Company car - closing in on final one i think

unclelonghair said:
You could get an S40 D5 with that budget - in either SE Lux or R Design SE trim. A little bit smaller than the others in your list, but very comfortable.
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well, i looked at these, but they didnt have an RDesign in the flesh. Was very impressed with the interior, the exterior would be ok in the RDesign party dress, and i have heard the D5 is a decent enough performer. Would warrant further attention i think.

As for the risks of remap and CO2 etc i think it would be VERY unlucky to get found out at a service unless they were specifically looking for it. Even then pleading dumb would be the easy route.

The family work/ed with main dealer servicing for years, and tbh they really arent that thorough - their schedules dont allow every minute detail to be checked. They ship in, service, get it out. If i had issues relating to ECU i'd get the friend to flash it back beforehand.

Also, yes, tax is based on CO2 emissions, but generally they dont increase much with a remap, and if they do so what? i pay enough tax in everything else that i wouldnt feel guilty about saving £15 a month through a remap and being taxed on a "std" engine.

probably illegal, but then so is doing 80 on the motorway -the risks are worth taking.

Also, dont really fancy french. Had my fill of them driving 205GTis, Saxo VTS etc. Great for what they were, but i need something a little more refined/solid nowadays (christ i sound old).

Going to get a test in the Volvo, Alfa (its getting some great reviews saying it JUST falls short of the 3 series, but its close enough to be serious competition), Mazda and Audi.

I'm curious is the new A4 worse than the last? I have the last gen, and tbh dont feel its that dull - just needs more grunt.
 
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[TW]Fox;13306348 said:
Guildford to Devon without Motorways is the A303, it's not the sort of road which you can enjoy a fun car on, lets put it that way.

Mind you, you'd have to go a good 40 miles out of your car to do it all on Motorway, there isn't a direct Motorway route from Guildford to Devon, so I think I'll just call BS and be done with it. That or your sense of direction absolutely sucks. Did you really go all the way up to Bristol, then the M4 all the way to Reading, then back down to Guildford on the way back? What on earth for?
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The A303 was the way we took on the way there then I went home via this route:

Clicky


THIS is pretty much the route we took going there. The A303 was fine but the Satnav took us through about 30 miles of tiny, one way roads that the car could hardly fit through. I didn't fancy doing it all again on the way home so set to SatNav to take us via a motorway.
 
Go for the Alfa ;)

I've just ordered one myself. I was particularly impressed by the 2.4 JTDM, but went for the 1.9 in the end. Also very impressed with the cabin and build quality :)
 
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FirebarUK said:
Go for the Alfa ;)

I've just ordered one myself. I was particularly impressed by the 2.4 JTDM, but went for the 1.9 in the end.
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Yeah you know you want to. There may never be another time when owning a car like an Alfa could be viable (as in something maybe not the most reliable) because as a private owner you're head will usually rule your heart.

You won't regret it.
 
I'd declare the remap to your insurance company. They will do anything to prevent a payout if you had an accident. Apparently some ECUs keep track of the times it has been flashed, too.
 
triggerthat said:
I'd declare the remap to your insurance company. They will do anything to prevent a payout if you had an accident. Apparently some ECUs keep track of the times it has been flashed, too.
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Dont think the Fiat/Alfa's do. As far as I was aware they only hold one map (fuel tables) and without knowing what the original tables look like it's pretty hard to tell if it's an original map or not.

Heard you get best results with a GSR/Induction and shouldn't cost too much extra to declare to insurance company.
 
triggerthat said:
I'd declare the remap to your insurance company.
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not gonna happen, if i declare to them, i'll need to declare to the company. They'll not allow it, it wouldnt happen.

Had a look at a 159 yesterday, having a testdrive tomorrow.

The missus fell in love with the black car/red leather interior - not sure i could go for red leather in a 5 seater saloon lol.

Lovely cabin, lovely exterior. Really really taken with it, even gonna try and get the limited edition with £3000 of extras (from Bond film apparently?)

"Loaded with more than £3000 worth of gadgets, including lowered suspension, red Brembo brake callipers, sports dials with red background, black leather upholstery, Carbonio black metallic paint and darkened 19" spoke alloy wheels"

the wheels are sort of graphite finish, and look really nice (and big)

Alfa159_1126656c.jpg
 
I dont think people appreciate how important relative reliability is with a work tool, yes you get it repaired for nothing, and yes you can arrange a hire car whilst it in the garage.But the hassle factor is something that is a pain in the butt, the dealer networks in this country are largely terrible, and the Alfa ones are worse. Alfa independants are superb, but companies dont allow the use of them afaik.

