# Thoughts on new company car choice please...



## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

I'm changing jobs and as such my car/company car entitlement is changing.

I currently opt out and have bought my own car.

With the change of employement comes a change in job role and as a result I want to release the capital in my car to purchase shares and will probably opt back in to a fully expensed car and just let the tax man bugger me again.

With this in mind I'm trying to decide what is the best car for me.

The car will be leased through the company and I don't reallly want to "spend" more than Â£30k.

I'll probably be doing around 12-15k business miles p.a. max and have so far thought of either a BMW 520d M Sport (as another forum member has!) or the new Lexus IS250.

Can anyone give me any info on Lexus service levels (BMW is a known quantity to me), and possibly give me any other options/ideas.

The 530D M Sport would be ideal, but I think will be to pricy when specced up, and I'm not sure if I would get bored with a 2.0D...!!

I've driven the Lexus and its a nice place to be inside, but it just felt a bit uninspiring to drive (Oh and the steering wheel is to skinny after being used to mine..!!)

Thanks in advance

J


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## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

Has no-one got _any_ ideas....?!


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

Justhe1 said:


> Can anyone give me any info on Lexus service levels (BMW is a known quantity to me), and possibly give me any other options/ideas.


I don't think you're going to have any problems with the service levels from Lexus. They have been very highly rated in each and every customer satisfaction survey I have ever come across. Have a look at the links below for starters;

http://www.testdriven.co.uk/news.cfm/le ... utive_year

http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/survey/top_10.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/survey/2004/top_10.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/survey/2003/index.shtml

http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-rep ... NA=217350#

The only Lexus owner on the forum I'm aware of is JacTT225?


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## Guest (Feb 10, 2006)

I've got the IS200 (the old shape now  ), and it is a very reliable car with loads of mod-cons for little money.

Have a look on the Lexus Owners Club website for any information about the IS250. I know there are quite a few people on there now who own the IS250's - look for Koshime, he should be able to give you loooads of information as he kind of documented his life story when he bought his IS250. :wink:


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Company car CO2 tax will make diesel logical choice.

Lexus IS220d will doubtless be excellant. Check out emissions on IS250 :?

Personally I'd avoid a 4 pot diesel. None are refined enough for me - although the Honda and Toyota 2.2s are better than the VAG, MB or BMW 4s inmo.

I have taken the 6 pot BMW 3.0d engine in my last two co cars and it's the best for purpose. And fun. :wink:

Go for a 530d or 330d sport. Styling aside, you wont regret it from behind the wheel.


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## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

Cheers guys...

Have just had a gander at the Co2 emissions for the is250 - kinda blows that one away.

I'm amazed at how much difference there is between the same 2.5 V6 engine's Co2 emissions between the manual and auto box - 231 against 214 g/Km for the Auto...?

Looks like the 6 pot beemer is the way to go, I have been looking at the 525d M sport (as that's a 6 pot) , but there seems on paper to be quite a gap in performance compared to the 530D, and I def need the sport package...

Maybe ex demo might be the way - or will I still be clobbered on the as new list price for tax purposes - a half decent spec new 530D M Sport is Â£36-37k...!

Cheers

J


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Justhe1 said:


> Cheers guys...
> 
> Have just had a gander at the Co2 emissions for the is250 - kinda blows that one away.
> 
> ...


My colleague just got a manual 525d m sport in black metallic with optional 19" wheels. It looks about as good as a E60 can, and whilst not quite with the urge of the 530d, it pulls well enough and is far more refined
than the 520d - so it's no hardship to boot it. Great for motorway and main road stuff and deffo not under-powered.

Would respond quite nicely to a little tune up too...


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## r14n (Jan 10, 2003)

Justhe1 said:


> Maybe ex demo might be the way - or will I still be clobbered on the as new list price for tax purposes - a half decent spec new 530D M Sport is Â£36-37k...!
> 
> Cheers
> 
> J


IIRC. P11D value is based on list price, doesn't matter if its new or 3 y.o.
and any extras / upgrades are all added on top of the list.

Don't you just love the tax man. :roll:

Have a look at http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/ good data base of Co2 levels.


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Stay opted out, just think of your p11d and all that tax. Plus if you leave you have to give the car back and you get nothing.

I take the cash and will never have a company car again.


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## ag (Sep 12, 2002)

Toshiba said:


> Stay opted out, just think of your p11d and all that tax. Plus if you leave you have to give the car back and you get nothing.
> 
> I take the cash and will never have a company car again.


The tax you pay for a diesel BMW probably wouldn't even cover the depreciation. You would need a hell of a lot of cash from the company to make the private purchase of 530d feasible unless you do a lot of miles and can claim back a mileage allowance. Don't forget that payments from the company will be taxed at 40%.


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Toshiba said:


> Stay opted out, just think of your p11d and all that tax. Plus if you leave you have to give the car back and you get nothing.
> 
> I take the cash and will never have a company car again.


A rare occasion when Tosh and I agree.

Not to mention the 40p per mile for the first 10000 miles and 25p per mile for the next 10000 that you can claim as tax relief (less anything your company gives u of course).


