearly you want an A6 avant Le Mans so go and get it!
POSTED 36 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Had one for two years. I wouldn’t recommend one.

B. Oring.

Apparently we give them cars and they give us the costs
HR prefer to let them do the work which means I have to keep going back with 4 or 5 suggested cars

I had an a4 avant for a year. The dullest car I’ve ever had.

Just moved jobs and been given a Kuga. Not my choice, but at least it has some character.

Focus estate sounds like it might suit. Nice big boot.

Avoid new Octavia. Had a drive in one recently and it was awful. Way overrated IMO

Apparently we give them a list of cars and they give us the costs
HR prefer to let them do the work which means I have to keep going back with 4 or 5 suggested cars

Bizarre time delay double post?

Had a focus which was vastly better than the Vectra that replaced it. New Astra looks ok and Kia Ceed seemed reasonable too.

Test drive a few 1st if you are going to be stuck with it for a while. Old Astra had terrible seats, couldn’t have lived with them.

Focus estate, the 1.6 tdci is the only decent sized estate that drops under 109g co2 (or was when I changed mine).
Yes the engine is underpowered, and don’t go for the 18 inch wheels cos it makes it worse!

Less relevant if your leasing but the drop to 109g co2 not only drops your tax bill but it means your company can offset the full car cost against corporation tax, so I used that as justification to get the top spec one and tick every option box 🙂 if I’m going to get everywhere slowly ill do it comfortably, in gadget heaven thank you very much!

Also look at 3 series touring, good on tax and mpg if you get the sensible ones, and residuals keep lease costs low. Hyundai i30 could be worth a look also, very similar to focus – I was sold on the i40 until I realised you couldn’t fold the rear seats flat, not sure if its the same with the i30 but that’s about the stupidest mistake to make with an estate IMO.

Golf estate? Decent performance, rock solid build, plenty fast enough, big enough (the boot is massive) and fuel consumption levels that will make an oil sheikh weep

Not too suer what the anti A6 comments are about – and the Op wouldn’t get one anyway. If they can’t get a Ford Mondeo then the A4 / BMW 3 is out as well.
Which is good because the A4 has to be the dullest car on earth to drive.

As mentioned look at the skoda, the Mazda 6, the Focus (folks rave about them – I hated ours, Toyota Arvensis ( it’s not exciting but it is big, VW Golf Estate is probably the sensible choice. Megane as an outsider choic

I’m not a big GM fan , so i won’t suggest the astra

Check the lease company allows you to put a towbar on it.

Ours won’t 😥

I had a Golf Estate, great car, but boring to drive, and the clutch died at 81k..

Got a Volvo V40 now, and love it.

I was hoping to get the towbar fitted as an optional extra.
Do any new cars have a flange type towbar on the options list or are they all these swan-neck or detachable ones?

Not too suer what the anti A6 comments are about

Because they are horrible!

Mine goes back in September but I have been convinced I should test drive the new version as it is meant to be much better. Otherwise I will be looking to a Mondeo.

If things haven’t changed too much you’ll be better off getting an aftermarket towbar once you have the car – if you get if through the lease company you have to pay for it, then pay tax on it too!

Focus estate, the 1.6 tdci – underpowered

Might still be a contender if you get it chipped on the QT…

BlindMelon – Member
Avoid new Octavia. Had a drive in one recently and it was awful. Way overrated IMO

Which one did you drive?

I had a new Octavia Hatchback as a demo for the weekend (2.0D 150PS Elegance model) and was quite impressed. The build quality was excellent and the quality of the drive was really quite good.

I’m in a similar situation to the OP. My current lease car is about to expire and I’m going through the same selection process. I’ve finally narrowed it down to 3 – Octavia Estate, Merc B180 sport (coming for a demo this weekend) and a Mazda 6 estate (coming for a demo next weekend).

I’d love another BMW 320D, but they’re now outside our (reduced) allowable maximum P11D value.

You could also ask for a car allowance as an alternative to a lease car, that way you can choose what you want within your budget.

As for all the A4 haters, you obviously don’t have much idea when it comes to cars. I own an A4 Avant 3.0 TDi Quattro and it certainly isn’t dull to drive. A mate of mine owns an S4 Avant and it’s a total beast of a car. You can keep your Mondeos, Octavias, Vectras etc. I’ll have an Audi anyday 🙂

As for all the A4 haters, you obviously don’t have much idea when it comes to cars. I own an A4 Avant 3.0 TDi Quattro and it certainly isn’t dull to drive. A mate of mine owns an S4 Avant and it’s a total beast of a car. You can keep your Mondeos, Octavias, Vectras etc. I’ll have an Audi anyday

I am an A6 hater and I *own* an A6 (2.0tdi S-Line Le Mans) and have owned it from new.

It is fine chugging down a motorway but for anything like fun driving I still prefer our 6 yr old Mazda 3 2.0 Sport petrol.

freddyg – Member
Merc B180 sport

I’ve got one (2010 old shape), and really like it. Very spacious inside, and it’ll take a road bike in the boot without dropping any seats.

My a4 comment was based on a 3 series as a bench mark. My avant just felt dead to drive in comparison with my e90 which was it’s predecessor.

Which one did you drive?

Freddy it was the mid range model, one down from elegance i think, DSG gearbox and I would guess around 100 bhp. I got it as a hire car and when told at the desk that’s what it was going to be I was looking forward to driving it given all the reviews you read about them. But I have to say I was really disappointed. My biggest gripe was the road noise, it was terrible particularly on the motorway. My colleague in the passenger seat took a call on his mobile and I had to slow to 50 for him to hear the other person. I thought the seats were really uncomfortable after an hour or so and it was poorly spec’d for a mid range model. No cruise control really bugged me. The ride was very harsh as well.

My Mrs has a Mk6 golf S and while it’s also got quite a bit of road noise it’s nowhere near as bad as the new Octavia. Economy wasn’t great either, although it only had 200 miles on the clock so that may improve?

My car is an Insignia, not by choice, but it’s a much better drive and a nice cabin to sit in.

I did however like the DSG box so it wasn’t all bad!

I test drove an A4 Avant a few years back. Had to go to the dentist afterwards as it had rattled all ny fillings out.
Suspension?

Indeed. You’d think rock hard suspension would deliver sharp handling.

Alas, not in my experience.