If the car is a perk of the job, then yeah the 159 option is great, if its not, then you will be druven up the wall:p just about every Alfa 156 Company car owner has confirmed this.

I wouldnt reccomend a Reno Laguna or Citroen C5 for the same reasons.
 
I wouldnt reccomend a Reno Laguna or Citroen C5 for the same reasons.
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I'm a Citroen C5 driver too. Mine's been fine and has been a perfect work tool for 25-30k per year. Cheap to run too. One person at work with a slightly newer model has also had 0 problems :)

Also, the Alfa 156 was known for being a bit unreliable.

the wheels are sort of graphite finish, and look really nice (and big)
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That's the one I went for (LE). Note that there aren't that many left afaik and the deal might disappear come February.
 
Pug said:
not gonna happen, if i declare to them, i'll need to declare to the company. They'll not allow it, it wouldnt happen.

Had a look at a 159 yesterday, having a testdrive tomorrow.

The missus fell in love with the black car/red leather interior - not sure i could go for red leather in a 5 seater saloon lol.

Lovely cabin, lovely exterior. Really really taken with it, even gonna try and get the limited edition with £3000 of extras (from Bond film apparently?)

"Loaded with more than £3000 worth of gadgets, including lowered suspension, red Brembo brake callipers, sports dials with red background, black leather upholstery, Carbonio black metallic paint and darkened 19" spoke alloy wheels"

the wheels are sort of graphite finish, and look really nice (and big)

Alfa159_1126656c.jpg
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Didn't know they did a Bond edition but at the start of QOS when JB is driving away pre credits in the DBS he's being chased by two cars, both are black Alfa's.

I do love the grey/two tone alloys the Fiat group do. I've got these (17's) on my car:

fiat-bravo-w1.jpg


Is a saloon a requirement or could you look at the entire Alfa range (minus the Mito which I'd imagin is far too small to be a serious company car)?
 
wohoo said:
I wouldnt reccomend a Reno Laguna or Citroen C5 for the same reasons.
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why not ?

we have a Green 51 plate Estate C5 as a pool car. It gets used and abused by everybody. Ive been driving it for the last 3 weeks solid and ive possibly got it untill the end of the feb.

Its never skipped a beat and just keeps on going. Yes it sounds like a tank and has obviously not been cared for. but it works.
 
Peerzy said:
Is a saloon a requirement or could you look at the entire Alfa range (minus the Mito which I'd imagin is far too small to be a serious company car)?
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Saloon isnt a requirement, minimum of 4 doors (4/5 seats) is.

Got a test drive booked in for the Alfa today, to see how the 1.9 pulls etc, and then i'll get one for the Mazda Sport Luxury soon, in the 2.2 185PS flavour if poss.

Love the look of the Alfa, but there are niggles in my ind still about the reliability. Whilst it doesnt matter soo much, it as someone pointed out a tool for my job - so letting me down consistently isnt an option.

That said, the 159 is meant to be leagues ahead of the 156 it replaces in terms of reliability.
 
Same as my requirements, there doesnt seem to be any nice hatchback around at the mo.

I couldnt live with the niggle of something French or Italian, having lived with them in the past, I just couldnt do it with the mileage I do now, I know they wont breakdown and leave me stranded anywhere, its the minor stuff, in my experience, that takes ages to get fixed.Even my Alfa loving boss wont have a Alfa as a company car :p

The 159 rides quite nice on the 19's tho, its still quite smooth, which is not something I can say for the 3 series I took out, not sure if it was the runflats, but the ride was not great. I wouldnt bother looking at the 147 though thats pretty small in the back.

My C180 went back today, I gotta say apart from the shocking fuel economy, it was a damn good car, espescially considering it was bottom of the range, Ive got the Accord coming this weekend, im pretty sure thats the one im destined for:p
 
I have recently looked at simlar cars and despite being a big Alfa fan, the 1.9 was too slow and the 2.4 cost a lot more in tax so sadly didnt go for the Alfa. I also looked at the GT with 170bhp but couldnt put up with 2 doors.

I have a Saab 9-3 Aero ttid and have to say that depsite my inital reservations it is very good for what it is, quick for a diesel and small enough to be thrown around but large enough to ride reasonably well on long journeys. it is worth a look.

in the op you tlked about chipping - asuuming it is a lease car, my advise is not to do this as i know of someone having trouble doing this on a car they basically leased as as such didnt own.
 
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