Discussion
jack_86 said:
yeah I might do that, I think the only problem with Merc's especially the shapes above is that they age quite badly, I am leaning towards a 13/14 plate 320d touring with x drive. need to test drive one but still in early stages of window shopping and gathering info
Why do you want Xdrive the ride is worse in comparison to their 2wd counterparts.If you're going to be doing a few miles ride comfort will become a bigger issue than looks.
Here's the link to Xdrive owners views:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by ZX10R NIN on Friday 26th August 18:43
Isn't there a company car option? - my employers insist you have to have a company car if you cover more than 10k business miles per year.
If they've abandoned their company car scheme and forced everyone into an allowance, I'd be looking at buying 2nd hand, as cheaply as you can get away with for a comfortable and reliable car - don't get lumbered with a lease, as redundancy suddenly becomes a lot more painful if you're tied to 300 quid a month, or more, in repayments and have no way out.
If they've abandoned their company car scheme and forced everyone into an allowance, I'd be looking at buying 2nd hand, as cheaply as you can get away with for a comfortable and reliable car - don't get lumbered with a lease, as redundancy suddenly becomes a lot more painful if you're tied to 300 quid a month, or more, in repayments and have no way out.
jack_86 said:
I need an estate really as 1) better for bikes 2) my opinion is that they look better than a saloon. I was semi tempted by a Merc CLA shooting brake but wife hates the look of it. Don't know if I could go non German so a Citroen would be a no go.
Shame you're really limiting your car choices then, there's much better cars out there than the German bunch Nickbrapp said:
Shame you're really limiting your car choices then, there's much better cars out there than the German bunch
£10k gets a Hyundai i40 diesel estate with some manufacturer warranty remaining and well under 40k miles on it.A couple of friends have i40s and really rate them.
jack_86 said:
I've always had 4 wheel drive cars and just felt more planted and in a word more secure than when I've driven a rwd car especially in the wet.
Some Xdrive owners have found that they don't find them as secure handling feedback & ride wise so maybe try & get a long test drive before committing.ratty6464 said:
Honestly though, the suspension on the 435d is pretty rubbish as standard. I've never felt the need to modify one of the other 3 BMWs i've had, but this one manages to fidget and wallow, squirm under braking and corkscrew under acceleration. I'm not expecting sports car levels of handling but they could have done a lot better. it smacks of a lack of proper development. It's ok if you cruise about, although it does bounce along bit. When pushed it falls apart.
for a £45k+ car i think it's perfectly reasonable to expect better, especially when BMW have pedigree of making some decent handling "non-M" cars - 330ci anyone?
jack_86 said:
I need an estate really as 1) better for bikes 2) my opinion is that they look better than a saloon. I was semi tempted by a Merc CLA shooting brake but wife hates the look of it. Don't know if I could go non German so a Citroen would be a no go.
Love the looks of shooting brake cars in general. Get the merc 
I'm ok for a Hyundai had them on holiday rentals before and not for me. The real problem is the wife who regards estates as hearse like.
She is of the position that I get a q3/q5 or even an evoque which is a complete no go as hate cars with fake exhaust tips and fake intakes like the evoque.
On the Audi front I said I would consider only if it was the rsq3 or sq5 as standard ones seem to be pretty feminine.
She is of the position that I get a q3/q5 or even an evoque which is a complete no go as hate cars with fake exhaust tips and fake intakes like the evoque.
On the Audi front I said I would consider only if it was the rsq3 or sq5 as standard ones seem to be pretty feminine.
Just be really careful is the only real advice I can give - I took an opt-out from a car scheme about 8 years ago and was made redundant just a few months later. Fortunately, I'd snapped up a really silly deal on a car (because it was an import version of a car readily available in the UK) - but it still caused me some sleepless nights until I'd another job confirmed. In my case, an enhanced redundancy package paid off the bank loan.
Within the first 24 months of employment you can be let go at very short notice, so you definitely wouldn't want to be tied into a lease deal.
Ultimately, you may have to comply with certain rules, too - in which case it often ends up as looking for the cheapest way to comply with the rules whilst still getting something comfortable for the miles you're doing.
Within the first 24 months of employment you can be let go at very short notice, so you definitely wouldn't want to be tied into a lease deal.
Ultimately, you may have to comply with certain rules, too - in which case it often ends up as looking for the cheapest way to comply with the rules whilst still getting something comfortable for the miles you're doing.
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