Car recommendations for Business Use

Hi,

I have been offered a company car for business use and have been given a choice of *any* car within a budget of 60k either as a lease or bought by the company.

My requirements are that the car should not be too large (to allow for city parking), should have reasonable miles-to-gallon ratio, have a quiet and comfortable cabin ride with sat nav for motorway driving, and not be too ostentatious (to allow for parking in some fairly dodgy areas) but still have a good "image" for meetings with business clients and be fun to drive as well.

Some people have suggested the old executive standby the BMW 5-series but this is a little too large for my liking or the M3 but this has the "badge" that may attract unwanted attention. Also on the list is the Lexus IS range or the Golf GTI.

If anyone has any sensible suggestions or advice, I'd be interested in your comments.

And could someone explain the benefits of car-leasing over outright purchase (and would you be able to order a car with specific options in mind such as sat nav, sun roof etc?)

Thanks,

Alex

Reply to
alexrpeters
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You lucky, lucky, bastard!

Reply to
gazzafield

Lexus diesel IS or petrol version if you want auto . Toyota prius t-spirit, free into congestion zone at present and seen as being very eco friendly.

Sat nav is more use off the motorway and in town, I find.

mrcheerful

Reply to
mrcheerful

Saab 9-5 2.3 turbo Skoda Octavia vRS Skoda Superb V6 TDi

Reply to
NeedforSwede2

Hartge H1 without the blingy bits.

It's a 1 series with a S62 5.0 V8,

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Reply to
Alistair J Murray

It doesn't matter how good the car is, if I turned up to a business meeting in a Skoda I probably wouldn't get the sale

Reply to
alexrpeters

The newer Saabs are not a patch on the older ones that Carl is so fond of (and I understand why!). The same can be said of newer Mercs.

Personally I'd agree with the Lexus suggestion, excellent build quality and reliability.

Reply to
Chris Bolus

He said *60* grand, not 16 ;-)

I'd be looking at Maseratis.

Reply to
SteveH

On the other hand, could this be a troll?! It doesn't make sense to me.

Reply to
Lin Chung

Jag XJ8.

I know you said not too big, but bollocks to that, the XJ is the mutts nuts to drive.

Reply to
Pete M

You haven't been keeping up recently have you? Skoda's image is changing=20 and has been for a few years now. If a sales man turned up at our=20 offices in a Skoda Octavia vRS I'd be impressed at the thought put into=20 getting the car. It'd be a much bigger plus point than turning up in the=20 usual BMW or merc. A BMW is a mark down for lack of imagination. I'm not=20 talking about small sales either. My budget for one project last year=20 was =A3250k. Someone turning up in an unusual car is a good chatting point= =20 and I am swayed by what they drive.

BMW - No imagination, paid too much for a reasonable car. Passat - Conservative Mondeo - I bet that was a forced fleet thing. Lexus - Luxury, but not paying over the odds Merc - Depends, Small merc bought a badge. Big Merc - I get suspicious=20 about how much profit is being made on the deal.

In fact, turn up in anything too flash and I'm much harder to sell to. A=20 well turned out and well thought out car gets my attention much better=20 than something that is supposed to impress me.

Warwick

Reply to
Warwick

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