Ask your employer to provide you with a hire car for these meetings. My brother has his own car, but they give him a hire car every time they send him to another part of the country for a meeting. Apparently it somehow saves them money rather than paying him 45p per mile to use his...
New driver - work lease scheme or second hand?
- Thread starter elmarko
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I would go with the company hire and buy at the end if it is reasonable.
I completed a 4 year lease last year and bought a four year old honda civic with FSH in good condition for £3.8k.
Your insurance wil cost a lot for the next few years dependant on age. If you do less than 15k miles pa, you will have either a low mileage car good for another few years or be able to sell on at a profit.
The company may require a car less than six years old say, so there is little point buying your own car less than three years old. This will be a reasonable chunk of money to finance.
I completed a 4 year lease last year and bought a four year old honda civic with FSH in good condition for £3.8k.
Your insurance wil cost a lot for the next few years dependant on age. If you do less than 15k miles pa, you will have either a low mileage car good for another few years or be able to sell on at a profit.
The company may require a car less than six years old say, so there is little point buying your own car less than three years old. This will be a reasonable chunk of money to finance.
That only applies if the op gets a car allowance. No company can tell you what you should or should not drive unless they're paying for it.
45p per mile for the first 10k only really doesn't cover the cost of using your car for business unless its very limited use. Been there, done it.
OP for a first car why not just buy a 3 or 4 year old version of one of these cars if you want something others will perceive as flash? Will save you in the long run. Better still buy a runaround but it doesn't sound like you want that.
10k for business would cover the meetings for certain, at most it's once a week & usually to the closer sites.
It's not as much a perception of flash, just unfortunately I care about the aesthetics quite a bit (I actually wish I didn't lol).
If I was going for something second hand it would open up far more different choices (as I'm currently limited by it being new & below 120g Co2 from the work scheme) - but then I have to factor in the possibility of bad luck for repairs (which I guess may be fine).
You say you car about aesthetics but the new 1 is a horrendous looking thing, the A3 is decent enough looking but hardly massively different from the 8p which in turn is hardly different from the mk6 golf
It does sound awfully like you like ones that look a bit flash.....
I could think of so many cars that I'd much rather have over any of these that would cost the same or less.
If you're worried about reliability then BMW, vw and I believe Audi do an excellent used warranty
It does sound awfully like you like ones that look a bit flash.....
I could think of so many cars that I'd much rather have over any of these that would cost the same or less.
If you're worried about reliability then BMW, vw and I believe Audi do an excellent used warranty
Well, the work scheme is pretty limited & those were the ones which had a better face, rear compared to the rest.
For second hand I'm willing to go for something much nicer looking, it's just a shame that most of the cars I like are above 120g Co2.
Ideas most welcome!, as I said - here for advice, suggestions.
Cheers, that's definitely one factor if I end up going second hand.
Just a thought, does anybody have experience of the final purchase on lex autolease on how competitive the prices are? (as that's another thing which may be worth factoring in).
I did just spec out a BMW 116 1 series M-sport for a pretty good price on the work scheme.
I did just spec out a BMW 116 1 series M-sport for a pretty good price on the work scheme.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
They used to offer them for really good prices but these days it depends on the car. If it's something popular and in decent condition with sensible mileage they know they can get far more for it so don't tend to offer them for sale at good prices to the leaser.
Don't bank on being able to buy it at the end for a good deal, essentially.
Why don't you just run a £1500 Fiesta for a year or so like every other new driver? I don't get your desperation to sink thousands of pounds into a borrowing brand new bottom of the range of diesel?
Well, the option to buy is already set (it's in the T&C's) just unsure about how competitive it will be.[TW]Fox;24467481 said:
Well, the lease is only one option - I could go for a similar vehicle or something a bit more interesting second hand (as it wouldn't have the co2 restrictions which is forcing the diesel option).[TW]Fox;24467481 said:
I'm after something a little bit more pleasant on the eye to be honest, if functionality was my only concern I'd eyeing up a Fiat Panda.
I'm not sure what's so unusual to care about how a car looks.
Soldato
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Wanting a good looking car isn't odd at all. Wanting a good looking car to the point where you're considering a 1.6 diesel, is.
Hehe, well that's the "trying to be sensible part", from what I read online (correct me if I'm wrong here) but the 1.6's are the most efficient & from the reviews I didn't read anything which put me off.
