New Company Car - Question
Discussion
I thought I'd ask a question in here to hopefully help me make a decision, and as we're all car nuts anyway, those of you that would like to offer an opinion, please do so.
I'm currently looking at choosing myself a new company car, I only do about 25,000 miles per year and they are mainly spent on fast B roads with little traffic. My current car in an A6 Avant Competition, which is a diesel but with 326HP and 500 something torques. It goes well and makes a nice sound for a diesel thanks to Sony. biggrin
It can be an estate or a saloon, not fussed. I do occasionally have to go to see some customers and they can be 300-400km away, so there and back in a day makes anything electric a nono, luckily.
My choices so far are (all about 12 months old as I'm not daft enough to buy new).
BMW M550i X-Drive
BMW M550d X-Drive
BMW M540i X-Drive
Audi S6 (diesel)
Audi RS4 Avant (maybe a bit too thirsty, loud, and flashy for a company car)
What do we reckon?
I'm currently looking at choosing myself a new company car, I only do about 25,000 miles per year and they are mainly spent on fast B roads with little traffic. My current car in an A6 Avant Competition, which is a diesel but with 326HP and 500 something torques. It goes well and makes a nice sound for a diesel thanks to Sony. biggrin
It can be an estate or a saloon, not fussed. I do occasionally have to go to see some customers and they can be 300-400km away, so there and back in a day makes anything electric a nono, luckily.
My choices so far are (all about 12 months old as I'm not daft enough to buy new).
BMW M550i X-Drive
BMW M550d X-Drive
BMW M540i X-Drive
Audi S6 (diesel)
Audi RS4 Avant (maybe a bit too thirsty, loud, and flashy for a company car)
What do we reckon?
BMW 550i - NO. I have an Alpina B5 Biturbo ( similar engine ) and it is the most unreliable bag of poo I have ever had. Google N63 engine problems especially oil consumption.
BMW M550d - I was looking at one of these up until a few weeks ago and a friend who works for BMW said they have turbo charger issues so will steer clear of these too.
BMW 540i - Yes! I am going to view one this week!
Of course if it is a company car and you are not paying the bills it doesn't matter!
BMW M550d - I was looking at one of these up until a few weeks ago and a friend who works for BMW said they have turbo charger issues so will steer clear of these too.
BMW 540i - Yes! I am going to view one this week!
Of course if it is a company car and you are not paying the bills it doesn't matter!
Adenauer said:
I didn't understand a word of that 
But maybe I should have added, I live in Germany.
The UK Government has a very expensive tax regime for company car use (Benefit in Kind, BIK), taxing the user based on the original 'on the road price' and vehicle emissions. Fuel provided by the employer for private use is also taxed quite heavily.But maybe I should have added, I live in Germany.
Richie Sunak is the UK Chancellor and responsible for taxation amongst other things.
Apologies for assuming that you were in the UK.
530dTPhil said:
Adenauer said:
I didn't understand a word of that
But maybe I should have added, I live in Germany.
The UK Government has a very expensive tax regime for company car use (Benefit in Kind, BIK), taxing the user based on the original 'on the road price' and vehicle emissions. Fuel provided by the employer for private use is also taxed quite heavily.But maybe I should have added, I live in Germany.
Richie Sunak is the UK Chancellor and responsible for taxation amongst other things.
Apologies for assuming that you were in the UK.
Corona is not my friend, last year I had to pay 3 grand in back tax as I had used my car primarily for commuting to and from work and not for visiting customers, obviously.
Having said all of that, I still want to have a company car and not an allowance or hike in pay. There are no restrictions placed on what I buy (as long as I don't go stupid), it needs to be suitable for customer visits and not drink like a fish. Hence my choices so far.
AlpinaB5 said:
BMW 550i - NO. I have an Alpina B5 Biturbo ( similar engine ) and it is the most unreliable bag of poo I have ever had. Google N63 engine problems especially oil consumption.
BMW M550d - I was looking at one of these up until a few weeks ago and a friend who works for BMW said they have turbo charger issues so will steer clear of these too.
BMW 540i - Yes! I am going to view one this week!
Of course if it is a company car and you are not paying the bills it doesn't matter!
Hmm, I was liking the look of the 550i with 500 odd bhp, that's a shame, I certainly wouldn't want something that's unreliable. BMW M550d - I was looking at one of these up until a few weeks ago and a friend who works for BMW said they have turbo charger issues so will steer clear of these too.
BMW 540i - Yes! I am going to view one this week!
Of course if it is a company car and you are not paying the bills it doesn't matter!
I came out a company car in June 2020 as I wasn't making any business trips.
I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
530dTPhil said:
I came out a company car in June 2020 as I wasn't making any business trips.
I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
No idea of your age but I'm 57 and still have the mind of a 23 year old, so stuff like the M Pack, or even an RS4 still have a lot of appeal to me. I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
530dTPhil said:
I came out a company car in June 2020 as I wasn't making any business trips.
I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
I'm also planning semi retirement so we bought a Volvo V90. Oh and a Yaris Gr and a Mustang GT and a AMG SL which i'm hoping will suffice for trips to garden centre and the like.I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
Adenauer said:
530dTPhil said:
I came out a company car in June 2020 as I wasn't making any business trips.
I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
No idea of your age but I'm 57 and still have the mind of a 23 year old, so stuff like the M Pack, or even an RS4 still have a lot of appeal to me. I have a few cars at home but have just bought a 540i SE X-Drive saloon for impending retirement. Very pleased so far. Avoided the M-Sport as I have a couple of these in the past and they are not great from a comfort point of view for long trips and business use in my view.
530dTPhil said:
68 last January. Haven't lost the passion for cars though. Still have a 911 and an R8 V10 Spider in the garage; I sold the RS4 to my brother.
Well you have some lovely options. 
I have my TR6 in the garage, but if I want to go quicker than 100mph I use my company car, and seeing as the Nürburgring is about 300 yards up the road from my house, I need some form of sport suspension for when I'm sent out to get some rolls on a Sunday morning.
Gio G said:
I would vote for the RS4 Avant. As long as you have the right colour, they are quite discrete and I expect ok fuel economy. Not too big for the b-roads. Very practical and comfortable for all types of journeys.
G
Hmm, that definitely appeals to the somewhat diminishing younger side of me, one more lunatic car before I reach my 60's, I have to say.G
I was looking at a red one, maybe I'll have a look at a black one.
Road tax and insurance are combined over 600€ less per year on an RS4 than on my current A6, which I find very odd.
AlpinaB5 said:
OP, I am not too far away from you I live in Trier!
Unrestricted autobahns are wonderful things
Blimey, that IS close Unrestricted autobahns are wonderful things
We moved to Adenau from Bath back in 1997, and yes, Autobahns are bloody lovely. The first thing I do if I ever drive to the UK is start to sob as soon as I get off the chunnel
Adenauer said:
This is Mrs Adenauer's idea of a subtle, business like colour. Nothing to do with the fact that she absolutely loves it then.
Your Mrs have great taste!!I am running an RS5 and I love it, RS4 adds extra points for being more practical. I personally think that RS4 is the bargain of the RS model
line up..
G
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