Never thought I’d start a ‘what car’ thread.

Wife’s company car is up for renewal. She can go up to maximum P11D value of £21149 or maximum CO2 120g/km.

She has a focus at the moment which meets all our requirements. I’ve suggested (including a new Focus);

Volvo V40 D2 ES – CO2: 88g/km, P11D: £20,540

Seat Leon TDI Ecomotice SE – CO2: 87g/km, P11D: £19,605

Skoda Octavia CR Greenline – CO2: 85g/km, P11D: £20,095

Peugeot 308 BlueHDI 120 Active – CO2: 82g/km, P11D: £19,040

My car knowledge is next to nothing. I like blue ones.

Anything I’m missing or you would care to suggest? Any experience of the above or cars to avoid?

I’d go with… Focus

I’d probably go with a Focus or a Golf!

Golfs are low on tax. I had a Golf 1.6 Blue motion

Golf.

I’ve had a Volvo V40 D3 for the last 3 months and love it. Far nicer place to sit than any of its German rivals. The D2 is supposed to be a great engine.

From your list I would cross the Peugeot off straight away.

Best of taking a drive in a few of them, but my brother has the V40 as his company car and it’s a very nice car. He likes it, but prefers the Golf that he had previously. I think he just fancied a change.

If I had to choose from that list, I’d go for the Leon or the V40.

How about a Honda Civic, I have a diesel tourer which is brilliant.

LeeW – Member
How about a Honda Civic, I have a diesel tourer which is brilliant.

Oooooh, really!? Only seen a couple of these on the road, but thinking that it’ll probably be the car I get when i finally replace mine in a couple of years. Need to wait until there are some on the second hand market nearer my price range.
Pleased with it, then? I think I’ll be looking at the Civic tourer with the 1.6 diesel or the Seat Leon estate with the 2litre diesel.

A couple of guys in my office have recently got the Ford Focus eco-thingys with the really small engines (1-litre I think) both are really impressed.

I had a BMW 118D (which I loved) and now have a Passat 2.0 Bluemotion, which is dull but a great car.

If it were me, i’d get something from the VAG group.

What about some Korean motors:
Hyundai i30/i40
Kia Ceed/Pro-ceed
Kia Soul

V40 without a shadow of a doubt. THE best seats in any car on the road.

I’ve had the V40 on loan when the V60 has been in getting serviced, and it’s a damned nice little car – the seats are the same across all Volvos, bar the fabrics. Drove from Leogang to Exeter in a day, and no probs at all.

Had Skodas, Audis, BMW, etc – nothing has come close to the driving comfort of the Volvos.

If she’s not doing all day drives, it may not be an issue though!

V40 is a cracker of a car and would be my choice

the farther in law has a 1.6d bluemotion golf which is also very good

Forgot about the Golf or the i30, cheers.

I’ll be quietly pushing for the Volvo, have always had a soft spot for them.

do not get the i30. Shite quality

New focus due out in a month.

a slightly left field choice (and my current car) is a VW polo GT bluemotion. less than 120 g/co2 (its free road tax) 1.4T petrol that will do 0-60 in 7.5 sec’s and can do 60MPG. (I got 53MPG on the last tank of fuel)

great little car!

but is a small car so may not be for you!

I teat drove the Volvo when choosing mine, the Civic was just smoother/less rattily. I got far more equipment on the Civic thaan on the Volvo, there’s far less of them on the road too which I quite like.

The boot on the Civic is far biggerer too, I can get my rooad bike in the boot without putting the seats down.

I have the 1.6 TDI SE Bluemotion Tech Golf and it’s an excellent motor.

Should creep under the P11D value, is low CO2 and does on average 68 MPG for me.

I had a new A3 sportback. They’re nice.

How important is the BIK rate? A hybrid like the Toyota Prius is a dull drive, but great on tax.

Is the Volvo v40 just a focus underneath?

I’ve got the focus edge 1.6d econetic. 88g/kg co2. Saves me a small fortune in fuel. Depends on other priorities though.

As already said, Volvo has the best seats of any car on the market. Also for fear of sounding like an old git, they are very safe. But in fairness so are many of the others. Not sure if they do a business edition in the v40 range but if so, definitely worth checking it out.
Test drive your top 3 and enjoy choosing. It’s the best bit of any job.

I had a V40 R-Design D2..
Was genuinely gutted when I had to hand it back when I left that job..
Loved it.

