Hi all, hopefully I won't annoy everybody with another car thread, I'll try not to be annoying
I need to order a company car asap, I couldn't apply for one until I'd passed my 18 month review, and due to various delays (not mine) I'm already two months late. I've not had a car to use for site visits since December as my shared car with the Mrs (Fiat Panda) is now over 6 years old and therefore my company don't allow me to use it.
They have some rules that there's no point questioning as they just "are" - cannot be Italian, Japanese or Korean. No cabriolets (damn) and they need to have a back seat.
I was led to believe two weeks ago that they'd have spare cars in the fleet that I'd be able to get straight away if suitable however I've waited and now they've told me only a Seat Leon is available which is higher tax than I was looking at and larger than I need.
I have briefly been on comcar.co.uk and I'll be visiting it again in more detail to get the list prices and co2 numbers in order to work out tax etc, but it just gives me three million variants of every model with only subtle differences between them and I've no idea what's good or not as I'm not a car person.
Looking between £70 and £90 pet month on tax. Not allowed anything above £21k list price
My tentative shortlist so far is:
Audi A1 - seem decent and cheap on tax, but they do seem to get nicked a lot so wary of these considering it'll be on my drive most the time. I live in a nice area (Bournville) and four Audi's have been stolen this year from my little estate so it's a concern
Skoda Fabia - infinitely less likely to be stolen, but need to check which model I'd need for it to not be sluggish as I was told the cheaper ones are underpowred as they use a Citigo engine? Who knows?
VW Polo - believe the same as a Fabia but look smaller? Are VWs commonly stolen?
Ford Fiesta - the decent ones (comparable on paper to the Audi A1) are more expensive than the Audi and Skoda, and are just as commonly stolen. At present in Birmingham there are a lot of "car cannibal" thefts where they strip off all the parts to sell on, and it's often Fiestas and Corsas that are targeted as they are so common.
Citroen DS3 - I've always assumed French cars were crap but this one has had decent reviews?
I did consider a Mini but again, the theft thing but also ideally I'd like something a smidge bigger than my existing shared Panda.
Car allowance isn't an option so buying one myself is uneconomic.
I thank you in advance for any thoughts on the above or suggestions for others to consider! I'm going to be studying the comcar website to sort by emissions to see what models are lowest in the meantime but would appreciate any guidance.
Thanks
Matt
Comments
You'd probably just about get a Golf but it'll be a base model and hence a bit gutless power-wise.
If it was me I'd go the best Fiesta of Fabia you can get, tbh. Shame you can't have an allowance and get a year-old Golf GTI...
It's the ST Fiestas that get stolen or cannibalised, but glad to see the Fabia is a potentially decent call. I think I'd rather a punchier smaller one than a gutless bigger one, so I'd ruled out the Golf already.
There's an Astra 1.0 turbo eco something or other though for about £70 per month, which sounds to my non-car brain to be underpowred considering my panda is a 1.2 and needs a push up hill, but assuming the turbo eco stuff compensates?
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Re the DS3, I shall keep it on the shortlist for my comparables - the two door thing is a bit of an uncertainty but as I'd be driving, it would be somebody else's problem haha and my mom used to have an old Peugot 106 when I was little with only two doors, and we were fine in that so hopefully wouldn't be that much of a problem (I've no kids yet but who knows over next few years)
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Skoda Fabia 110ps SE auto dsg, or I can pay an extra £9 per month to get the Monte Carlo trim (purely cosmetic though so I probably wouldn't bother)
I notice nobody has said anything about the Astra, obviously it's bigger but seems decent value, or are they terrible like the Corsa and I should avoid at all costs?
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
I’d prefer the Fabia with DSG any day of the week. I have the same gearbox in my own Golf and it’s the easiest thing in the world to drive
Although "boring" doesn't bother me that much (I'm quite boring myself and currently drive a Fiat so no problem with boring as such), it is looking like the auto Fabia is going to win. I just thought for an extra tenner a month for the 1.4 Astra I might have been getting more car for the money. I know Vauxhall's are ugly and not cool but 148bhp and low tax seemed a good alternative and a bit more future proof in case I need a bigger one in the next few years.
I will check the lead in times today as mauve that might help further, they've already delayed me 3 months signing off my 18 month review so I don't want to wait any longer than I need to.
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic