Good Afternoon,

 

I have started a new job recently and I have to pick my company car.

 

I have previously had company cars for the last 12 yrs and have all been vauxhalls (not through choice) with the odd time in a hire car.

 

Previously I had my heart set on a BMW, but to get the spec that I wanted I would need to take the 1.6 petrol engine, but in MSport guise with xenons and harmen kardon etc.

 

I have however started looking at VRS Diesels and have now pretty much got my heart set on one after a test drive at my local dealer, the performance blew me away and the build quality seemed very good, however, I do have some questions..

 

Speed sign infomation, I notice in the brochure that the lane assistant comes as standard, and on the brochure it shows a 120km sign - is this standard as I can't see any options for it?

 

My recent Astra had speed limit as well as cruise. I found I used this more useful than the cruise, I set it to 85 and foret about it. Does the Octavia come with this?

 

My Spec at the moment is

Meteor Grey or Race Blue (the grey although cheaper p11d price is actually more expensive on the lease, assume because it is a flat paint, although looks nice

 

Cruise £180

Mitsumi £100 (not sure if I really need this, the plan was to use usb key or SD card (in the BMW) and bluetooth for calls on my iphone - is this worth the cost?

Canton £400

Kessy £300 (is this really worth it, had keyless start in a Mondeo hire I had and found I always lost the key, usually theres only one place the key can be - ignition)

Colour Maxi £80

Black Pkg £100 (all the VRS's I have seen have black grill and mirrors, has this become standard?)

Heated washers £30

Light assist £300 (unsure of this - thoughts)

Parking system £450 (it's a long car, and I will be parking from time to time in town, has anyone used it, reverse parking is hit or miss with me - this would be at sacrafice of either light assist or kessy)

 

Please let me know your thoughts

 

Thanks

Edited 7 January, 201412 yr by rscosworth

Not all vrs' come with black grill you need black pack. Personally I like race blue but it is your choice. I wouldn't bother with kessy but again up to you. Why not get rid of kessy and go for the sat nav instead? You will get SD slot then. Again I wouldn't go for the light assist either. Pointless in my honest opinion.

I'm not that clued up on the mkIII but I hope this helps.

If it were me:

 

Cruise - YES (should be standard IMO)

Canton - YES

Kessy - NO

Colour Maxi - MAYBE?

Black Pkg - YES

Heated washers - MAYBE (Only any good if the screenwash isn't frozen beforehand)

Light assist - MAYBE?

Parking system - NO

 

Like Keechy - dump the park assist, light assist and kessy (£1050) and put towards Columbus. You get the nav and the SD slot, so could also ditch the Mitsumi (£1150 now). Possibly add Bluetooth for £180 in place of the Mitsumi.

 

Why add options for the sake of it, it will only bump up your P11D value. Not sure how a vRS will compare to your current vehicle in terms of emissions and P11d. The park assist is a gimmick IMO but if you are unsure about parking they it may help.

Nice spec.

I assume we're talking hatch not estate? If it's an estate I would drop most of your spec in favour of the panoramic sunroof.

Mine came with most of what you specced, I grabbed the Dealership Mangers car.

Things like KESSY and light assist are nice to haves but your life won't be worse without them, the Canton sounds lovely once you've set it to your preferences, Bluetooth is Andy and I guess depends on what you use the car for, mobile office? Colour maxi gives you something nice to look at in traffic jams, heated washers and park assist to me at least make sense.

Personal opinions, no more...

You need the black design package for the grille and wing mirrors.

Personally I would drop the kessy, but that's just my opinion, use the cash towards the winter pack or upgraded head unit for surround sound.

Similiar to me, to replace my c220 AMG Sport Estate.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/299579-just-ordered/

Depending on what colour you're going for, sunset glass (darkened rear windows) might not be such a bad idea....

 

Black pack is an absolute must for the vRS in my opinion.

why not just buy an elegance with sports pack ( seats, suspension etc )

 

then you get all the toys ( sat nav, light assist, cruise, etc. )

 

Only downside is 150bhp engine- still faster than the old VRS due to light weight

Only advice I will give you is to get as much as you can in as standard, once you start adding extras they sit on your P11D and you pay tax on them all. Also look at emissions as the higher these are the less you bring home each month.

 I currently have a Yeti 170 and at 159 CO2 emissions it is expensive on tax. I will be sacrificing such luxuries on my next car to give me more money in my pocket, I agree it is once to have all these nice things but the ultimate decision should be down to how much of your hard earned salary you want to give to the government so as you can have a car for three years and then give back.

