New company car £40k

[daffyy]

Afternoon All. Long time lurker, first timer poster.

I have a Leon ST FR TDI through my company's leasing scheme but I'm coming up on 6 months to replacement and they'll be asking what I want next, soon.

Its been bloody brilliant... but time to move on ..or up.

The scheme is well subsidised and I currently pay a pittance for the Leon, so I'm guestimating I can have most any hatch/saloon/estate up to a £40k car (incl. options).

Current car:
Leon 2.0tdi 184 estate with DCC on 17s

I have some criteria:

• Low suspension
• Rear or 4 wheel drive preferable
• <8s 0-60
• 35mpg+ combined (the Leon will not do less than 37 and with 20k on the clock now hits 67 on long runs)
• Nothing French / plastic fantastic (probably including Merc)
• Lane assist + Adaptive cruise
• Paddle shift if auto
• Subwoofer based soundsystem (no virtual sub)
• Spotify / Android auto / bluetooth streaming

So far, the safe bet I keep coming back to is the Octavia (VRS 4x4) with the same engine as my Leon.. £34k ish gets me roughly the same spec + 7th gen Haldex which might make damp, dewy corners on my commute a bit safer.

Few I've ruled out:

• Jag XE (twin screen infotainment looks distracting af, I like proper buttons and its pricey for what it is)
• Golf (probably! Unless someone says the driving dynamics are that much better, they charge a lot for the badge - rather have a SEAT/Skoda or pay a tiny bit more for an A3/S3)

What would you go for?

Thanks

[akadk]

New XE
Easily the best to drive

[Jag_NE]

Do your company buy the vehicle? Usually CC’s are lease cars and as a consequence the list price only really applies to BIK, the company will most likely have an estimated TCO cap which lease fees, fuel and maintenance would need to be below. Projected depreciation tends to make or break the business cases which is why everyone is chugging round in German metal vs fords and Vauxhall’s.

Edit - I just read your OP again and you make it clear that it is leased. Hence don’t use RRP as your guide of what you can or cannot have.

Edited by Jag_NE on Sunday 14th April 15:18

[talksthetorque]

Some deals on the 140i shadow edition going round. Might be worth a look?

[daffyy]

Jag_NE said:

Do your company buy the vehicle? Usually CC’s are lease cars and as a consequence the list price only really applies to BIK, the company will most likely have an estimated TCO cap which lease fees, fuel and maintenance would need to be below. Projected depreciation tends to make or break the business cases which is why everyone is chugging round in German metal vs fords and Vauxhall’s.

Edit - I just read your OP again and you make it clear that it is leased. Hence don’t use RRP as your guide of what you can or cannot have.

Edited by Jag_NE on Sunday 14th April 15:18

My company doesn't get involved, other than to provide a heavy subsidy on the lease cost from the leasing company they employ. Fuel is refunded at a flat rate of 11p/mile and maintenance/servicing/tires all covered under the lease cost by the leasing company. Agreed on the depreciation but I didn't imagine you lot would recommend any of the obvious marques to exclude (Ford/Vauxhall/Mazda) etc. That said, the Leon suffers heinous depreciation and whilst the RRP was £32k my monthly lease is only £130. BIK isn't affected that much.

[daffyy]

talksthetorque said:

Some deals on the 140i shadow edition going round. Might be worth a look?

Looks good. Can't seem to build it on BMW's car configurator though. Highest it goes is 120i / 120d..?

[Jag_NE]

daffyy said:

Jag_NE said:

Do your company buy the vehicle? Usually CC’s are lease cars and as a consequence the list price only really applies to BIK, the company will most likely have an estimated TCO cap which lease fees, fuel and maintenance would need to be below. Projected depreciation tends to make or break the business cases which is why everyone is chugging round in German metal vs fords and Vauxhall’s.

Edit - I just read your OP again and you make it clear that it is leased. Hence don’t use RRP as your guide of what you can or cannot have.

Edited by Jag_NE on Sunday 14th April 15:18

My company doesn't get involved, other than to provide a heavy subsidy on the lease cost from the leasing company they employ. Fuel is refunded at a flat rate of 11p/mile and maintenance/servicing/tires all covered under the lease cost by the leasing company. Agreed on the depreciation but I didn't imagine you lot would recommend any of the obvious marques to exclude (Ford/Vauxhall/Mazda) etc. That said, the Leon suffers heinous depreciation and whilst the RRP was £32k my monthly lease is only £130. BIK isn't affected that much.

