Company Car Choice - What would you choose?

Julesie

I've just started a new job and it is the first one in which I qualify for a company car. It's a flexible benefit which means they give me a pot of money intended to be used on a car lease (~£5k a year) but I can elect to just receive it in cash if I prefer.

Initially I wasn't going to take up the car option as I live in London and use the Streetcar scheme. But there are serious tax incentives if I was to choose an economically friendly car. Basically the amount of tax you pay on the benefit in kind is directly related to the C02 emissions of the car. At the lowest end (<120g) you only pay 10% tax as opposed to 40% tax if you took the same benefit in cash.

Anyhoo, that's all just a bit of background info, what I want to know is what you would choose if you were primarily concerned with an eco friendly car, suitable for a young, free, single 20-something that doesn't give a stuff about residuals (leasing not buying).

I've attached a spreadsheet below that shows the options open to me. To keep the filesize under the limit I've removed any cars with a C02 rating of over 150 or a monthly cost of more than 600. The last column 'Cost' is really just to give an idea of relative costs between cars. That's the before tax incentive amount so not what I'd actually be paying each month.

At the moment I'm looking at the Audi A3 Diesel 1.6 Cabriolet but could be swayed towards something else.

So, if you were me what would you be plumping for?

unkel

The Alfa Giulietta is too new to have made it onto your list. The 1.4 turbo petrol (168BHP, 134g/km CO2, near hot hatch performance and 48MPG) has an excellent balance of eco credentials and performance

The (UK based) reviews I've read are raving! Have a look at this recent thread here.

neacy69

my pick from the list would be:

AUDI A5 COUPE 2.0T FSI 180 SE 2dr
a very close 2nd Choice to the alfa

AUDI A4 DIESEL SALOON 2.0 TDI SE 4dr URL="http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTestsHistory/BMW-1-Series-123d-M-Sport/229175/"]review[/URL

MERCEDES-BENZ C CLASS SALOON C180K BlueEFFICIENCY SE 4dr

ALFA ROMEO 159 DIESEL SALOON 1.9 JTDM 16V Turismo Sport 4dr
Pick of the litter in my opinion especially since you dont have to wirry about resale value or maintence costs

R.O.R

For some strange reason I'm leaning towards either this:


or maybe even this if you want wind in the hair:


204bhp, twin turbo and a ridiculous amount of torque would make it a hoot to drive. About as impractical as it gets for a car of that price though.

Incase you can't make it out in the pics, it's the 123d M-Sport Coupe or Convertible.

Berty

I agree with R.O.R ^^^

Very nice cars. Specifically the M Sport. Alternatively you could opt for the 3 series M Sport.

Why are you/your company allowing Petrol Vehicles? I thought this would be a big No No.

Seth Brundle

NISSAN MICRA HATCHBACK 1.2 Acenta 3dr
or
AUDI A5 DIESEL COUPE 2.0 TDI 2dr [Start Stop]

PaddyFagan

R.O.R wrote: »

Incase you can't make it out in the pics, it's the 123d M-Sport Coupe or Convertible.

I'd be with ROR - but if you really want the eco option of staying under the 120 co2 - BMW 1 SERIES DIESEL COUPE 118d M Sport 2dr

BUT if it was me I'd still have the 123d

Paddy

Julesie

Yep, I've been looking at the 1-series convertible too. It is a pretty close substitute for the Audi A3 and this review at least couldn't pick much between them.

On pure aesthetics I think I favour the Audi. There is just something off putting to me about the elongated front of BMW. I'll take a test drive in both though and see if it makes things any clearer.

Why are you/your company allowing Petrol Vehicles? I thought this would be a big No No.

No idea, it's a pretty exhaustive list of potential options. As I mentioned in my OP i've just manually cut down the list of things that are definitely out of budget/C02 emmissions to get the file size under the limit. The leasing company aren't necessarily promoting eco friendly cars, its actually a government initiative that uses the effective tax rate on the benefit to incentivise people.

unkel

My second choice was the 123d coupe

Serious poke, RWD fun and very well built

Not in white though

Shane732

In no particular order....

VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO DIESEL COUPE 2.0 TDI 170 GT 3dr DSG
ALFA ROMEO 159 DIESEL SALOON 2.0 JTDM 16V TI 4dr
AUDI A5 DIESEL COUPE 2.0 TDI 2dr [Start Stop]
BMW 1 SERIES DIESEL CONVERTIBLE 123d M Sport 2dr
MINI COOPER S HATCHBACK 1.6 [184] 3dr Auto [Chili/Sport/Media Pack]

route66

How about a Honda CR-Z GT:



About £20K, Low emissions (117g/km), new and interesting ...

Seth Brundle

route66 wrote: »

How about a Honda CR-Z GT:



About £20K, Low emissions (117g/km), new and interesting ...