Company Car

poppers

Im due a new company car in jan or feb. I am thinking of going for the new mondeo i currently have an 06 passat. Would this be a good switch????

junkyard

The new Mondeo is a very good car by all accounts, I don't own one but I've driven a few and they were good on the road etc., the older ones were reliable enough too. In fairness anything would be better than a Passat in my opinion, a truly hideous car.

colm_mcm

I'd rather have the Passat TBH. Unless you get a high spec Mondeo vs. a Passat base.

DJ Hafez

Volvo of some sort maybe?!

junkyard

Volvo???? I'd say that would be a case of going from the frying pan to the fire tbh.:rolleyes:

colm_mcm

in that price bracket, you'd be looking at an S40, which is basically a Focus, and therefore much smaller than either the Mondeo or Passat

TychoCaine

IMHO (and I own one) Volvo's are poorish value if you're spending Mondeo money. It'll get you into a nice S40, but an S40 is just a Focus with a posh body, so may be a bit small inside compared to the Passat you're used to. There's really just four main options if you're looking for a repmobile in that price range, the Mondeo, Passat, Vectra or Avensis.

Another choice, especially seeing as it's a company car and someone else has to pay the (hefty) maintenance bills, is an Alfa 159....

Anan1

TychoCaine wrote:

Another choice, especially seeing as it's a company car and someone else has to pay the (hefty) maintenance bills, is an Alfa 159....

AFAIK, 3 years servicing is included on new 159s. If the company will give the OP one, it's the obvious choice.

colm_mcm

the cheapest 159 is 40 grand though. a tad more expensive than a Passat.
Considering Alfa's vertical depreciation, the contract hire figures on the Alfa would be far higher than on a Mondeo/Passat etc.

junkyard

TychoCaine wrote:

Another choice, especially seeing as it's a company car and someone else has to pay the (hefty) maintenance bills, is an Alfa 159....

Ah stop now before things get out of hand.:D

colm_mcm

I hear there's a new Laguna coming out. Quality is said to be up...

TychoCaine

colm_mcm wrote:

I hear there's a new Laguna coming out. Quality is said to be up...

Well it couldn't be any worse, could it?

unkel

Anan1 wrote:

159s. If the company will give the OP one, it's the obvious choice.

Agreed!

colm_mcm wrote:

the cheapest 159 is 40 grand though

Not quite. Base diesel 159 120BHP is €36k and is probably comparable to a Mondeo diesel Zetec 115BHP at €32k

To put things into perspective, base diesel models in this class from Mercedes-Benz and BMW are upwards of €45k. That's a big difference

unkel

Stop trolling, junkyard and colm_mcm

colm_mcm

Forgot about the Turismo model. only 120bhp though.

TychoCaine

unkel wrote:

Not quite. Base diesel 159 120BHP is €36k and is probably comparable to a Mondeo diesel Zetec 115BHP at €32k

Nobody pays list price for an Alfa. A guy I work with just bought a pre-registered zero mile "demo", (i.e. they needed to bump their sales to hit their targets for the previous month) for a €6k discount.

Here's another one: http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=808025 Less than 1,000km on the clock and it's going for €31k

unkel wrote:

To put things into perspective, base diesel models in this class from Mercedes-Benz and BMW are upwards of €45k. That's a big difference

but Alfas aren't in the same class as Mercedes and BMW, are they

lifebook

A4.....

bazz26

New Mazda 6 is out early next year, 2.0 litre diesel with upwards of 140bhp should be worth a look.

OP doesn't mention a budget. Presume mid €30k?

Will not get much of an A4 for low to mid €30k. And the new one is just around the corner and guaranteed to be more expensive.

lifebook

Ya the A4 is a bit pricier than the rest alright.

I have been following the new A4 (B8) for months now and was never so disappointed when i saw the new one. They just used an A6 interior and very little else.

I was expecting a full change but looks like the Germans have gone lazy.

joseph101

ford? they say it's the worst car.. how about honda accord or toyota camry?

pburns

bazz26 wrote:

New Mazda 6 is out early next year, 2.0 litre diesel with upwards of 140bhp should be worth a look.

OP doesn't mention a budget. Presume mid €30k?

Will not get much of an A4 for low to mid €30k. And the new one is just around the corner and guaranteed to be more expensive.

Would get my vote - I'll be having a look at one of these myself for '08!

http://www.autoweek.nl/newsimages.php?id=7155&p=1&d=1&ref=

Mondeo dynamics (that means top-of-class) and better looks. I notice Mazda Ireland is doing more advertising/promotional stuff these days and has taken the franchise off at least one crap dealer that I know of - should have a trickle-down benefit to customer service, residuals etc.

TychoCaine

joseph101 wrote:

ford? they say it's the worst car.. how about honda accord or toyota camry?

"They" are pretty much wrong these days. The Mondeo does go wrong, but less than average, and a lot less than something Italian or French. When it does go wrong however the parts are widely available and very cheap, and main dealer labour is cheaper than many back alley operations in my experience.

The Accord is nice, but starts at €39k (you can get a new Mondeo for €13k less!!!), and the Camry is in a higher segment (and hasn't been sold here since 2004). The Toyota model in the segment is the Avensis, which I already mentioned.

poppers

bazz26 wrote:

New Mazda 6 is out early next year, 2.0 litre diesel with upwards of 140bhp should be worth a look.

OP doesn't mention a budget. Presume mid €30k?

Will not get much of an A4 for low to mid €30k. And the new one is just around the corner and guaranteed to be more expensive.

Yeah budget will be low to mid 30k

Jumpy

Does Honda still make Legends?

unkel

Jumpy wrote:

Does Honda still make Legends?

They do, but it costs 3 times as much as a Mondeo

bazz26

Jumpy wrote:

Does Honda still make Legends?

Yep, new model due 2008:


But as Unkel points out it will cost a little bit more than the OP's budget suggests.