That’s what I thought. There will be some 40k cars (think highly specced French) that will be ruinous to lease. Others (maybe JLR or German stuff) that will have a similar RRP but cost far less to lease. Interested how the tax works on this method, do you just pay 40% on the value of the companies cash subsidy to the lease?

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the AWD Mondeo Vignale ticks every box I can't fault mine it's been excellent & imo (when I test drove them) is a better car than the Skoda.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/new...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/new...

[matt21]

daffyy said:

Looks good. Can't seem to build it on BMW's car configurator though. Highest it goes is 120i / 120d..?

I spent ages trying to work that out too. Go to base spec model (not even sport) and scroll through, you will find the M140i there. They are still building them to mid year. You can get 26% off at present

[exelero]

Get a Giulia 2.0 T, petrol 290 bhp

[damianmkv]

What's wrong with a golf GTi ? I know you said no Golf ( you don't want fwd for some reason ) but sub £40k you'll get low 6s to 60, 150+mph, 35mpg ( ish ), spec dynaudio excite and you get good bass

My last car was a mk7 gtd and the 7.5gti is a much better driver's car

[oop north]

Get the lowest co2 car you can - company car tax is hideous these days

[FWIW]

oop north said:

Get the lowest co2 car you can - company car tax is hideous these days

Agreed.
Got to be a hybrid of some sort.

[daffyy]

Jag_NE said:

That’s what I thought. There will be some 40k cars (think highly specced French) that will be ruinous to lease. Others (maybe JLR or German stuff) that will have a similar RRP but cost far less to lease. Interested how the tax works on this method, do you just pay 40% on the value of the companies cash subsidy to the lease?

As I understand it for BIK (may be wrong) I pay 20% (not in the higher tax bracket yet) on the contribution I pay for my personal use times the P11D of the car, which is list + delivery price (max £2-3k below RRP). So on my contribution for personal use of ~£1500/year, I pay another £1600. For a £30k car with about £4k options on it, with the hilarious depreciation of SEATs, ~£250/mo with insurance/tax/tires/servicing is just fine by me.

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say the AWD Mondeo Vignale ticks every box I can't fault mine it's been excellent & imo (when I test drove them) is a better car than the Skoda.

I've never had a Ford. I'm a little bit reluctant for a few reasons. 1) Badge. Sorry. I'm a snob. 2) Bit plasticky. I should've said. I've had a Civic EP2, Mk5 Golf, A3 8L and now the 5F Leon ST. Pretty used to solid build quality, would be very reluctant to take a step backwards unless they're awesome drivers cars. Please adjust my thinking if I'm ignorant. 3) The depreciation being what it is, as me and Jag_NE have discussed, might mean its silly money to lease because Lex will want to recoup their losses through my monthly rental (also if Mondeo is on its way out that usually doesn't help residuals either).

matt21 said:

I spent ages trying to work that out too. Go to base spec model (not even sport) and scroll through, you will find the M140i there. They are still building them to mid year. You can get 26% off at present

Ah.. That's cool. Like unlocking a secret model on Rage Racer of old. Will the same trick work to unlock the GTD and Leon with the proper engine in it? : (

Serious question on the 1 series. Is it a bit of a handful in the wet with that relatively short wheelbase and RWD?

exelero said:

Get a Giulia 2.0 T, petrol 290 bhp

Yes. I will definitely get a quote for one. The 2.2 TD, too.

damianmkv said:

What's wrong with a golf GTi ? I know you said no Golf ( you don't want fwd for some reason ) but sub £40k you'll get low 6s to 60, 150+mph, 35mpg ( ish ), spec dynaudio excite and you get good bass

My last car was a mk7 gtd and the 7.5gti is a much better driver's car

FWD: I've had FWD forever now. Want a change. I had an A3 8L that was 9/10ths of an S3 and always wanted that 4wd.

Golf: They're just expensive. For the price of an optioned up GTI (£34,435) I can have a Cupra ST (£33,275) which is closer to a Golf R (£37,600). That said, they probably hold their value better so I'll get a quote for one..

[daffyy]

oop north said:

Get the lowest co2 car you can - company car tax is hideous these days

FWIW said:

Agreed.
Got to be a hybrid of some sort.

