Help Tanka pick a new car please

tanka006

Hi There all Boardies,

Its come time for Tanka to change his company car.

I would like some advice & suggestions please.

I am currently driving a 151 Mazda 6 175ps Platinum that was actually recommended by ROR - its been great (thankfully i have not experienced any problems yet with the 2.2 diesel Mazda engine)

I had been waiting to see what the new updated Mazda would be like - but there is not enough difference for me & the price seems crazy (not to mention the engine risk)

My criteria is to have a list price of circa 40K as the limit that the company will pay - as well as maintaining the current level of BIK

I also dont want to have a new car where the model is going to be updated soon.

I really have an open mind about Saloon car V's SUV

I want an automatic vehicle as i have knee problems & changing gear causes me problems.

I am not very knowledgeable on cars & am thinking that similar sized cars to the Mazda would be Passat, Mondeo, Insigna - please add to my list to look at.

Many thanks for any advice

Tanka

bazz26

I'd imagine 40k would get you a fairly well speced Passat or Superb though both are expected to get a mid life refresh at some stage in 2019. New Peugeot 508 is going to be released in early 2019 also so worth a look. Ford Mondeo is due a mid life facelift in 2019 also.

Wild card would be the Alfa Romeo Giulia but you might have trouble convincing your company accountant that it's an option.

R.O.R

Passat 2.0Tdi is currently being sold for the price the 1.6Tdi was, as there's no 1.6Tdi's available.

Highline DSG with Tech Pack (FOC for fleet orders) and as much of the R-Line stuff as you can get in to budget, or just the Sports Pack (Leather and 18's). Down on power from the Mazda by a bit, but the 150ps VW lump is plenty pokey enough and the standard kit on the Passat is excellent nowadays.

tanka006

Thanks to you both

Bazz mentioned the VW having a facelift in 2019 - any ideas when

ROR what about the Tiguan?

Tanka

R.O.R

tanka006 wrote: »

ROR what about the Tiguan?

Tanka

Spec for Spec, the Tiguan usually comes in a little cheaper each month than the equivalent Passat - eg. a Highline 150ps DSG Tiguan (FWD) is a bit cheaper than a Highline 150ps DSG Passat.

This does depend on the mileage though - bigger tyres on the Tiguan means it will work out more expensive than the Passat at higher annual mileage.

Full leather is a more expensive option on the Tiguan than the Passat if that's important to you. Tech pack on the Tiguan gives the Panoramic roof and apart from that the standard spec is very similar.

tanka006

Thank you - very helpful food for thought

bazz26

I don't think there is an exact date for the facelifted Passat yet but I'd expect it towards the middle part of the year. Expect it to gain the current range of new VW petrol options as well as some of the latest tech from the likes of recently launched Toureg.

It should look something like this:

tanka006

Thanks a million Guys - now i am really lost:mad:

What is everyones opinion on the opel Insignia - As its a recent model it should not be changing anytime soon

Also any ideas when the mondeo model will change?

Thank You

bazz26

Mondeo is due a facelift at some stage in 2019 also, current model is on sale since 2015 and Ford haven't decided if they are replacing it with an entirely new model yet so they will give the existing model a makeover to keep it going for another 2 years or so.

Opel Insignia is bit of an also ran car, it does nothing bad but does nothing particularly good either. Opinions are subjective but I think it hasn't aged well at all given it's only on sale 2 years or so.

VW Arteon has a starting list price of €40k:
https://www.volkswagen.ie/app/configurator/vw-ie/en/the-new-arteon/31505?page=trim

The Arteon is basically a Passat in a sleeker body and was only launched about 2 years ago so there won't be any changes to the shape for a few years anyway. I don't know what spec you will get for circa 40k but worth talking to your fleet manager about it.

Josieg

I had a similar conundrum myself last month. I have a little more money to play with (around 43k mark) and considered the A4 as my preferred choice. Only problem was the spec is terrible for the price and I now have 2 kids so need extra space. Superb, Kodiaq and Tiguan made my short list but eventually went for the Tiguan. Ordered the highline DSG, 4WD with tech pack. Would love to have the Rline exterior but could get everything unfortunately!

tanka006

OK i went looking at cars yesterday.

Despite visiting Renault, Honda, Ford, Opel, VW, Volvo & Mazda Dealerships, the only items that interested me enough to test drive were the Mazda CX5, The Passat & the Tiguan.

Loved the CX5 & the Tiguan - did not like the Passat at all.

Does anyone know how many cars are needed to be owned by a company to be considered a fleet? Because there is currently a €4,000 discount for fleet with the VW & as ROR mentioned a free Tech Pack.

Anything else i should be thinking about?

Thanks Guys

R.O.R

tanka006 wrote: »

Does anyone know how many cars are needed to be owned by a company to be considered a fleet? Because there is currently a €4,000 discount for fleet with the VW & as ROR mentioned a free Tech Pack.

VW have different levels of fleet support, depending on the size of the fleet of the company buying the vehicle. Think all get the Tech Pack FOC though.

Can't remember off the top of my head where the split is - something like under 10 vehicles is considered "small fleet" and over that is "large fleet".

Is it a company purchased car, or leased through a leasing company?

tanka006

Thanks ROR,

The company only has one car - mine!

The car is "purchase leased" via AIB - on a 3 year (36 month term)

The company then adds this as an asset & depreciates it to zero over a 4 year period.

There probably is a much better way of having a car - but it seems as we own one now we would need to sell the current one straight to get out of this cycle.

I guess with one car we would not be able to avail of the Fleet items (€4K & tech pack) although both were mentioned by the dealer yesterday - BUT it was only last night i thought how many cars make a fleet!

Are you guys still having problems with the Mazda engine?

Mazda salesman swears that they have not had a problem with any of theirs that have been serviced every 15K & using correct oil.

That where the problems are is with Imports & where people are going to 25K service intervals and / or not using the correct type of oil?

This was the only reason for test driving the CX5 - as the top range 6 has gone crazy in price - hence huge BIK bill!

Thanks

Tanka

AMKC

The new 508 is a stunning car and well worth looking at if you can but its not on sale till early next year. The 3008 is a great car too.

How about something a bit left field a Subaru XV?

Also the new Citroen C5 Air Cross is due out soon and looks very nice.

Shefwedfan

What sort of driving are you doing? do you need a diesel engine?

tanka006

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Wow that C5 aircross does look stunning

I am doing cica 20 to 25K KM's per year

Shefwedfan

tanka006 wrote: »

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Wow that C5 aircross does look stunning

I am doing cica 20 to 25K KM's per year

The amount is not the best way to confirm which fuel....


The distance travelled per trip is more telling. I do 20k km per year in each car. One is diesel and the other is electric.



Both are doing the same sort of travelling, the diesel is burning fuel and I will replace as soon as an alternative is available....


Also electric is 0% BIK so will save you a fortune, worth a look.....


It is a pity the Irish government would not provide some sort of relief on PHEV like the uK