Boring NCD

Sporky

On Friday I drove past the dealer. Car pulled left like Sprocket when she's seen another dog in the distance.

Last night I couldn't sleep because my back and shoulders ache so much. I think the rational solution is to find another job.

dindude

Is there not a cash equivalent option in your current role?

I've never taken the company car option, always taken the cash (which has always been an option) and gone solo.

Failing that, and if you really are willing to seek pastures new, you have little to lose by saying to those up high that you would rather find another job than stick with the car they've given you. I think they'll be rather taken aback by this.


My new boring Passat by the way is very boring but entirely faultless, reliability wise and ergonomically - just thought I'd to rub it in like.

Sporky

dindude said:

Is there not a cash equivalent option in your current role?

Nope. S-Max or one of two Mondeo options. No opt-out. This has been a sore point for quite a few people, but it comes from the chap who owns the company.

dindude said:

Failing that, and if you really are willing to seek pastures new, you have little to lose by saying to those up high that you would rather find another job than stick with the car they've given you. I think they'll be rather taken aback by this.

I'd rather not have to find a new job - it's a lot of hassle - but I've also been pretty bored. Boredom doesn't suit me. Others have issued the ultimatum before me, and they've all ended up leaving. This is a shame because if the car was sorted I could just spend more time reading and playing cello...

dindude said:

My new boring Passat by the way is very boring but entirely faultless, reliability wise and ergonomically - just thought I'd to rub it in like.

I had a Passat hire car before the Mondeo. It was slower, didn't handle as well, had a really crap stereo and was full-on pauper-spec. I'd swap back in a heartbeat - it was comfy and everything worked right. Or the Octavia I had before that, which was better to drive than the Passat but noisier. Or, best of all, either of the Yetis I had before that. They were ace.

dindude

Oh yes, I forgot there is one flaw with the Passat, the stereo is indeed rather shit.

TTony

Sporky said:

On Friday I drove past the dealer. Car pulled left like Sprocket when she's seen another dog in the distance.

Jeez, that's an easy fix.

Tell the car that the dog is in front of it and not off to the left.

richardhomer

I've never heard so much wingeing in all my life. I had a company Vauxhall Insignia for three years - and that really is something to moan about.

If you're asked 'what car do you drive?' - a Ford isn't 'that' embarrassing an admission.

If the answer is a Vauxhall, you might as well say you've got an incredibly small penis, BO and are thousands in debt.

You have literally nothing going for you....

TTony

richardhomer said:

If the answer is a Vauxhall, you might as well say you've got an incredibly small penis, BO and are thousands in debt.

You have literally nothing going for you....

Do you not get loyalty points from the AA though?

After 10 callouts, your next one is free ...

ICBM

Sporky said:

dindude said:

Is there not a cash equivalent option in your current role?

Nope. S-Max or one of two Mondeo options. No opt-out. This has been a sore point for quite a few people, but it comes from the chap who owns the company.

Can you not insist on changing the car because of all the faults? Even a different Mundano would probably be better than what sounds like a total lemon - just by the law of averages.

The S-Max isn't too bad either, although a friend who had one had a problem with the handbrake (which is at least cable-operated, not electric) and it has no spare tyre, just a foam kit.

dindude

richardhomer said:

I've never heard so much wingeing in all my life. I had a company Vauxhall Insignia for three years - and that really is something to moan about.

If you're asked 'what car do you drive?' - a Ford isn't 'that' embarrassing an admission.

If the answer is a Vauxhall, you might as well say you've got an incredibly small penis, BO and are thousands in debt.

You have literally nothing going for you....

I don't think it is the badge-snobbery that Sporky is wingeing about, more the fact that it's a shit car and no ones seems to want to take responsibility for it.

Sporky

dindude said:

I don't think it is the badge-snobbery that Sporky is wingeing about, more the fact that it's a shit car and no ones seems to want to take responsibility for it.

Exactly. My previous experience of Fords was pretty crap too, but it's not that it's a Ford, it's that it's another shit Ford.

I'm not sure there are many makes I couldn't live with, though I do think of myself as more of a Mclaren or Aston Martin chap than a Ferrari or Lamborghini chap. I don't foresee that ever becoming a significant issue in my life.

