I’m looking at new company cars and it’s pretty much down to the Audi A4 Avant or BMW 3 series Touring, are there any alternatives worth a look which I may have missed? Thanks.

Criteria?

Merc?

are there any alternatives worth a look which I may have missed

do we know what you’ve looked at?

Don’t overlook more fully loaded cars lower down the heirarchy, like Skoda/VW etc.

Lexus?

Jag

Do you get a list?

Volvo?

If its ride and handling, you’re after, get a Mondeo. I think Audi make pretty cars, but I’m not impressed with the quality or durability.

Even prettier cars come from Alfa, but I’m not sure they’ve improved either their durability or customer service.

I’ve always liked the look of those C300s, but no idea what their like to drive / own.

if you plan to use the estate boot for anything then I would go for a larger car from a less expensive make as the 3 series and A4 are pretty tiny in the back tbh.

Skoda Superb would be a nice choice if the budget fits.

A Mercury will turn heads*
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*likely for all the wrong reasons

B&Q I’ll do you a nice wheel barrow.

Sorry for being vague, criteria is an estate with maximum CO2 of 160g/km, must have Bluetooth(company policy) and DAB radio(personal requirement) with max budget of £32,500. Is it just me or are all cars that meet this criteria just a bit dull?

Tough one – I recently went through the same choice as you and as nice as the options were on others i couldn’t give up the driving dynamics of a BMW with Sport suspension.

Passat is a nice piece of kit though.

Honda, Lexus or Toyota.
But my opinion is that the VAG group is vastly overrated based on their reputation gained in the 80s and BMW are expensive.
Cars are generally bought on looks though, so it’s what you like the look of yourself..

i couldn’t give up the driving dynamics of a BMW with Sport suspension.

I would be interested to see an updated comparison carried out on TG. They put a 3 series and an equivalent powered Mondeo around their track. Mondeo beat the 3 series.

^^ As above, the new mondeo estate will have a useful sized boot / trunk.

Mondeo Titanium X meets your requirements. The 2L diesel CO2 is 129 (that’s the only figure I have to hand).

There’s a new one out soon too (early next year I think).

Is it just me or are all cars that meet this criteria just a bit dull?

It’s you, and many other blokes. What kind of thrills are you exactly looking for on the M3?

I would be interested to see an updated comparison carried out on TG. They put a 3 series and an equivalent powered Mondeo around their track. Mondeo beat the 3 series.

Might be the case – but I bet you would enjoy the BMW a lot more! I know I did when I test drove them (plus A4/3, V40, Lexus hybrid, Passat, mundaneo)

And for my grade at work – the performance of the BMW was the best of the lot. 185hp, 280lb torques and CO2 of 119g – mustn’t grumble! I have been getting a tad under 50mpg for 14k miles – I chose a 120d btw (over a 3 or 5 as I mainly dart around London)

It’s you, and many other blokes. What kind of thrills are you exactly looking for on the M3?

What I mean is that if you look at the current hatchbacks on the market there is a real variety of shapes and they are offered in a variety of colours, whereas these cars all look pretty much the same and are available in shades of silver, grey or blue!

I’da gone SAAB but they’ve gone bump.
Volvo next.
Lexus (bit pricey no doubt and perhaps on the next band)
Honda.

SKoda.. have you looked at Skoda?

Passat Estate? The latest once actually drives nicely, looks good in silver and less bloated than the Mondeo. Lots of kit for your money (especially with options up to your £32k) and has a certain understated elegance about it, like Audi used to have.

It also have a huge boot and is in my eyes more usable than a 5 series estate.

Can you still get the Alfa 159 Sportswagon in the UK?
From my experience of owning one its was a great car, in diesel form very sporty and economical to run, good looking, handled well and, no one will believe this, had a very good quality build and was relable (for me over 2 years anyway).
Only car I have owned where total strangers came up to me and noted what an attractive car it was, well 3 people anyway.

