Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 207 total)
  • Which company car to choose?
  • benho
    Free Member

    In the next couple of months I am the VERY fortunate position of choosing a new company car upto the value of £25000.

    Other than than comments of lucky bast.rd, any opinons on the following

    Ford Mondeo Titanium X 2.0 tdi estate
    VW Passat Highline 170bhp diesel estate
    Mazda 6 2.2 sport luxury estate

    No BMWs or Audi as I'm not paying top wack for a badge and basic spec.

    Let me know your thoughts. Cheers

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Mondeo or the Passat, if you ask me.

    Both are excellently made, with great engines. Mondeo boot is, IIRC, a little bigger than the Passat, which may count when it comes to getting bikes in there!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    The Accord estate is one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen. It makes me wince when I see it, and I think my Prius looks good!

    br
    Free Member

    1 Create list of wants.
    2 Check for cheapest cost to you (tax, personal fuel vs fully expensed)

    Last time I did this:
    1 Auto, petrol, 4/5 doors, cruise control
    2 Vectra 2.2sri petrol auto – about £15k

    And to put it in perspective my 'base' car was a 530i, and I got money back if I took a lower cost option.

    But tbh the tax on that meant that next time I bought my own, and was better off again.

    samuri
    Free Member

    The mondeo. Really nice cars, great to drive, very comfy.
    Passat's are great too and possibly better build quality, but I prefer the Mondeo myself. You couldn't go wrong with either but personally I'd got for the mondeo.

    oddjob
    Free Member

    Very happy with our Mazda 6. Good value and I can't find a bad thing to say about it. Also avoids being a Mondeo man.
    Passat is nice but costs more so maybe there is a tax implication…

    samuri
    Free Member

    I think my Prius looks good!

    LOL. You'll have to be more subtle than that when you're trolling.

    igm
    Full Member

    Ford S-Max. Drives well, looks OK and doubles as a bike van.

    I got a Mondeo and wish I'd gone S-Max. I had one for two weeks and it was spot on.

    Bregante
    Full Member

    The Accord estate is one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen. It makes me wince when I see it, and I think my Prius looks good!

    eh?

    joolsburger
    Free Member

    Not many cars look good to me, just transport. 25 k gets you pretty much the top accord and dealers and the trade love them.

    Ive driven one, quiet, comfortable and excellent seats if you do mileage that stuff counts.

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    Isn't the Mazda the same chassis as the Mondeo?

    If it was me I would go for the Mondeo though , it just looks the best of the three. I do like the Vectra from the back but the rest of it is a mess. And I am an Accord lover style-wise. I looked enviously at one this morning before getting into my new style TT 🙂

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    I looked enviously at one this morning before getting into my new style TT

    How was the drive to the salon? Busy day? Lots of highlights to do?

    😉

    Olly
    Free Member

    ladies!
    distinct lack of froggy options in there

    Laguna Sport tourer, or the citroen c5 tourer
    3L HDi with 240 bhp and more torque than you know what to do with.
    mmmmmm

    FWIW, my boss has a Mazda 6, and its just gone in for its FIRST works, which is changing the brake pads for the first time (and rotors)
    90k on the clock.

    chunkypaul
    Free Member

    i'm avoiding Fords next time round at their CO2 ratings and list prices are excessive compared to their rivals

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    How was the drive to the salon? Busy day? Lots of highlights to do?

    lahlahlah I'm not listening. Anyway I don't care, it is a wonderful car

    backhander
    Free Member

    My neighbor has a TT. She's an air head hostess.
    Ginger, but an ample bosom to compensate. The neighbor that is, not the car.

    luke
    Free Member

    Monedo and Passats are easier to find tyres for, compared to 6's c5's and Lagunas.
    In a round about way I work in the tyre department for a lease company or 2

    fadda
    Full Member

    No idea how much they are, but has anyone looked at a skoda superb estate…?

    bol
    Full Member

    Prius is the cheapest car tax wise that you can easily get bikes in the back of. Loaded with toys and much better to drive than you'd imagine. And yes, I think mine looks nice too.

    flatfish
    Free Member

    can i suggest the 2.0L volvo V50

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Bol – new 2009 onwards Prius or old 2003 onwards one?

    And that Accord pic is the only angle from where it looks merely ugly.. when approaching one on a motorway they are truly gopping.

    bobalong
    Free Member

    I know you said no BMWs, but I was in a similar situation and when all things considered, tax, fuel etc I only have to pay £2 per month more to have a touring 320d se! The 318d is13% tax.

