Company car - closing in on final one i think

Pug

Pug

Pug

Soldato
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Reet, new company car time - i cant have the cash, cant have a BM, Merc or Lexus.

Looked over the range and i want decent performance (180ish BHP and obv comparable torque). My criteria is saloon, medium sized, leather, climate, cruise, CD and possibly parking sensors (tho not too fussed). I would be happy to remap it through a friend, to get me up to the power i want, and the budget is 20 - 24k (depending on residuals etc), and i can chip in a bit each month (on top of Tax costs) to make it up if required. I do a fair few miles, say 24-30k annually, and my ownership and driving style is probably harder on a car than the average.

Having looked at Mondeos, Accords new Avensis and more I have narrowed it down to the following (dependent on pricing etc):

1. Mazda 6 2.2 Diesel Sport 179BHP, no remap. Full leather and all i need - should be comfortable in budget. Nervous about how resilient it will be to the life i'll give it.

2. Alfa 159 Lusso 1.9JTDM (150BHP, mapped to 185BHP) again, full leather, pretty car, good engine - i have serious reliability concerns.

3. Audi A4 S-line 140 TDi (good for ~170 after map). Top end of budget, but S-Line party dress is nice, and no conerns about reliability. Has part-leather with cloth (may be able to stretch to Alcantara leather). I like the styling, have a standard one now - top, top end of allowance so would possibly have to contribute. HOWEVER< my current one ('56) is bullet proof, and i know it will last and work reliably.

Thoughts, opinions? Yet to drive any of them,that will be the deciding factor, but appreciate input.
 
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Would be the Mazda 6 2.2 Sport out of that list, i really like them + you get a better level of kit than an A4 of similar price.

After a few issues my fokes have had with the 2.2 I-CDTI Accord it looks like its being shopped in for the new Mazda 6 (in the same trim you want).

Also given time a map will be available which should take it over 200bhp.
 
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New A4 is duller than the Passhat to drive. Ive driven the Mazda (167) and the Accord GT, and I have to say, they are both on a par in the handling stakes, the Accord feels a nice place to be inside, and it looks less chintzy imo.

Ive narrowed my list down to:

Merc C180K SE
Accord 2.2 GT Nav
And begrudgingly 120D M sport.

The new Audi is a bit of let down tbh, doesnt feel as quality as the last one, and I hate that damn handbrake, the CR engine is pretty smooth for a diesel.Mazda has masses of toys tho, its not cheap inside, just doesnt feel as quality as the others.
 
If anyone has any links to good lease hire companies then please drop em in here, I've still not ruled out doing a lease jobbie.

The Passat goes back in May.

Can't come soon enough! Never before have I hated a car so much.
 
Fox - i appreciate your usually abrasive suggestion, given the criteria what would you have?

Peter - the BM rule is a werid one, but even the country manager doesnt have one (think he has an A6). Its not so much a cost issue, its a presentation issue (would you believe). I work in sales, and it may give the impression we're charging too much (again, would you believ?)

I ruled out the accord because the styling didnt really do anything for me. The '09 Mazda and the Alfa i think look pretty tasty, the Audi is there purely because it does it job without moaning about it really (worry/hassle free driving).

How resilient/reliabe are Alfas now?

I was initially looking at the 6 MPS, 3 MPS and new Golf GTI, but when i worked out they'd be costing me £500 a month in tax because of the CO2 (inc fuel tax, 40% threshold) i wept a bit and opted for a diesel.
 
Skoda Octavia VRS TDI 170bhp, I opted for one after comparing tax percentages/C02 figures and what it was going to cost me each year.
The motor I ordered was during the time where they came with a 1k's worth of free extras which including a couple of my options meant I have cruise control, maxidot display, xenons with washers, air conned glove and armrest boxes, 18" alloys and leather armrest.
What actually swung it for me was the power and c02 emissions as they were lower than most similar outputting marques while still being affordable and better specced as standard. An example was the a3/4 you had to have a certain dash to get black head lining etc and it all added up.
 
One of the guys I MTB with has replaced his 9-3 with a new Mazda 6. I presume that's the Sport as the Bose stereo was bloody loud. Thought it looked great in black.
 
OllyM said:
I guess a Mondeo 2.2 TDCI Titanium X Sport is definitely out of the question?
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Whats better about it than the 6?

not against them, but the styling really does nothing for me. None of them are going to excite me in their drive, so i may as well have one i think looks the part.

I pretty much expected that to be a similar drive to the Mazda though to be fair (the mazda engine is a mazda part), and it doesnt really offer anything different for (imo) worse looks.

brendy - really not a fan of the Skoda either - i feel their designs are always 3 years out of date (or something). Plus the Mazda and Alfa have those toys (mostly) with similar levels of performance. I was pretty surpirsed by the Mazdas emssions actually.
 
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Personal preference I guess, personally I'd struggle to pick out of those cars. The A4 is 'nice', just very bland and I don't like the way it looks from behind.
 
OllyM said:
Personal preference I guess,
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fair enough i guess :)

i can have anything i want within budget, apart from the "luxury brands" and 4x4s.

So if you have a better suggestion, aside from the Mondy, be good to hear it.

Aard - Insignia is an unkown quantity at the moment for me - i have considered it, but not seen one in the flesh yet.
 
Pug said:
Aard - Insignia is an unkown quantity at the moment for me - i have considered it, but not seen one in the flesh yet.
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Judging by the fact that no one knows anything about this, you should test drive this as on a rare offchance, this may be quite good.

I hope not.

Just looked at the engine sizes and the quickest derv is a 160bhp engine which is around 9 seconds to 60. It's probably too slow for you :)
 
Would it not be better to go for something more fun than an A4? I take it all MOT's, servicing, running costs and repairs are covered by your company? In which case why not consider the Alfa? No doubt it'll be cheaper than the Audi, any work done in the next 3 years will be within warrenty anyway.

The Fiat/Alfa group have sharpened up the engine reliability anyway. You won't find many issues with the diesel. Only thing you'd have to worry about would be electric problems.

Can't say I know much about the 159 but there must be something more fun to drive than an A4.
 
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