Best & worst company cars where you work
Discussion
If the company where you work has a fleet of company cars, what are the best and worst models currently on the books?
When I was younger I had to endure the humiliation of driving an Astra diesel (non Turbo), whilst the middle-Management had 5 series BMWs and C-Class Mercs and the owner had a Porsche 928.
Do we still have this sort of automotive hierarchy in our companies, or have times changed with the increase in fuel costs, taxation etc.?
When I was younger I had to endure the humiliation of driving an Astra diesel (non Turbo), whilst the middle-Management had 5 series BMWs and C-Class Mercs and the owner had a Porsche 928.
Do we still have this sort of automotive hierarchy in our companies, or have times changed with the increase in fuel costs, taxation etc.?
Best - none
Worst - all
As of Jan this year, they changed our company car policy to
Must have lest them 150g of CO2
Must be Diesel
Must only be from BMW, Ford, Mazda, Vauxhall, VW
Must be fit for purpose, which pretty much excludes any 2 seater or convertible in the company policy.
That does not leave a lot of room for anything worthy of note.
Worst - all
As of Jan this year, they changed our company car policy to
Must have lest them 150g of CO2
Must be Diesel
Must only be from BMW, Ford, Mazda, Vauxhall, VW
Must be fit for purpose, which pretty much excludes any 2 seater or convertible in the company policy.
That does not leave a lot of room for anything worthy of note.
We have a fleet of pool cars that get used every day.
My opinion on them (and a bit of a consensus with other users I've chatted to) are:
Mondeo estates - Nice ride and sharp handling, good cars to drive.
Passats - Oh, is the Mondeo not available? I'll just go tomorrow instead...
C Class - A great all rounder, not too sporty but lovely to drive.
Vovlo V70 estate - Probably the best diesel car I've driven. A popular choice as it's well specced and practical. Again not sporty but a pleasent driver.
Insignia - (see Passat)
A4 - Not bad but not good. Very dissapointing. Looks much better than it goes/drives
3 series - everyone asks for the two we have and plan trips around availability. Way ahead of the others (and yes I am biased!)
Over the years I've driven various borrowed company cars including an 8v Calibra, Rover 214's and 216's and a none 'turbo' diesel Nissan Primera. That was dangerously unreactive pulling out of junctions.
My opinion on them (and a bit of a consensus with other users I've chatted to) are:
Mondeo estates - Nice ride and sharp handling, good cars to drive.
Passats - Oh, is the Mondeo not available? I'll just go tomorrow instead...
C Class - A great all rounder, not too sporty but lovely to drive.
Vovlo V70 estate - Probably the best diesel car I've driven. A popular choice as it's well specced and practical. Again not sporty but a pleasent driver.
Insignia - (see Passat)
A4 - Not bad but not good. Very dissapointing. Looks much better than it goes/drives
3 series - everyone asks for the two we have and plan trips around availability. Way ahead of the others (and yes I am biased!)
Over the years I've driven various borrowed company cars including an 8v Calibra, Rover 214's and 216's and a none 'turbo' diesel Nissan Primera. That was dangerously unreactive pulling out of junctions.
I used to work in the motor trade, so the gap was very apparent:
At Mercedes:
Junior salespeople: A-Classes
Senior salespeoples: C-Classes
Sales manager: E-Class, ML
MD: S-Class, SL, AMG ML
MG Rover:
Salespeople: Rover 25/Streetwise
Sales manager: Rover 75/MG ZT V6
It was difficult to sell these as my sales manager wouldn't let me drive anything other than a Rover 25 or Streetwise!
VW/Audi
Me: VW Polo Dune
Senior colleagues: Golf TDI
Business manager: Golf GTI
Sales Director: RS4, S8, Touareg, Eos, Q7 (all at the same time)!
At Mercedes:
Junior salespeople: A-Classes
Senior salespeoples: C-Classes
Sales manager: E-Class, ML
MD: S-Class, SL, AMG ML
MG Rover:
Salespeople: Rover 25/Streetwise
Sales manager: Rover 75/MG ZT V6
It was difficult to sell these as my sales manager wouldn't let me drive anything other than a Rover 25 or Streetwise!
VW/Audi
Me: VW Polo Dune
Senior colleagues: Golf TDI
Business manager: Golf GTI
Sales Director: RS4, S8, Touareg, Eos, Q7 (all at the same time)!
Worst to best...