Yeah, I get the sentiment. I guess I always had this idea of having a fast car by the time I was a certain age and for need of money and space to have an R33 GTS-25t / E46 325i / whatever, that hasn't happened. If I have to pay a few quid more in tax to have something quick that's brand new and doesn't come with any other costs then I figure that's a good compromise. I'm also allergic to economy boxes and soft suspension. I feel physically sick driving anything that floats or bobs along. I need the rigidity and bone grinding springs to feel the road or I'll just take a train and stick to running / cycling my commute.

[Tony33]

daffyy said:

Golf: They're just expensive. For the price of an optioned up GTI (£34,435) I can have a Cupra ST (£33,275) which is closer to a Golf R (£37,600). That said, they probably hold their value better so I'll get a quote for one..

Retail prices can become somewhat irrelevant for company lease schemes. I once had to opt for an A3 2.0TFSI S-line rather than the significantly cheaper Golf GTI which was my first choice because the company could get a cheaper lease on the Audi and the Golf fell outside of my lease allowance.

I would suggest you just get quotes for cars you fancy and see what you can get.

[daffyy]

Tony33 said:

etail prices can become somewhat irrelevant for company lease schemes. I once had to opt for an A3 2.0TFSI S-line rather than the significantly cheaper Golf GTI which was my first choice because the company could get a cheaper lease on the Audi and the Golf fell outside of my lease allowance.

I would suggest you just get quotes for cars you fancy and see what you can get.

Yeah, that sounds reasonable.

I put a good 100 cars to Lex last time around before settling on the Leon.

List so far..

S3 hatch (shame they don't do the 3 door anymore)
Octy VRS 4x4 TDI
Guilia 2.0, 2.2
330i
520d
A4 Sport 40 TDI
M140 Shadow
120d Sport
A1 40 TFSI (I know its a Fabia and the Polo GTI is better value but I love that mint green)
S1 if it emerges
Stinger 2.2
XE 2.0 (I'll test drive one - but crikey I'm optioning one now and its the thick end of £42k - more than a 520d for the same equipment - how are these things selling?)

Is there a Jap option I'm missing by the way? Can't think of anything that doesn't have a cruddy CVT these days.

[Montybaber]

The XE's are selling due to 0% APR and hefty contributions on PCP making the high list price irrelevant

A 40k Jag costs similar to a lot of 30k cars on PCP

[Welshbeef]

daffyy said:

Yeah, I get the sentiment. I guess I always had this idea of having a fast car by the time I was a certain age and for need of money and space to have an R33 GTS-25t / E46 325i / whatever, that hasn't happened. If I have to pay a few quid more in tax to have something quick that's brand new and doesn't come with any other costs then I figure that's a good compromise. I'm also allergic to economy boxes and soft suspension. I feel physically sick driving anything that floats or bobs along. I need the rigidity and bone grinding springs to feel the road or I'll just take a train and stick to running / cycling my commute.

Allergic to ecoboxes and physically sick

I don’t get that the suspension on trains is soft are you pinned to the toilet or is this just the usual clap trap drivel.


As an aside it’s not a few more pounds to drive something interesting it’s a fortune and it’s why you don’t see company car drivers driving anything “interesting”.
If you want the freedom to choose any car take cash4car instead and fill yer boots massively massively cheaper

[daffyy]

Montybaber said:

The XE's are selling due to 0% APR and hefty contributions on PCP making the high list price irrelevant

A 40k Jag costs similar to a lot of 30k cars on PCP

Helpful, thank you. I wondered how it was people were justifying the cost over 3 series etc. Massive discounts. Noted.

Welshbeef said:

I don’t get that the suspension on trains is soft are you pinned to the toilet or is this just the usual clap trap drivel.

I had an accident that caused an anxiety episode in a car when I was younger. Made it difficult to get back behind the wheel for a few years. I like being able to feel the road for the grounding effect.

Welshbeef said:

As an aside it’s not a few more pounds to drive something interesting it’s a fortune and it’s why you don’t see company car drivers driving anything “interesting”.
If you want the freedom to choose any car take cash4car instead and fill yer boots massively massively cheaper

My Leon costs £3k a year including BIK, tires, servicing, insurance. No deposit. List was £34k. Doubt any deal will beat my scheme.