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Leg said:


> Toshiba said:
> 
> 
> > Stay opted out, just think of your p11d and all that tax. Plus if you leave you have to give the car back and you get nothing.
> ...


you do - damn. i like being the rebel. will have to re think on this one.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Toshiba said:


> Leg said:
> 
> 
> > Toshiba said:
> ...


Not to mention the huge depreciation hit you will inevitably take in 3 years/60K miles cos the new and used car markets are so over supplied; or the niggling worries that you have to pay for absolutely _everything_ - from that dinged wheel -to those vandalism scratches that will load your class one business use insurance - to the tank loads of optimax/BP ultimate diesel - to that blown turbo. And of course co cars rev much better....and go thru smaller gaps.


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

garyc said:


> Toshiba said:
> 
> 
> > Leg said:
> ...


September 03 - take delivery of Audi A4 Cabriolet. 1st non company car in 10 years. Negotiaite very nice allowance with company. Â£500 deposit. Allowance covers payments, servicing and tyres.

Above and beyond the costs covered by my allowance the following costs incurred:
Insurance Â£600 a year x 2.5
2 road tax renewals around 2 x Â£130 (lol cant remember how much it is!)

March 06 - Part exchange on TT V6 is exactly the balance of finance

Total cost of running A4 Cabriolet for 2.5 years. Â£1430 plus deposit of Â£500. Â£1930.00.

Personally I think a couple of grand over 2.5 years is well worth not suffering the indignity of driving a 320d or some other such tedium for 4 years (company cars kept for 4 years!).

Certainly pisses the other guys off when I turn up in summer with the roof down. Wait till they get a load of a black V6 TT with red leather and big feck off BBS wheels hahahahahaha. Nice diesel m8, bet that puts a grin on your face at 6am on your way to a meeting eh lol.

Anyway, if anyone here gave a shit about money and cars, we wouldnt be driving TTs eh. Buy with your heart and not your head, otherwise you will waste tax money on a bland, non descript car when, personally, I would rather waste cash on something that makes me grin everyday.

I dont know of many if any companies that will pay for a dinged wheel, u broke it u fix it is the attitude most companies have. For example, you will pay the excess on the company car insurance in a bigger crash!

I dont like red TTqs's (just so we can disagree Tosh, make you feel better eh ;-) )


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## jonno (May 7, 2002)

Do you really need E60/5 series space?
Might be better to go slightly smaller E90/3 series is still at least as big a an A4 internally, and you can always go for the touring.

Â£30k buys a new, basic-ish spec, e90 330d touring, or saloon.
Not sure if they offer the e90 with the 2.5 L diesel yet? 6 cyl BMs are far smoother than the fours.


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## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

Right, have now looked at a few options and test driven a few cars, and have had confirmed my monthly allowance, so am able to refine my options.

New company really want me to have a company car, and to be fair after spending Â£3.5k this year on insurance, servicing & tyres alone on my M3, not to mention the depreciation hit of circa Â£5k+ and being worried to death where I park it, I am quite looking forward to it...

This also means that I can release about Â£18k equity to pump into other "investments" as the M3 was purchased mainly with cash that I had to "lose"... :wink:

My new company have given me a monthly lease allowance of Â£500 + VAT, but have said that I can pay any extra I want over & above that if I so wish.

After looking at BMW 525D's & 530D's, these are well outside this figure, so I looked at the Lexus, but the deisel was lame and the petrol was too high on the Co2 emissions.

X-type jag was an option but just felt a bit too "old man" for me, even though I'm 35!

I just don't like the new shape 3 series BM, so I started looking at Audi's again as I used to like my old TT.

The car that I've found that best fits my cost criteria v looks is the new shape Audi A4 2.0 T FSI S-Line.

Haven't test driven it yet, but at 7.3 secs to 60 its quich enough and with only 192 Co2 rating it ticks the box's co car tax wise.

With a few "essential" options like met paint, Xenons, Leather/Alcanterra, stereo/Bose/ multi CD upgrade & parking sensors its comong in at Â£25k, which equates to around Â£500.00/month.

Does anyone have one of these or driven one to give me an idea before I test drive one later this week?

My main query is if I was to go for one should I pay the difference and go for the Quattro model - it cost about Â£1500 extra and increases the CO2 emissions to 216 (which equates to an extra 5% tax), but as my only car, it _may_ make me feel that I don't just have a bog standard company "rep-mobile".

Is it worth the extra Â£50/month for the 4 wheel drive?

Just want to get it sorted now, esp as there is an 8-12 wk wait if I go for the Audi...

edited to say: I also looked at the Saab 2.0T 9-3 Aero, this on paper is currently my second choice, if a bit "quirky", so any experience of this model would also be great.

Cheers

J


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

dont bother with 4wd save the money for better toys. 8)


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

My brother recently had a non Quattro A4 (Diesel model) as a courtesy car and the car was fairly quick to wheelspin at junctions etc., and that's without pushing it.

Just a couple of weeks ago my brother and I test drove an A4, which was the 1.9 TDi Quattro Avant. Despite trying to provoke wheelspin/loss of grip, the Quattro was solid with no drama whatsoever.

IMO, I'd pay the extra and go for the Quattro model. Although some of the regular A4 drivers on here may have a different opinion.


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