    Another thought is go for a top spec A3 sportback with a tow bar or roof mounted bikes, the 2.0tdi is 13% tax! You'll save around £60 a month in tax!

    I created a geeky spreadsheet, I'll email it if you want.

    One other thing, the tax set up changes again next year…. Check out the AA website, it is quite handy to see what you'll pay now and next year.

    bol
    Full Member

    Molgrips – 2009. Only it's own mother could love the previous one.

    Jamze
    Full Member

    When you've worked out your shortlist, the benefit in kind tax calculator here can be useful…

    hora
    Free Member

    OP, you've got 25k. Isn't there anything else you can choose from? Those three are 'ok' if you do alittle minicabbing on the side 😕

    Come on, what else is on the list? 🙂

    5lab
    Full Member

    159 estate is meant to be great, but it does depend what you want out of a car

    have you actually got 25k to spend, or is it a lease, and the cars you've looked at are around that value? if the latter, its worth noting that due to better residuals you can normally get a more expensive bimmer or audi for the same monthly cost as a ford\vauxhall etc – ie £25k of mondeo costs the same as 30k of bmw

    JEngledow
    Free Member

    We've got a Mazda 6 and it's great, but if I was in your possition I'd probably be looking at the Alpha 159 Sportback and remember that as a company car it's not your pocket that gets emptied if it goes wrong! 😉

    hora
    Free Member

    159 estate

    😈

    Liftman
    Full Member

    Nissan Navara Tekna Connect – No company car tax as its classed as a van, leather interior all the gadgets you could want and one of the best satnav systems.

    clubber
    Free Member

    as a company car it's not your pocket that gets emptied if it goes wrong!

    No, but it's you who ends up stuck by the roadside… 🙂

    One of my mates has an Alfa as his company car – he says that the best way to drive a Fiat is to buy an Alfa – his Alfa is in the garage more than it's working so he's almost permanently driving the courtesy car which is a Fiat…

    FWIW, I've been looking at similar (second hand, 1 year old) cars and for me it was an easy choice to go for the Mondeo – drives well, good customer feedback and has loads of space (even in the hatchback version I'm getting. Plus (though of less interest for you as it's a company car), they're typically cheap to maintain as parts are cheap.

    hora
    Free Member

    Here we go….

    Funnily there was an article on toyota's recent woes in InGear last weekend….it pointed out that you never hear the press going on about various VAG ECU failures over the past 10yrs.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Bol, what MPG do you get?

    pealy
    Free Member

    b r has it dead right, the cost of the car to you in tax varies enormously so you really should be taking this into account. I'm with Bobalong on the spreadsheet approach, makes the decision making a bit more rational. Adding the toys you really want to a lower spec car can also open things up.

    And, for what it's worth, go test drive them! Last time I had to choose I looked at the Mondeo and was impressed by all the gadgets in a Titanium X for the money, until I drove it and compared it to a 320, no comparison, it's okay but a bit spongey and relatively noisy. Have a think about the "No BMWs or Audi" idea when you've had a few test drives..

    iain1775
    Free Member

    No BMWs or Audi as I'm not paying top wack for a badge and basic spec

    shame that as they have some of the lowest co2 emmisions and therefore company car tax, and my old BM had top spec for not much more than the Mondeo equivalent
    My company has just switched exclusively to 'premium' brands from Ford, Vauxhaul for company cars for this very reason
    ..although I opted out and am now about £280 better off a month in tax

    cp
    Full Member

    25k is ALOT of money for a rep-mobile mondeo or passat. Think I'd rather go for a lesser specced bm for that dosh.

    though if your list isn't dictated by the company and you're free to choose…

    Subaru Legacy diesel.

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    Passat would be my choice out of that list although the latest BMW 320d ED (I think) has stupidly low emissions and plenty of poke – drives nicely too.

    109g/km, around 60mpg yet 163bhp and 60 in 8 seconds – that really is quite incredible. List price is a bit silly (£27.5k for the base spec saloon) but it'll hold it's value and be cheap to run.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I'd rather have a better specced Passat/Mondy. Who cares about firm handling and driveability when you're in a traffic jam on the M25? Equipment matters to me.

    mundiesmiester
    Free Member

    Try a test drive of one of these and prepare to be amazed.

    hora
    Free Member

    Benho, back to basics (IMO).

    What aspects do you like in a car?

    Is that the latest Superb estate? The Octavia estate beats it hands down on looks IMO.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 207 total)

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