 

This is a really good website, it allows you to enter all your details about salary etc and then all things about the cars what you are interested in to see how much it costs you in real money every month.

 

COMCAR

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

Last car was an Astra Sports Tourer 1,7 exclusiv so this wouldn't be costing too much more in tax, and anything is going to be better than it, current car 105gm, vrs is 119gm

 

VRS would be a hatch, the car I test drove was an estate and I do like the looks but have no need

 

The new job/promotion means that I can now pick my car rather than just taking what they give me.

 

Car won't be a mobile office, I reckon about 18k per year with only 7k of that being business, I have no real need for the sat nav to be honest with you, I know my way around and use my iPhone tomtom.

 

Bluetooth comes as standard? So I can make calls and view address book etc or do I need the Bluetooth+ (I was under the impression this only improved the signal?)

 

What about the speed limit signs and speed limiter function - standard or?

 

Thanks for the help guys.

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

Last car was an Astra Sports Tourer 1,7 exclusiv so this wouldn't be costing too much more in tax, and anything is going to be better than it, current car 105gm, vrs is 119gm

 

 

 

So for current tax year, Astra is at 16% P11d and vRS is at 18% P11d. These rates increase by 1% for the next tax year.

So for current tax year, Astra is at 16% P11d and vRS is at 18% P11d. These rates increase by 1% for the next tax year.

Yep, its £25 a month more expensive. Will only be a on a 2yr lease and then will look at something else, or replace with the same.

My view......its a company car so go easy on the options and keep the P11D value as low as possible.

Standard car is well equipped anyway, probably the only option i would personally toy with is sat nav (and im talking Amundsen not Columbus, v good but massively overpriced) if its going to be used for work but again arguably a Garmin or Tom Tom will be more cost effective and probably the better nav device.

Admit lure of the vRS is obvious but have you considered an Elegance 2.0 TDi?

The vRS crew will probably lynch me for saying it (I have a 2013 Mk2 vRS Blackline at the moment....but not for long) but the 2.0 TDi is barely any slower real world than the 184 vRS, there abput 10hp/tonne difference in power to weight as the vRS weighs alot more, its comfortable, v well equipped and will be cheaper i am sure.

If youre heart is set on a vRS understood and fair play but I wouldnt rule a bog standard Elegance spec car out myself....im changing my vRS for one so perhaps im biased haha

I have the 2.0 TDI Elegance and what I went for through Lex was the Canton, Columbus, Golus Wheels, Crew Protection, Electically heated and adjustable front seats (wife and 2 girls drive it also) and in white...kept the P11 value down as much as possible and wasn't going to pay for posh paint. 

My view......its a company car so go easy on the options and keep the P11D value as low as possible.

Standard car is well equipped anyway, probably the only option i would personally toy with is sat nav (and im talking Amundsen not Columbus, v good but massively overpriced) if its going to be used for work but again arguably a Garmin or Tom Tom will be more cost effective and probably the better nav device.

Admit lure of the vRS is obvious but have you considered an Elegance 2.0 TDi?

The vRS crew will probably lynch me for saying it (I have a 2013 Mk2 vRS Blackline at the moment....but not for long) but the 2.0 TDi is barely any slower real world than the 184 vRS, there abput 10hp/tonne difference in power to weight as the vRS weighs alot more, its comfortable, v well equipped and will be cheaper i am sure.

If youre heart is set on a vRS understood and fair play but I wouldnt rule a bog standard Elegance spec car out myself....im changing my vRS for one so perhaps im biased haha

 

 

I have the 2.0 TDI Elegance and what I went for through Lex was the Canton, Columbus, Golus Wheels, Crew Protection, Electically heated and adjustable front seats (wife and 2 girls drive it also) and in white...kept the P11 value down as much as possible and wasn't going to pay for posh paint. 

 

I appreciate it, but only the VRS grabs my fancy, otherwise I would go for something else completely. In my opinion the looks of the VRS is the only thing thats really attracting me to the brand.

 

Its my first company car where I have a choice, so for the first 2yrs I am going to splash some cash. I will do limited business miles, so its more of a personal car than business.

Cruise yes but you currently cannot have adaptive cruise that will speed up and slow the car down with the traffic ahead.