I would be very happy indeed to have a Skoda of a similar kit spec to the Ford. Actually, I don't need all the toys.

Sporky

So HR are now involved and are sending me to a doctor for evaluation; I'm away for work all of next week so lord knows how long this will take.

I also checked and apparently "most" applicants ask for a car allowance rather than a company car, but the company still thinks it's right to have just three more-or-less identical options...

Sporky

Occupational Health turned up yesterday and were very nice.

They are putting a report over to the HR department to say that the car seat is not suitable for me and cannot be made so with cushions or an ergonomic backrest thingy. The S-Max has the same seat, so this is going to get interesting. Off to the Ford dealer to try one with the electric seats.

boogieman

I saw a Mondeo yesterday and I had to look twice at it to realise it was in fact a Mondeo. That in turn made me realise how few you see these days. Mondeos used to be everywhere, now they're as rare as unicorns. Reading Sporky's experience it's not hard to see why. 

I've had a couple of Fords in the past, both Focus's, and they've been absolutely fine. The dealer was usually crap (especially their service department who are spectacularly crap, except when it comes to "discovering" non existant problems and bill creation ) but the product was decent enough.

Sporky

The Ford dealer declined to let me try either a Mondeo with electric seats or an S-Max with standard seats (just in case they're different), suggesting instead that I hire them.

Moe_Zambeek

Would they not even let you sit in one? Wow.

Sporky

Indeed. Thus ensuring the chance that I'll ever buy a Ford with my own money is zero. Ever. It also essentially ensures that HR can't lease a different Ford for me, so they've guaranteed losing at least one sale.

It'll be interesting now to see the fight between OH and HR and Finance. Let's hope they solve it quickly 'cos I'm off to the Lake District next month and I can't drive the Mondeo for five and a half hours in one day, and I don't think I should have to pay to hire a car myself - they have an obligation to provide a suitable vehicle.

randella

boogieman said:

I saw a Mondeo yesterday and I had to look twice at it to realise it was in fact a Mondeo. That in turn made me realise how few you see these days. Mondeos used to be everywhere, now they're as rare as unicorns. Reading Sporky's experience it's not hard to see why. 

I've had a couple of Fords in the past, both Focus's, and they've been absolutely fine. The dealer was usually crap (especially their service department who are spectacularly crap, except when it comes to "discovering" non existant problems and bill creation ) but the product was decent enough.

Yep, exactly my experience with Fords - decent product and hateful dealerships.

I guess the lack of Mondeos on the roads came with a sea-change in company car buying habits and the shift to leasing - the better the resale value of the car, the better the lease deals are, hence why you can't move for German metal on the motorway these days.

Sporky

We had an annual region meeting today, and I learned two interestingish things.

Firstly the seats in the S-Max are indeed the same as in the Mondeo.

Secondly, one of the sales managers confessed that since getting his Mondeo he has what he describes as "crippling" back pain, and if he drives for over an hour he gets a dead leg. He apparently didn't think this was worth bringing up with his manager or HR.

I intend to push for a car allowance as the company has proven itself incapable of meeting its responsibilities. With any luck I'll be back in a Skoda soon.

octatonic

Sporky said:

We had an annual region meeting today, and I learned two interestingish things.

Firstly the seats in the S-Max are indeed the same as in the Mondeo.

Secondly, one of the sales managers confessed that since getting his Mondeo he has what he describes as "crippling" back pain, and if he drives for over an hour he gets a dead leg. He apparently didn't think this was worth bringing up with his manager or HR.

I intend to push for a car allowance as the company has proven itself incapable of meeting its responsibilities. With any luck I'll be back in a Skoda soon.

I have an XC60 at the moment (waiting for a new 4 series to turn up).
The seats are awful- after an hour of driving it I have crippling back pain and the suspension walls all over the place.
 My rock hard sporty suspensioned M135i is much more comfortable.

Sporky

I didn't get on with the seats in the V50 I tried (must have been a good few years ago now).

But the AMG A45 - which got slated for having "harsh ride" - was really comfy. Perfect seats. The 911 had magnificent seats too, so again, for all its faults, it was comfy.