I need a new or nearly new car to buy/lease on the business and i’m stumped.

I’m doing about 40k miles a year, want an automatic (finally) and something nice to sit in.

Current contenders have been.

VW Golf GTI or GTD
Skoda Octavia vRS Petrol or Diesel

Be nice to hear real world experiences.

What else should I consider?

Thanks in advance

I’ve had a golf and octavia. And do similar miles. My golf was a mk6 and gave me awful back pain. The seats were very hard. The octavia is great. Loads of car for money can get either my full Susser or cx bike in with no wheels off. Massive boot great for kids etc. Would have another of them.

BMW 320d
Audi A4

The cars you have chosen so far are pretty much the same thing apart from the shell – they’re both VAG MQB cars, pick the one with boot size that suits you best.

Diesel is a gamble at the moment, the tide is turning, but as it’s a business lease resale is someone else’s problem. If you’re mostly motorways diesel might be better.

Forthcoming Skoda 245 looks like a beast.

Merc C class seems to be very cheap (it’s all relative) at the moment on lease thanks to good RVs – they don’t seem to turn up on people’s lists, but they’re very nice if you like the looks.

Well, while I might be getting on towards that sort of mileage, it’s never in a single marque, but I have driven several Golf GTD’s, and they are very nice places to be, very comfy, well equipped, go like the clappers when you need them to, the only issue might be increasing pressure on diesel ownership. No experience of the GTI, but I’d expect it to be very similar.
I did have brief go in a very low mileage Polo GTI, which was just nuts, a very quick little beast that was a huge amount of fun, around 185bhp in a little car, but it may not be quite what you’re after.
Octy’s are also very nice, I’ve got a ’51, had it eleven years, but it’s quite a big car, I’d be looking at something a bit more compact just for ease of parking the damned thing.

A work colleague recently went through this. He ended up with a top of the range non sport Merc 3 litre ish diesel or whatever their demonination is.

He basically said to me that the BMW gear boxes where the best, BMW, Audi & VAG were comparable on build quality, BMW drive was on the sporty end, Audi’s on the vague end, but his Merc despite (in his words) being a bit “old man” was the least effortless oppulent way to comfortably “waft” his way around the motorways.

How about a Skoda Superb estate – my FiL is on his second, both petrol turbo auto, and they are a very nice place to spend time.
If you’re doing 40k per annum, you need good seats and a comfy environment. You’ll be stuck in traffic a lot so for me comfort, ride quality and ergonomics should be higher up the priority list than 0-60 or bhp.

Really happy to sit and drive my 520d touring. F11 shape after 2010.

8 speed auto, you don’t really feel it change after 2nd.

Effortless.

My diesel vrs octavia was seen by 8 RAC men in 2 years. Owned from nearly brand new to 2 years old, (400 miles old to 49,000). I’m sure they’re not all as bad as that though.

Mondeo should be on your list. Great handling very comfortable and build quality to rival anyone.

Volvo S90 If I had to be in a car seat for 40k a year. Super comfortable, excellent ride, also safe and the roads are chock full of idiots.

BMW i3. Spend the money you save on a new bike.

For 40k pa you need the quietest, comfy-est, safest car you can afford, which will also be economical and quick enough – and probably it’ll need to get to 160k (4 years with no trouble).

Only car I ever had that fitted all the above (and did over 160k in 4 years) was a company Xantia diesel turbo I had in the 90’s.

Picking current cars, it’d be a diesel auto ‘family’ sized – although my current 435d xDrive would fulfil all the above, it wouldn’t be as cheap as something 2 litre or so.

For that amount of mileage you want something a bit more plush. A6 estate, E-class estate or perhaps the Jag Estate sportbreak thingy. Volvo also a worthy shout but anything “Rep” I’d avoid, if you can afford to do so. I love my Octavia VRS but wouldn’t want to do your mileage in one.

Citroen DS5s are a lovely place to be.

Picking up a Mercedes C-class estate tomorrow. £12988 on the road. Although diesels may be going out of fashion, I would assume you will still be able to buy diesel for many years to come so if you plan on keeping it for a long time then it’s fine. Mine does 55-60mpg too and does 0-60 in 7 seconds!

At those mileages a bigger car will definitely ride more smoothly and be quieter. The “German” cars (ie inc Skoda imo) are good at motorway miles as thats a key criteria for the domestic market. Also IME the bigger models tend to have more standard kit and price difference isn’t that great vs smaller models

Any Audi A3/4/5/6 with a 2.0 engine minimum, bigger the better (Q3 remarkably good on ride comfort for a small “suv” maybe too heavy on fuel)
Golf’s good, Passat better
Merc’s as above
Skoda Superb rides very nicely (did a 3hr taxi ride in one)
If you can cope with Japanese interior styling have a look at Lexus
Volvo V70

….