But I'll gladly take any advice, as I'm new to this field.
Put yourself in my position, 28 - happy to spend between £300/£500 a month on a car - no debt, no dependants & want something which looks pretty nice (nice front also s-line/m-sport/amg style body) & goes quick enough to feel fun to drive.
What would you get? (open to advice, just not getting a banger as I don't need to).
Surely efficiency is largely irrelevant/unimportant when you're doing circa 7-10k a year and also spending a massive monthly amount to do it anyway.
I'm with the "buy a cheap (£1,500, £4,000, whatever) car for a year or two first" brigade. It may also help to avoid dying inside from driving a horrendously small diesel engine as your first car.
I'm with the "buy a cheap (£1,500, £4,000, whatever) car for a year or two first" brigade. It may also help to avoid dying inside from driving a horrendously small diesel engine as your first car.
Soldato
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Our company stipulates that when opting out and taking allowance, you have to have a car less than 5 years old and it must be a 4 door. They will only allow you to opt out if you do less than 8k miles PA.
Company cars are just not the perk they once were. When did Audi start putting in a 1.2 engine in the A3, that must be a lovely car..........
Well, the efficiency aspect is a result of the co2 limits within the work scheme.
I didn't say I was going for the work scheme or any of the cars linked (those were examples from the scheme to determine if it's "worth it") or not.
One one of the two choices available, the second being buying something a few years old instead.
But avoiding unappealing bangers, what would you get in my shoes?.
Depends what you call a banger 
My friend has an - admittedly diesel - Mk1 Leon of 55 vintage that's a delight to behold... if not hear. Though my 54 Octavia vRS is slipping into banger territory because I let it go that way. So it's a grey area hehe
Some kind of Ford perhaps? I like some of the models of the 09 region Mondeo (I never look at the other Fords from a "hmm, maybe" perspective), such as the... what's it called, Titanium X Sport or something? 2.0 petrol? Dunno.
If you're going smaller then maybe just older versions of what you're looking at. But with nicer engines.
What does your lady friend drive?
My friend has an - admittedly diesel - Mk1 Leon of 55 vintage that's a delight to behold... if not hear. Though my 54 Octavia vRS is slipping into banger territory because I let it go that way. So it's a grey area hehe
Some kind of Ford perhaps? I like some of the models of the 09 region Mondeo (I never look at the other Fords from a "hmm, maybe" perspective), such as the... what's it called, Titanium X Sport or something? 2.0 petrol? Dunno.
If you're going smaller then maybe just older versions of what you're looking at. But with nicer engines.
What does your lady friend drive?
I'll take a look, at those later - see what I can find.Depends what you call a banger
My friend has an - admittedly diesel - Mk1 Leon of 55 vintage that's a delight to behold... if not hear. Though my 54 Octavia vRS is slipping into banger territory because I let it go that way. So it's a grey area hehe
Some kind of Ford perhaps? I like some of the models of the 09 region Mondeo (I never look at the other Fords from a "hmm, maybe" perspective), such as the... what's it called, Titanium X Sport or something? 2.0 petrol? Dunno.
If you're going smaller then maybe just older versions of what you're looking at. But with nicer engines.
What does your lady friend drive?
On the older version of what I'm looking at (without the co2 restrictions), this kind of thing is what I'm pondering after.
I know I should get a banger, but well - I don't really need to, I'm going to wait till I'm a more experienced driver to get something really nice, but the above is the kind of price/style I'm after.
(if the work scheme really is a load of pants)
Soldato
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Your 'low price for quick sale' second example has alarm bells ringing. It's a fair whack cheaper than it should be for its spec/mileage. My guess would be the DSG has issues on it.
I have plenty disposable after expenses, hence the not needing to get a total banger, but trying to be sensible & not go overboard (Also new to driving).I shall leave others to give the details on which engine choice and associated costs etc. as I am less fluent than I'd like.
However I shall nit-pick the "I don't really need to"
Well, it was more a link for the design/spec as opposed to the specific sale which I'm after.
Either a nice modern stylish hatchback (1 series, A-Class, A3 etc on work scheme if it's good, 2nd hand if the work scheme is bad), or a sporty second hand coupé for about £8k to £10k (don't want to go overboard) is what I'm thinking.
Cheers for the tips, got allot to learn on the subject.
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Soldato
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Have you run any insurance quotes for the type of cars you're looking at? If you're new to driving that may make the choice for you.