Time to pick a new company car

GW1970 · 12 Sep 2015 at 20:44

I'm due to swap my company car next January so I've starting looking around at what's come to the market over the last 3 years - I currently drive a BMW 320 coupe but someone mentioned the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Diesel Saloon
C300h AMG Line Premium Plus 4dr Auto as a possible tax saver due to the hybrid engine.

Does anyone have any experience of this car ?

crinkleshoes · 12 Sep 2015 at 21:58

If you have a 3-series at the moment, the Merc C and E class will both be a big let down in interior quality, comfort and driving dynamics.

What budget are you looking at?

rodenal · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:05

The new c class is an excellent car, despite the daft tablet dash

GW1970 · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:07

My lease allowance is £600 a month with an annual mileage of 22k which is roughly 80% motorway. Prior to the 320d I had a TT Quattro which was great fun to drive.

I have looked at the 4 series but tax was stupid by the time I had spec'd the car.

Vertigo · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:11

Have always hated Mercs myself but the rear of the new C Class deserves special mentions for total fugliness.

If you're in the BMW/Merc arena though the new A4 might be worth a look?

GW1970 · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:15

I had discounted Audi purely down to the local dealer being bloody useless when I've used them but I guess it's worth looking at.

Ref the merc there's a new coupe out in January but from what I can see it doesn't have the hybrid engine as an option.

[TW]Fox · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:44

crinkleshoes said:
If you have a 3-series at the moment, the Merc C and E class will both be a big let down in interior quality, comfort and driving dynamics.

What budget are you looking at?

This is absolutely not true, the C class is a better finished car than the current 3 Series. Frankly the interior of the 3 Series is sub par.

I did 300 miles in one last week, really not a fan

crinkleshoes · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:44

For £600/month... you could get something rather nice

Are you simply put off by the tax and don't want to drive something nice? Or are you fond of driving and would be OK with the extra tax hit if the car was worthwhile? Especially considering you're spending a significant portion of your life in it with 22k/year

Porsche Cayman
http://www.prestige-car-leasing.co.uk/car_leasing/porsche/cayman/2.7_2dr.aspx

£600 inc or ex vat?
Jag F-Type including 20k miles for £576/month:
http://www.prestige-car-leasing.co...._type_coupe/3.0_supercharged_v6_2dr_auto.aspx

5 series?
http://www.prestige-car-leasing.co.uk/car_leasing/bmw/5_series_saloon/

Other options too... depends on what type of car you're fond of and how you want to be hit by tax vs type of car to spend time in.

crinkleshoes · 12 Sep 2015 at 22:51

[TW]Fox;28557508 said:
This is absolutely not true, the C class is a better finished car than the current 3 Series. Frankly the interior of the 3 Series is sub par.

The C class (and E class) have particularly uncomfortable driving positions.

The E class was good for passengers at least... but as a driver it wouldn't be comfortable even on the odd long journey... let alone doing 22k a year in one, that would be an absolute nightmare!

BMW at least think about the way a driver can sit comfortably and still be in control of the vehicle... Merc force you to sit in a less energy efficient seating position, mostly with respect to arm/elbow positions, so you are much more tired at the end of a long journey.

Chassis/balance of a 3/4 series is leagues beyond a c class.

Merc interiors start falling apart much sooner than BMW... they're barely better than Ford/VAG/etc in that department...

Do 300 miles in a C class and you'll see exactly what I mean... 3 series is the clear winner.

shadow_boxer · 12 Sep 2015 at 23:41

+1 for the 5 series!

As for the 3 series vs C Class. Personally prefer the driving position and feel of the 3 but the interior of the new C Class is much better and probably the best of the small execs by quite some distance. Given that most of it is motorway driving I'd probably opt for a diesel C Class if it had to be between the two.

[TW]Fox · 13 Sep 2015 at 02:27

There is no doubt the 3 drives well but the rest of the package is a disappointing affair. It feels like a big 1 series where it should be a small 5 Series. Too much cheap plastic and not enough premium feel inside.

The 5 Series though is another story, it's a brilliant car with a fantastic interior. I do not require the space a 5 Series offers and in theory a 3 series would be a better car for me but I just can't get on with it.

Bear · 13 Sep 2015 at 07:25

How about having a look at the XE if you are looking at the 3 series/c class

GW1970 · 13 Sep 2015 at 07:44

I guess I need to tour the dealers to see what's around and then sort test drives and finally check out the numbers - the owners of the company are into their cars and in the past it's been pretty open ended but I've always tended to come under my budget so it doesn't look like I'm taking the **** out of work on the money side.