A3 Sportback.

engineeringcowboy – Member
do not get the i30. Shite quality

Really is that based on real life experience or prejudice?
I’ve had an i30 for 5 years, car was a year old before I got it (was a garage test drive car) not had one problem with it, 100,000 miles and still solid and going strong, in fact only getting better
Previous car was a BMW 1 series, before that a Passat
The Hyundai is streets ahead in build quality than both

Have a look at the new Mazda 3. I’ve just bought one privately, 2.0l petrol Sport Nav. It’s got all the toys, even full leather, 118g of CO2s, £21195 P11D with the leather, £20195 without.

16% BIK this year, 18% next.

Great car, very comfortable on the long haul back from Scotland where the dealer was to Birmingham where I live.

http://www.mazda.co.uk/cars/mazda3-hatchback/specs-and-prices/

VW polo GT

is a small car so may not be for you! [/quote]

Polos are nearly the size of an old Golf and make quite good use of their space. As with most small cars they’re probably a but miserly on standard equipment compared to their larger brethren

I have to agree on the build quality of the I30, I’ve driven a few as hire cars and the I thought the build quality wasn’t great – no where near as good as the other suggestions up there.

new a class merc ? – I have the golf 1.6 blue motion as co car and its great but would have got the merc if it had been available when i had to pick the motor up

iain1775 – Member

engineeringcowboy – Member
do not get the i30. Shite quality

Really is that based on real life experience or prejudice?
I’ve had an i30 for 5 years, car was a year old before I got it (was a garage test drive car) not had one problem with it, 100,000 miles and still solid and going strong, in fact only getting better
Previous car was a BMW 1 series, before that a Passat
The Hyundai is streets ahead in build quality than both

Unfortunately yes. Hyundai’s are a firm favourite with our fleet. I don’t mean they fall apart, however even a month old you lean you leg on the centre console and it just creeks and creeks. Nice to drive, and good equipment for the price ( a reason they are so popular) but I hate creeks and rattles, and therefor they, for me, are the rubbish.

My tuppence worth:

firstly she’ll pay tax on any company car so do not ‘over consume’.

my last company car was Seat Leon. It was a great car to drive… as long as you were going forwards. Absolute shite rest view. Even after 1.5 years I never learned to judge it properly.

i test drove the Civic which was an unengauging drive but would’ve been much more practical.

isn’t Volvo basically Ford these days?

on the Polo front what about a Fabia Estate (it is skodatrackworld after all…)? Practical, smallish and fairly cheap.

Where my wife works, they have a load of Hyundai’s and she reckons they are always in the garage for repairs compared to the rest of the cars. She doesn’t normally comment on particular aspects of cars, but has mentioned a few times that the gear change on the Hyundai’s feel horrible.
She brought it up as I mentioned the i40 estate as potential bike lugger.

metalheart – Member
my last company car was Seat Leon. It was a great car to drive… as long as you were going forwards. Absolute shite rest view. Even after 1.5 years I never learned to judge it properly.

The latest Leon is a lot more conventional in shape, so I don’t think the rear view would be as much of an issue as it used to be.

One of the common complaints about the newer Civic is the rear visibility, although I think it’s been imrpoved on the latest one; that split window with the spoiler going across it has been toned down at bit on the latest version.

Anything with a hybrid version ….means virtually no company car tax. All you pay is p11d on any extras you opt for.

a slightly left field choice (and my current car) is a VW polo GT bluemotion. less than 120 g/co2 (its free road tax) 1.4T petrol that will do 0-60 in 7.5 sec’s and can do 60MPG. (I got 53MPG on the last tank of fuel)

great little car!

but is a small car so may not be for you!

Totally off topic, but how long have you had it for? One of these is on my radar as my next company car because even optioned up its dirt cheap and I want petrol again. Small engined diesels are horrible to drive and the big area of development seems to be small but powerful petrol engines.

My choice us a three way tie between the Polo Bluemotion GG, Mini Cooper and Seat Leon FR 1.4. I’m going down this route because I don’t want a Golf, A Class or Focus with a weedy engine.

Back to the OP, I’ve find Ford bad as a company car….high list prices and CO2 making it a double whammy. If your wife doesn’t do too many miles, one of the small higher powered for it’s size petrol engines make a lot of sense now that CO2 has been reduced and economy increased. The lower list price is a benefit too, so more car fir the cash.

I’m really enjoying my Alfa Giulietta. After a year of driving its been perfect. 1.4 turbo petrol gives plenty of grunt and its a beautiful car.

Worth a thought if you like something a little more interesting than the usual.