New company car time

merlin

merlin

merlin

Soldato
Joined
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Hi all, trust all is well with you girls :p

I need to replace my Exeo with something less cancerous. It's been a decent car - dull beyond belief but functional and efficient.

Cut to the chase and I'm keen on a LEON ST FR Spec 182ps, manual, derv, leather, nav, pano roof.

It's weighing in £26k ish.

The finance side of things im happy with - company car remember so it's not my money, co car tax is peanuts.

Question is - is the car ok or are there competitors cars that I should be looking at?

Need an estate, want a derv, need nav and electric everything - poverty spec cars can jog on.

Ta :)
 
What else is on your car list? The cost of leasing a car is very rarely directly related to its list price.

Difficult to think £26k diesel estates are not dull - can you squeeze into something like a Volvo V50?
 
I drove a new Leon hatch last week, it was ok actually but I don't see that you'll find it particularly far departed from the Exeo. I'd argue the interior isn't even as nice, though it obviously looks more in keeping with the current general Vag trend.

It was a 2 litre diseasel either 140 or 170 not sure. Pleasant enough, though a bit gutless, totally devoid in steering feel (you're not going to get away from this in the budget) but actually cornered reasonably flat and felt well planted.

It's a nicer car than the Focus or Astra, but as expected not quite as nice as the Golf or A3. I know that'll be a shocking revelation.

Actually the Octavia is probably a better car if it's in budget, will drive the same though.
 
[TW]Fox;26716595 said:
What else is on your car list? The cost of leasing a car is very rarely directly related to its list price.

Difficult to think £26k diesel estates are not dull - can you squeeze into something like a Volvo V50?
Click to expand...

We lease purchase - stick a deposit down, agree a gfv, finance over 36. Our decision then as to what we do after 36 months - pay balance, roll into new deal or hand it back and walk.

Will take a look at V50.

Problem is once you see an ok-ish car and spec it up you're soon close on £30k.
 
rodenal said:
I drove a new Leon hatch last week, it was ok actually but I don't see that you'll find it particularly far departed from the Exeo. I'd argue the interior isn't even as nice, though it obviously looks more in keeping with the current general Vag trend.

It was a 2 litre diseasel either 140 or 170 not sure. Pleasant enough, though a bit gutless, totally devoid in steering feel (you're not going to get away from this in the budget) but actually cornered reasonably flat and felt well planted.

It's a nicer car than the Focus or Astra, but as expected not quite as nice as the Golf or A3. I know that'll be a shocking revelation.

Actually the Octavia is probably a better car if it's in budget, will drive the same though.
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Ta for the feedback.

The FR has profile settings so Sport tightens up the steering and throttle, also the FR handles apparently quite well - fancy rear suspension.
 
It'll probably make it heavier, but that won't really help tbh. Ever driven a mk2 focus with the steering set in comfort then in sport? It'll be the same idea, doesn't really make any tangible difference to feel.

Octavia VRS estate creeps in if you pick next to no options. I added heated screen which required heated front seats and a basic nav (might be better with no nav tbh) and it was £26.3k. If you're getting better value with the Leon it's probably worth taking over the Skoda though

Edit this was an FR I'm sure, so probably already had that setting on
 
Noted, thanks.

Nav decent headlights decent seats cruise dual zone and decent wheels seems to pretty much to be too much to ask without busting £30k, just mental - its still just an ok-ish business/family chariot with a sub-standard badge.

I cant bring myself to look at anything French.
 
Pretty sure the VRS comes with xenons, it has reasonable seats and I'd be surprised if it didn't have dual zone climate too

Edit - has everything you want except nav as standard

If all you add is crap-nav and metallic it comes in at £25.9k

Good nav and metallic is £26.7k, if you could live with a free colour that'll knock £500 off
 
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merlin said:
We lease purchase - stick a deposit down, agree a gfv, finance over 36. Our decision then as to what we do after 36 months - pay balance, roll into new deal or hand it back and walk.
Click to expand...
So the important cost is the lease payments, which is effectively depreciation + profit? Is there a rough monthly payment cap?
 
PMKeates said:
So the important cost is the lease payments, which is effectively depreciation + profit? Is there a rough monthly payment cap?
Click to expand...

The finance on the SEAT was £3k down £420 pcm, 36 months, £10k gfv at the end. Problem is we're not VAT registered so that £420 is inc VAT. SEAT are however also within that deal digging us out of negative equity on the Exeo which is worth £7,500 (it's a bit scruffy) but they're paying us £8,500 to flush away the shortfall (£8,500 ish owing on the Exeo).
 