Car history has been
Audi A3
Bmw 3 series compact
Bmw 3 series 330d coupe m sport
Audi TT tdi Quattro
Bmw 3 series 320d coupe m sport

Part of me thinks BMW plus as I have a set of spare alloys with winter tyres which makes sledging a little easier but if need be these can be offloaded onto someone else at work.

Some of the above cars have been fun to drive in their own way with the best being the 330 which having toured Scotland in was the most relaxing drive and yet so much fun.

It's a bloody pain spending someone else's money.....

Dolph · 13 Sep 2015 at 08:47

The new c class is a much nicer place to be than the old one, it is definitely worth a look and a test drive.

The 3 series is slightly better drive at the limit but it falls short in terms of comfort, interior quality and spec, as the standard spec of the c class is much higher (enough to offset the higher price certainly).

All this is my opinion of course, and needless to say, I ordered the c class.

[TW]Fox · 13 Sep 2015 at 14:57

I don't think the standard spec is 'much higher', at least not since the LCI and the advent of standard nav etc.

Still wouldn't want one though

Although at least the 3 Series has a good engine range, unless you want a C63 the C class only has unrefined 4 pots, which is fine if you are buying a Mondeo I guess.

quonker · 14 Sep 2015 at 13:52

I think the new C Class is pretty spectacular from a cabin perspective, it's always rated as the nicest place to be in every review I've seen.

Driving dynamics etc not as good as 3 series but if you went for the C350e hybrid you'd have 280 HP, 0-60 in 5.9 secs and only 5% BiK.

Also it's extremely well equipped.

Seems quite an unbeatable combination to me tbh.

Mine is hopefully being produced today

GW1970 · 15 Sep 2015 at 21:23

Quick update - popped into the local dealers and as per normal completely ignored by the sales guys. The interior of the c class was much better than I had anticipated so I've asked our FD at work to check out deals based on the 300h but as the new coupe that's due out later in the year as its more my preference over the saloon.

The 350e looks to be an amazing car tax beater at 5%

xs2man · 15 Sep 2015 at 21:42

[TW]Fox;28557969 said:
There is no doubt the 3 drives well but the rest of the package is a disappointing affair. It feels like a big 1 series where it should be a small 5 Series. Too much cheap plastic and not enough premium feel inside.

The 5 Series though is another story, it's a brilliant car with a fantastic interior. I do not require the space a 5 Series offers and in theory a 3 series would be a better car for me but I just can't get on with it.

GW1970 said:
Quick update - popped into the local dealers and as per normal completely ignored by the sales guys. The interior of the c class was much better than I had anticipated so I've asked our FD at work to check out deals based on the 300h but as the new coupe that's due out later in the year as its more my preference over the saloon.

The 350e looks to be an amazing car tax beater at 5%

Can't really say anything about the tax benefits of the hybrid unit, but both you guys must be absolutely mad to like that slab of cheap plastic up the middle of the C class. Crowned with an ipad afterthought sort of affair.

Everytime I'm in my mates (which is a reasonably well specced example of a C250), I am thoroughly disgusted with that horrible slab of cheap plastic. It belongs in a C2 or some equally "young persons" car. Not an old mans car like a Merc. It just reeks of trying too hard. Not that I'm a particular fan of the 3 series interior either. Or the A4 for that matter, although I do admit that is probably my favourite of the current generation mid-sized German motors.

My guess is the ActiveHybrid 5 isn't in budget? That would be my pick personally. But if it aint in budget, I'd be more tempted by an A6.

tiffanys · 15 Sep 2015 at 22:17

[TW]Fox;28557508 said:
This is absolutely not true, the C class is a better finished car than the current 3 Series. Frankly the interior of the 3 Series is sub par.

I did 300 miles in one last week, really not a fan

Im not a fan of previous bmw dashes either. But the current ones look much better.

quonker · 16 Sep 2015 at 22:07

Dolph said:
The new c class is a much nicer place to be than the old one, it is definitely worth a look and a test drive.

The 3 series is slightly better drive at the limit but it falls short in terms of comfort, interior quality and spec, as the standard spec of the c class is much higher (enough to offset the higher price certainly).

All this is my opinion of course, and needless to say, I ordered the c class.

Agree with this completely, but again the 280 BHP and 5% BIK make the C350e hybrid unbeatable as a company car, especially when coupled with the £5k gov contribution which means it's cheaper than the C300h.

Quality of the cabin is superb as all reviews point out.