Car suggestions to replace comapny car

Hi Guys.

Thought i would call upon you guys and girls to see if anyone has thoughts of any cars i havnt thought of yet.

My Honda civic company car is due to go back in a few months after having it for 4 years. They are now moving me onto a car allowance so i need to buy my own.





i originally thought down the path of Octavia VRS diesel, Golf, Leon etc. But ive saved up a bit of cash to put down as well and am now thinking along the lines of going a bit more exec if i can afford it  :? :

BMW 520D M Sport
Merc C220 CDI Sport (if i can find the new shape cheap enough)
BMW 320D M sport.
Nissan Quashqai (curveball i know)

i have on off problems with my back so am gona go for an automatic now.

this is what i need to stick to (ish)

5 year old car tops, but dont mind going close to this 5 years old if mileage on car is right
Have car over 3 or 4 years
50 - 60K miles of lower ideally (as do 25-30K per year)
dont wana or think i need to go bigger than 2.2 diesel
Must be diesel
Budget £9,000 - £13,000

suggestions on a post card please :-)

Remember,if you have to pay for servicing,dont go Merc. Personally couldnt afford the local BMW £140 per hour either.

I would try to keep the Honda  

BMWs, Mercs are for when other people are paying……. Prob less than 10% of their sales are to private buyers? There is a reason for this. If its a long time since you paid you own bills you may be in for a shock.

If you are buying, fueling, insuring, maintaining and taxing your own motor look at nearly new Ford/Vauxhall Focus/Astra, Mondeos etc.

As good as the 'premium' brands but perhaps not the snob poser value that would impress the nieghbours.

Two half years warrenty left, prob cost less than £10K and after 3 years of expenses calim can afford to throw it away if necessary.

The the extra cash you will have can go into MK1 shaped projects

COUGH COUGH
top spec mondeo/focus/astra etc…………massive curveball or they not your thing?

Timmyturtle said

Remember,if you have to pay for servicing,dont go Merc. Personally couldnt afford the local BMW £140 per hour either.

I would try to keep the Honda  

Lots of merc specialist out there do the same job for half the price and dosent affect the warranty.. Not sure if you would get into a new shape merc c class for the money you are talking about unless it is a base model which is not really the best way to enjoy merc ownership.

if on they are covering you on milage as well keep in mind cars with say 40 to 50 mpg, also don,t forget if the allowance per mile is less than 43p you can claim tax back.
you could buy your second mk1, its easy to repair    

Berts stinky diesel Rich, £0.50p for the car, £12 K for the attached BBQ  :wink:  :wink:
[marq=left] :wheelchair: [/marq]

At least make it German

Cheers Guys.

I have been considering some fully loaded mondeo's etc, but think if im gona go that route i would rather go skoda octavia or year older A4 S line.

My budget figure above is after i have put away money from my allowance for servicing / tyres and insurance

also as taffy mentioned i will be claiming 12 p a mile back from company then i think the tax back between that and 40p for my first 25K then between 12p-25 p on ever mile after that (or something like that)

Sounds like most people are giving me sound advice and saying however nice premium cars are, if i wana make my life easier and not need to look at every penny coming out, the newer the car with the lower the mileage the better ……

Have fallen in love with the 5 series though …….

Main thing is, the Mk1 aint going no where ! !

As for the Honda, the lease company are jokers, they want stupid money to buy it , i'd be better of following them to the auction they will take it straight to when they pick it up :-)

Rich, what about new shape Mazda 6 ?? Took one out on a test drive, its a good drive, good on fuel and get all the toys on a good spec one  

mazda 6 is good to drive but keep on top of oil changes as the chain stretch's other wise and bang!!

still not sure on them stu, have been following a few, a good second hand buy and quite like them in white :-)

I've got an '06 143 BHP diesel and the newer one has a much better gearbox and drives flawlessly Rich.

If you go the skoda route atleast its a VW relation,forget the blue oval

I thought you only get 40p for the first 10k miles? Either way, my project manager has a 1.9 Passat and I had to look at his money as the mileage allowance doesn't cover the business fuel any more with the rising fuel prices.

Daft thing is you can't change what you pay per mile, officially - I know a company that did out of the kindness of their hearts and got fined for doing so!!

Anyway, I'm biased as got a 330D but would suggest 320d

For what it's worth I purchased a new 520d Msport in '08 and I must say I'm very impressed with same. It's auto too and I would mostly drive in sport mode (holds gear longer and changes quicker) My Mrs would drive it most of the time because I'm either driving 02 caddy tdi or mark 1 campaign. Her indoors always drives it in standard mode and on a mixed bag of driving ie me in sport her in standard, long spins and city driving it returns circa 35mpg. I know this because I'm always the one to refuel it ( scared s***less she might decide to put petrol in it) plenty out there now and with the new model prices are tumbling. keep searching and you will find one with the goodies. Try for the full leather and the adaptive xenons and if you can find one with or retro fit a spare wheel and junk the run flats as they are a completely different car with the standard tyres. As for servicing and maintenance I can't say as I opted for the 5 year service inclusive, but i do know from previous BMW's that I've maintained myself (mechanic by trade) that they are reasonably easy and parts ok too so a specialist should be the way to go but as a side bar I change the oil and filter myself at half the BMW interval. This is an easy job that most diy'ers should be able to carry out. Hope this helps to narrow your decision…

I quite like the look of the Volvo C30. Similar size to the civic.

Not sure about powerplants etc.

All I can tell you is I had a V70 as a company car for 3 years putting 50K on it per year and it was great!

Well thought out interior and a solid drive.

Servicing was a bit pricey but then arn't they all? :dontknow:

Cheers guys

hairyarse maybe your right its the difference from 12p-40p for first 10,000 and then between 12-25p for the miles after ? have considered a 3 series and seen a few nice ones, but do prefer the 5, used to have big cars so would like to go back down that route

markafterdark thanks for your advise , ive been having a real good look and i only like the m sport 5 sereis really, rather than standard 520D and think if i keep looking and looking i might find an 2007 with around 60,000 miles for around £12-£13K. But thinking may put private plate on and buy older one with lower mileage

yomp have been thinking about v50 and v70 as well especially the R design ones

may pop out and look at a few cars later so keep people updated :-)

any one had a Volvo V50, saw a nice 2008 with 38K on it for 12k today, r design as well so looked the part :-)