1998 Mitsubishi Shogun with 180,000 miles
2006 Proton Jumbuck
Some old Ford pickup
2005 Toyota L200 pickup
2009 Mazda BT2500 king cab pick up
2010 Citroen LWB high top van
The van is a lovely drive. I could drive it for hundreds of miles. So comfortable and easy to drive. The Proton and Shogun are terrible! Whilst the Mazda looks good and is big and new, it's a very firm and bouncy ride. Not nice without a load of weight in and a big trailer on the back.
1998 Mitsubishi Shogun with 180,000 miles
2006 Proton Jumbuck
Some old Ford pickup
2005 Toyota L200 pickup
2009 Mazda BT2500 king cab pick up
2010 Citroen LWB high top van
The van is a lovely drive. I could drive it for hundreds of miles. So comfortable and easy to drive. The Proton and Shogun are terrible! Whilst the Mazda looks good and is big and new, it's a very firm and bouncy ride. Not nice without a load of weight in and a big trailer on the back.
We operate a user chooser policy, they must be diesel and have sensible co2 levels which restricts choice a little, but other than that the choice is yours.
All sorts from a Mini Cooper, to the ubiquitous BMW 5 series on fleet at the moment.
Best is a 159TI sport wagon, in red.
Worst is a choice between a white Insignia, or a silver 508. There is nothing particularly wrong with either as company cars and the guys that drive them seem to like them, I just think that they are incredibly bland.
All sorts from a Mini Cooper, to the ubiquitous BMW 5 series on fleet at the moment.
Best is a 159TI sport wagon, in red.
Worst is a choice between a white Insignia, or a silver 508. There is nothing particularly wrong with either as company cars and the guys that drive them seem to like them, I just think that they are incredibly bland.
When I was at Vauxhall I got an Astra or Vectra 150CDti as I was top salesman, one of the girls was crap, she got an Agila 1 litre (the old Postman Pat shape), it had a cassette player and no central locking.
At Mercedes I usually ran a C220cdi, one day when the other salesmen were squabbling about what colour wood they got on their C class I laughed that as it was a free brand new fully expensed Mercedes I wasn't bothered what I got (I had a Porsche at home for fun driving). To reward this degree of common sense my SM said he'd put me in an A Class, much to my colleague's delight, until they realised he was registering up an A200 Turbo for me, 193BHP in an A class, it was as silly and as fun as it sounds. It was also prodigiously thirsty, around 16mpg.
At Mercedes I usually ran a C220cdi, one day when the other salesmen were squabbling about what colour wood they got on their C class I laughed that as it was a free brand new fully expensed Mercedes I wasn't bothered what I got (I had a Porsche at home for fun driving). To reward this degree of common sense my SM said he'd put me in an A Class, much to my colleague's delight, until they realised he was registering up an A200 Turbo for me, 193BHP in an A class, it was as silly and as fun as it sounds. It was also prodigiously thirsty, around 16mpg.
Best? Well there's an S8, and there's some Insignia VXRs. X5 V8.
Worst? Well we still have at least one Bora TDI from the late 90s, and the Mk2.5 Focus Estates in Pauper spec with the 90PS 1.6TDCI are a bag of s
t. Still some early Mk3 Mondeos and Vectra B out there too, and they're totally daffy-ducked.
Worst? Well we still have at least one Bora TDI from the late 90s, and the Mk2.5 Focus Estates in Pauper spec with the 90PS 1.6TDCI are a bag of s
t. Still some early Mk3 Mondeos and Vectra B out there too, and they're totally daffy-ducked.Current best in the low bands has to be the Insignia although some have the 318d I think maybe it lacks poke compared to the siggy (but makes up for it in pointyness?)
Surprisingly many have opted for Yetis and QashQows which have horrendous ride, no read headroom and poor interior but can have flashy things like satnav.
Cos we do a whole-life-cost scheme one clever chap managed to work having an A3 2.0 TDi with a lovely blue hounds-tooth interior on the bottom band.
One of the managers somehow negotiated a Focus-ST as his company car, no doubt way outside C02, empeegee and cost bands.
Surprisingly many have opted for Yetis and QashQows which have horrendous ride, no read headroom and poor interior but can have flashy things like satnav.
Cos we do a whole-life-cost scheme one clever chap managed to work having an A3 2.0 TDi with a lovely blue hounds-tooth interior on the bottom band.
One of the managers somehow negotiated a Focus-ST as his company car, no doubt way outside C02, empeegee and cost bands.
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