Another car I think is quite well styled is the Insignia. I may look at these things with a slightly different view to most, but I think Vauxhall did a grand job on that saloon / estate car.

No idea about R & H, etc.

Might be the case – but I bet you would enjoy the BMW a lot more! I know I did when I test drove them

Ok, I’ll have a nibble… I buy my cars with my own money and I’ve enjoyed Mondeos as for what they are, they’re just about the best handling that level on money can buy, less expensive to service and repair, imo. Extremely useful and spacious. Cracking car for the cash. But my experience in this regard isn’t perhaps directly relevant to this thread.

whereas these cars all look pretty much the same

Well yeah, that’s convergent design for you.

FWIW last time I looked for cars, they all looked dead boring inside apart from the Passat. Ok so that was a lower grade of car.

There’s always the 7 seater Prius of you want to save on company car tax 🙂

Had an Insignia for a few days recently, I’d agree with the well styled comment (maybe not the nose imo), but the engine (SRi so a 2.0 diesel I’d guess?) was pretty unrefined compared to the equivalent BMW plant

you could easily get the top of the range Skoda Superb for under £32k with the 170ps TDI engine. Has all the toys and you can add quite a few options or opt for DSG or 4×4.

Any other criteria?

[*]Estate
Maximum CO2 of 160g/km
Must have Bluetooth(company policy)
DAB radio(personal requirement)
Max budget of £32,500[/*]

Do you get a list of all the cars that are available in your price range?

I got a spreadsheet of all the cars, removed the ones which would kill me on company car tax; removed the ones which were unsuitable and ended up with a list of 5-10 cars.

I popped around the dealerships to look at the specs and have a sit in them.

My criteria was:
As economic as possible.
Estate to chuck stuff in the boot.
Bluetooth
Not cost a chuffin fortune. I prefer to spend the money when I get there, not getting there.

In the end if was a choice of:
Focus Estate
Mondeo Estate
Golf (Plus)
Volvo V50

I went for the V50, and it’s a lovely motor. It’s not got the most oomph, it’s well kitted out, will do 50+ Mpg every day, and suits me.

Why not consider the new V60? They look rather nice.
Otherwise a specced out Merc?

Range Rover Evoque? Not sure how good they are on emissions though.

Well realistically all cars are essentially dull. However I guess the other options are a Lexus (the most dull possible) or an Alpha which will go wrong endlessly but would be a laugh!

Lexus CT 200h – 10% BIK

Mates just got one and it looks very nice.

Alpha’s current range only consists of the Mito and Giulietta and Lexus don’t do an estate.

you could actually just scrape an E-class CDI estate and it would meet the DAB requirement if you pay £700 for the CD changer and DAB module taking the price to £32k.

Latest Volvo V60 looks nice, but not sure about fitting your criteria. Easy for you to check though.
As with the A4 and 3 Series it doesn’t look particularly voluminous.

My sister has got a 3 series estate and I was amazed how small the load space is.

XF Sportbrake if you can wait a little longer, you might just squeeze a boggo one in on your budget with some haggling.

I guarantee it’ll drive better than any of the other options.

But my opinion is that the VAG group is vastly overrated based on their reputation gained in the 80s

I’ve just got a Mk6 Golf and, compared to the ’57 plate Mk5 we have, the the general feeling of quality is much higher. Maybe they’ve upped their game?

Solo – Member
I would be interested to see an updated comparison carried out on TG. They put a 3 series and an equivalent powered Mondeo around their track. Mondeo beat the 3 series.

Irrelevant

ericemel – Member
Might be the case – but I bet you would enjoy the BMW a lot more!

Relevant

8)

Can help but think Mondeo / Superb are great alternatives. Firends recently got a superb, lovely car. 520d touring might sneek in under budget, dont quote me though

What about those infinit cars http://www.infiniti.com/gb/models/current_models/g_coupe.html