 

Matsumi not needed you can use Bluetooth. I used/use the Namii navigation app on my iphone and with Bluetooth you get directions and music with the app.

 

If you are doing town/ motorway driving then no real need for adaptive lights ( if added you will get auto wipers as well)  and I would not have Kessy.

 

Auto park I took mine off and now wish I had left it on just for the front sensors, otherwise not needed.

 

I would consider the winter pack, heated seats, windscreen and washers.

Cruise yes but you currently cannot have adaptive cruise that will speed up and slow the car down with the traffic ahead.

 

The Vauxhall and a few others have a speed limiting function, where you set it to a speed and it will not go above that, different from adaptive cruise. But with the Vauxhall it came with the cruise package.

 

On the BMW it comes as standard, and then you can add cruise as an option.

The Vauxhall and a few others have a speed limiting function, where you set it to a speed and it will not go above that, different from adaptive cruise. But with the Vauxhall it came with the cruise package.

 

On the BMW it comes as standard, and then you can add cruise as an option.

 

No different to the Vag standard cruise set it to 85 and the car cruises at 85 and no more, with this cruise you can also change gear if needed without turning cruise off.

 

Cruise is turned off if you either use the break pedal or turn off from the stalk.

No different to the Vag standard cruise set it to 85 and the car cruises at 85 and no more, with this cruise you can also change gear if needed without turning cruise off.

 

Cruise is turned off if you either use the break pedal or turn off from the stalk.

So I think we are talking at cross purposes. I am not talking about cruise control, I am talking about speed limit.

 

Set it to 85, and you drive normally, accelerate brake etc, but the car will not go above 85 unless you put the pedal hard to the floor, if you take your foot off, the car will slow down normally.

I appreciate it, but only the VRS grabs my fancy, otherwise I would go for something else completely. In my opinion the looks of the VRS is the only thing thats really attracting me to the brand.

Its my first company car where I have a choice, so for the first 2yrs I am going to splash some cash. I will do limited business miles, so its more of a personal car than business.

Yeah fair shout. Still any spec you add to the car will just cost you more money....for a car thats technically not ever going to be your own. Just dont see the point myself.

Corporate lease deals on cars like BMW's are normally v good, you mentioned a 1.6 3 series M sport (316i or 316d?)....i bet if you laid off additional spec and just took a standard car you'd be able to get yourself a 318 or 320d for similar money to a vRS....Octy is a good car but I know what id rather have myself. Just my humble opinion.

Edited 7 January, 201412 yr by pipsyp

Go for a better base BMW, and ditch the MSport package.

 

Sure the bodywork looks nice, but the suspension is just too hard and it's the thing that costs a lot and IMHO probably isn't worth it.

 

They do a 1 series and 3 series business edition.

You might want to look at that as it was very cheap compared to a normal 1er and monthly rentals were less than an Octavia elegance when you looked at the 116d and 118d.

The 320d business edition wasn't that different to the Octy either, even with electric sports seats added.

Edited 7 January, 201412 yr by cheezemonkhai

My vrs replaced a 59 plate S Max Titanium Sport pack and it's costing me around £50 a month less as emissions way better.

Plus the equivalent Ford lists at over £30k now.

Only option is paint as car ex demo so light on extras - doesn't bother me other than losing cruise which I miss already but everything else more than compensates!

Id probably look at a 320d X drive Sport myself. In the right colour with contrasting black mirrors and the Sport 18" wheel upgrade looks lovely anyway, M Sports are nice but the standard wheel is quite boring and as a spec package its overpriced.

Will be faster than the vRS (think its fair to level at the vRS TDi that its not particularly fast on paper for a 184hp car) and BMW driving dynamics mixed with 4wd is quite a combination. Something like this will be on my hit list for my next car change.

Edited 8 January, 201412 yr by pipsyp

BMWs are so dull.  The interior's are rediculously brand, and I'd question whether they've been in a luxury category for some time.  Apart from the 5 and 7 series, the small models are overpriced Hectors.  Audi and Mercedes have vastly superior interiors and finish, but when you compare the costs to a vRS, there is no comparison.  Which is why I'm here!

why not just buy an elegance with sports pack ( seats, suspension etc )

 

then you get all the toys ( sat nav, light assist, cruise, etc. )

 

Only downside is 150bhp engine- still faster than the old VRS due to light weight

 

+1.  Or even drop the sports suspension if you're doing serious miles.  I'm clearly getting soft in my old age.