Personal experiences – my A6 Quattro Avant has been the best long distance car I have owned, just don’t try and get round a tight multi-story car park. 110k trouble free miles

Comfy car seats- you’ll be wanting a Volvo then…
https://www.carwow.co.uk/best/cars-with-the-best-seats-0070

Volvo. If you want somewhere comfy to seat for N+1 miles then Volvo seats are hard to beat.

Depending on how much space you want then in crease img size order

V40
V60
V70
S/V90

At the moment the bargain of the year is the few ex demonstrator V60 Polestars around the £30k mark.

Thanks for all the help – There is a few in there I hadn’t thought of. Volvo being one of them!

I’ve done nearly 5 years in a Mini Clubman so anything is going to be a step up for comfort!

Whatever you choose, I’d suggest it HAS to have adaptive cruise control and an automatic box.

Mate of mine spends a lot of time in traffic, claims this combo is a game changer.

I’m 2 months sand 5000 miles into ” ownership” of a Golf GTD which is a company car.

It’s such a well developed car ,a great blend of useful size, efficiency,comfort and performance I can’t think of much to better it for the money.

Prior to this I’ve had various Focii, Insignias, a Merc A class and a 320d. I actually prefer it to the 320d which is quite something because that was a great al rounder too.

I’d suggest it HAS to have adaptive cruise control and an automatic box.[/I]

Auto at least, in fact there’s never been a time when a manual was better than an auto for doing 40k pa.

40k miles? That’d be 3 refills of AdBlue a year on my C220D – which is very pleasant to drive 500 miles a week – as an alternative to the other German motors 😉

I just sold a Citroen DS5 Dsport 2 litre diesel. Comfiest seats I’ve ever had in a car for motorway cruising. Head up display was great, had all the toys you can want. Sufficiently quick in 2 litre diesel.

Downsides – not sure whether the auto version has a good gearbox or not, and it’s a bit ‘bargey’ to drive. It would corner ok if pushed but it felt like you were abusing it.

3 weeks ish into having a company car – Jaguar XE R-sport 163 diesel. Love it. Seats are quite as sofa line as the DS5 and in an ideal world I’d have upgraded to the seats that have adjustable lumbar support. That said I’ve done a 2 hour drive in it so far and got out still feeling fresh.

Handles a million times better than the DS5 and the 8 speed zf auto is great. Fuel economy is better than the DS5 yet I’ve been booting it everywhere so far as the novelty hasn’t worn off yet.

Despite going round corners well, the ride is still good. I compared to C220 / 320d / A4 but for the cost the Jag was better specced. Also the best compromise between handling and ride. It’s above the c class and Audi for handling and perhaps just behind an m sport 320d, but rides much nicer.

Plus well, just look at it – get so many compliments / questions about it everywhere I go.

You will get hammered on tax with a diesel, and it is only going to get worse…

Seriously you need to look at BIK over the next 3 years.

If your looking at a Golf GTI mpg isnt that important. Have you looked at the recent crop of hybrids? BMW 330e, VW Passat, Merc 350e?

All will be much cheaper for company lease than Golf GTI/GTD but the down side is that on high mileage you wont get great mpg, probably 30-40mpg.

I looked at hybrids but the only ones I could get in budget were the Toyota Prius drivetrained things or a Lexus 300h I think. I didn’t like the cvt gearbox.

That said I know a few people who have the Merc 350e and all of them are disappointed with the running costs. Essentially you’re driving round a big heavy 2 litre petrol turbo car once the battery runs out (which it does). Can’t imagine the BMW 330e will be any different.

I don’t understand why they’ve put in such large / powerful petrol engines in something meant to be economical. Unless they were just playing on the loophole so company car drivers. Ours have something genuinely quick without being smashed on Bik tax.

Surely a 1.6 litre turbo with a sensible power output (say 160bhp) would be sufficient – and get the electric motor primarily to boost it at low revs when it was a little lacking in torque.

I went diesel this time after much deliberating – I figure I’ll handle the increase in tax during the time I’ve got it and then get whatever is the best power source on the next car. Whether that be petrol / electric / hydrogen / butterfly’s etc.

At least the Jag has low co2 output and meets the latest diesel regs with the adblue treatment. I think the older standard of diesels will get hit hardest in the short term – the Euro 4/5 compliant ones.