Spec me a company car

I think that would be a fine car. Its got decent enough power for the size of car it is and I think it has active cylinder technology so when you're pottering about it drops down to 2 or 3 cylinders to save fuel. I've not driven one with this engine but apparently you never even notice it.
 
I would personally much rather have a size up from that even with a crap engine.

The width of a Polo/A1/fiesta interior (elbow room)doesn't suit constant distance driving IMO. Try one and see how you feel though

An i30 or Mazda 3 would be vastly preferable for me if they are options
 
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Yeah you definitely need something bigger for that many miles - the likes of the A1, polo etc are for pootling around town and going to the shops in, they're not for doing 30k miles a year! It's a horribly small budget, I'd be going back to the company saying you cant buy something appropriate for what they're expecting you to use it for

With regards to the allowance - you dont need to purchase outright. You could get a PCP on a 2 year old Mondeo for not much money at all, if the allowance covers that amount then you're not out of pocket personally and have a car that's actually suitable for the purpose

I dont know why certain posters are saying tiny city cars are a good idea for this money, it's baffling.
 
rodenal said:
I would personally much rather have a size up from that even with a crap engine.

The width of a Polo/A1/fiesta interior (elbow room)doesn't suit constant distance driving IMO. Try one and see how you feel though

An i30 or Mazda 3 would be vastly preferable for me if they are options
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You think the A1 is bad?

I used the classic mini for 20k miles in a year or two. :p

I found the A1 just as comfortable as any other car. In fact the door arm rest is in a perfect position and you can get the option of front centre console armrest. It feels like a much bigger car inside and when compared with the fiesta, I thought the fiesta felt way more cramped.
 
It's not a bad car - it's a bad choice for doing 30k a year in, any car in that size class is. The polo is also a horrible option
 
Of course not, but the smallest cars available arent going to be sensible. Neither is anything with a "premium" badge - he should be looking at mid sized cars from cheap brands like Hyundai, Mazda etc which are actually in budget (the A3 isnt) if he's adamant that he has to go the company car route.

I know you like Audi but "brand new, 30k a year, 18k list price" is not a requirement that Audi should be fulfilling!
 
iaind said:
It's not a bad car - it's a bad choice for doing 30k a year in, any car in that size class is. The polo is also a horrible option
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This is the problem. At £18K P11D value you're limited to either superminis with decent engines, or small family cars with crap engines.

Given that these are the only two choices, and you definitely want to stick in the company car scheme then I would go with the larger car.

Superminis are fine for nipping about in, but I categorically wouldn't want to do 30K miles at year in one.

Regardless of your engine choice your company car tax bill won't be big.

You could look at something like the Skoda Octavia 1.2TSI 105 SE. It's within budget, comfortable, decent enough performance for trawling the UK's motorways and you could even tick a couple of options and still have it in budget.
 
Octavia is a very good idea.

Hyundai i30, Kia Cee apostrophe D, Mazda 3, Citroen C4, Peugeot 308, Renault Megane, Ford focus, Seat Leon/Toledo... all have reasonably well equipped 100~120bhp petrol engines and would be infinitely nicer than a supermini

VW is really overpriced, Audi are "premium"... neither are worth looking at IMO.
 
Something else to bear in mind regarding company car tax.

If you choose a petrol engine, the BIK tax will go up by 2% every year.
If you choose a diesel engine, the BIK tax will go down 1% next year, then up 2% each year thereafter.

In the case of my suggestion above, assuming you're a 20% tax payer, the Skoda (with no additional options) will cost you:
2015/16: £606.00 (£50.50 / month) (17% BIK)
2016/17: £677.07 (£56.42 / month) (19% BIK)
2017/18: £748.34 (£62.36 / month) (21% BIK)
2018/19: £819.61 (£68.30 / month) (23% BIK)

Another consideration with the small engine, is that you'll get paid the lowest mileage rate, currently £0.11 / mile for a <1400cc petrol. If you go diesel, <1600cc is only £0.09 / mile!

The Mazda 3, with the 2L petrol engine (1998cc) will get mileage paid at £0.13 / mile. Real world fuel economy shouldn't be wildly different between the Skoda & the Mazda, according to the official figures. Company car tax for the Mazda is a little higher than the Skoda (it's in the next bracket up).
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Could imagine driving something the size of an octivia with a 1.2 engine...
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Octavia is hardly big (it's Golf/A3 size) and the engine is powerful enough to trundle up and down the motorway. I'd far rather be driving that for 30k miles a year than an A1 or any other supermini frankly.
 
Octavia is Golf based, its 9.9 0-60 so perfectly fine. It's not a big car. The A1 1.6 Tdi is 9.4s so its hardly a world apart performance wise
 
Surely a Ford Focus TDCi will just fit in the price range?
I'd take one of those over a supermini any day of the week!

Or a Skoda Rapid? You should be able to get one with a decent spec as well.
 
iaind said:
Octavia is Golf based, its 9.9 0-60 so perfectly fine. It's not a big car. The A1 1.6 Tdi is 9.4s so its hardly a world apart performance wise
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Perfectly fine now is it?

Everyone was calling a TT diesel 'slow' the other day and when I had my first A1 1.4 TFSI (8.9s to 60) and second A1 2.0 TDI (around 8 seconds to 60) - I got so much grief on this forum.

You guys are so odd.
 
It's slow in the context of posting wikkid 0-60 videos. Nobody gives you grief for owning a slow car, you'd get grief for pretending it's fast.

It's perfectly acceptable for sitting on the motorway, however - and pointing out that it's not any slower than the car you reccomended. But is much better for the job in every other way
 
National hate blackhawk month as per usual...

Pointless bickering...has the OP even said he can get a Octavia on the company scheme??
 
Just taking a look at some larger cars now, any thoughts on the Seat Leon?

Better to go with a petrol than diesel?

How about Seat Leon Hatchback 1.4 TSI 125 SE 5dr?

Thanks chaps
 
Nobody's hating anyone but it's a silly discussion. Slow is fine, provided it's enough to get the car down the road and not struggle up hills. Tiny is not fine for this sort of usage

It will be a lease with a P11D value of upto £18,000.
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SE 1.2 TSI 105PS 114 C / £0 £14,425.00 £2,885.00 13E £17,875.00
 
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