Ive currently got a FR estate as my work wagon, pretty decent in my opinion compared to the other options for the money.

Im a big fan of the interior, i find it less plasticy than some others.

Its a good workhorse, the electronic diff works quite well and im getting pretty good mpgz which goes against my previous experience of diesels

A few headlines (keeping in mind its compared to others of similar value etc):

Good
Averaging about 58mpg (150) without much stop start
Solid interior, feels well made, not what I was expecting
Estate has more room than expected, false floor has loads of room
Feels big enough up front & Sports seats are decent
FR comes with F&R sensors, decent climate, led rear lights
Night lighting stuff along the door etc, reminds me of my old Audi A8
The Diff actually works very well

Bad
Auto lights and wipers not standard (but can be part of a pack)
Usual diesel noise as you'd expect
Ride is too firm for me
Sports option is a waste of time (for me) I end up always using Normal
Touchscreen gets sticky fingers quickly :) Same with all I suppose
Front LED's are not standard

Ive done about 3500 miles so far. No issues, the stereo is decent too of course... no B&W but good enough. Its far from quick, but its smooth enough on the waterway and is plenty quick enough.

As a good solid workhorse that deals with most things, it fits the bill. The interior was actually the biggest surprise for me, plus the better than expected mpgz
 
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merlin said:
The finance on the SEAT was £3k down £420 pcm, 36 months, £10k gfv at the end. Problem is we're not VAT registered so that £420 is inc VAT. SEAT are however also within that deal digging us out of negative equity on the Exeo which is worth £7,500 (it's a bit scruffy) but they're paying us £8,500 to flush away the shortfall (£8,500 ish owing on the Exeo).
Click to expand...

That was an insanely expensive deal, works out at £28k?!

It sounds like you might be better off looking at funding your company cars a different way if you can be paying that much PCM and STILL ending up in negative equity.
 
Axeboy said:
Ive currently got a FR estate as my work wagon, pretty decent in my opinion compared to the rest

Im a big fan of the interior, i find it less plasticy than some others.

Its a good workhorse, the electronic diff works quite well and im getting pretty good mpgz which goes against my previous experience of diesels
Click to expand...

Cool! Do you have the 150bhp or 180bhp model?

Did you opt for 17 or 18 inch wheels?

Do you have any of the nav/tech pack/comfort pack options etc?

LED headlights as good as people make out?

I can't see any mention of parking distance sensors - are they standard on the FR or do they come with one of the packs?
 
[TW]Fox;26717035 said:
That was an insanely expensive deal, works out at £28k?!

It sounds like you might be better off looking at funding your company cars a different way if you can be paying that much PCM and STILL ending up in negative equity.
Click to expand...

No sorry - that finance deal I typed there is the finance deal on the LEON, not the Exeo, but the Exeo being in N.E is still accurate - it's a bit beaten up though to be fair - scratches and kerbed wheels and bird poo paint damage too. :(
 
A colleague has just got the Mazda CX5 (I think that's it anyway), 2WD version, 2.2D. It's got absolutely everything on it, and I mean everything, and I believe it was £32K all in. Not sure if that's in your budget, but it's 19% BIK so pretty decent on tax.
 
merlin said:
Cool! Do you have the 150bhp or 180bhp model?

Did you opt for 17 or 18 inch wheels?

Do you have any of the nav/tech pack/comfort pack options etc?

LED headlights as good as people make out?

I can't see any mention of parking distance sensors - are they standard on the FR or do they come with one of the packs?
Click to expand...

150, think its 17's, not got Nav, no extras

LED's on the front I dont have, only rear on the FR

F&R sensors with the display etc are standard on the FR
 
Mazda 6 Tourer in Sport Nav trim with the 175 PS 2.2 diesel is £27k list - I thought that would be in budget, but you're right - spec stuff up and it ends up pretty pricy :/

That's only the poverty spec white paint too, any other colour is an option, though otherwise every option is there, and they're meant to be a good steer too.

Interior probably not at VAG levels though. Also larger than the other cars mentioned so far.
 
The Octavia vRS looks great - £27k ish spec'd up (no pano roof though). I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

Only slight reservation is that no-one other than SEAT are likely to be massively interested in taking the Exeo off me.
 
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