Hi 

 

Old account but first post on the forum. Basically I get a car allowance with work or a company car. At the moment I have a company car, I didn't get to choose as when I joined someone had left and there was a spare Mazda 6 in the office car park. 

 

Now with the tax going up year on year and finding out that I get a very good allowance I am very tempted to opt out and go and buy a octavia estate vrs. I've always liked the cars and at least I will have something at the end of the lease/loan. 

 

I'm in two minds really and just after a bit of advice. I'm looking at around £20k to get a second hand nearly new vrs. I will put a decent deposit down and then use the car allowance to pay the lease/loan and the saving in tax to maintain/tax/insure it. But I'm torn between a petrol or the Diseal. I get paid mileage from my front door to place of work about 12/13p a mile and will probably do around 12000 miles a year work (it's hard to judge as it can change from year to year) and 3000/4000 miles give or take private. 

 

With Diseal being cracked down on by the government now is it worth buying one still, especially with re sale value in 3/4 years? Or would the saving in fuel be worth it? 

Diesels take longer to warm up and aren't too keen on shortish journeys as that will cause regens to happen. They're comparitively slower but the extra torque is very nice to have.

Decisions, decisions...,.,

I'd go for the petrol on those numbers.  You should be able to get the fuel/mile down to 12/13p.  My diesel (150ps) is currently running about 12ppm and with petrol being cheaper.....

You don't say how far, or what kind of journey, your typical commute is, but my fuel per mile average on my TSI DSG is 14p, with a long term average of 37.7mpg over 14k and nearly a year. That's with a 23 mile commute mostly motorway and light traffic.

 

If most of your mileage is paid for then I'd lean towards the petrol. I'm currently paying for all my fuel at 15k a year in mine. However you'll potentially also have increased tax and insurance on the petrol Vs diesel. These may be minor though.

 

The whole diesel crackdown thing isn't something that would worry me or put me off... The newer ones are euro 6 compliant and it's likely the older dirty diesels that will be hit from any possible future crackdowns. That's how it is for the ULEZ charges in London currently.

 

Edited 23 January, 20197 yr by ahenners

My works fleet options were just base spec vehicles so I opted for a car allowance and bought the Diesel VRS 4x4 Wagon, chopped my own car in, chipped in a little money and filled the gap with a cheap loan. The car allowance covers the repayments and there is enough allowance left to feed a car fund. (servicing, tax, insurance, end of life vehicle replacement etc).

 

I get mileage expenses at 0.20p per mile for work journeys too. Annual mileage is approx 20K a year at 14p per mile on V-power Diesel. Its about 50/50 split private and company miles. Approx 2k of cold engine, short journey city driving in there.

 

I went Diesel on the Octy VRS as I wasn't using all 300hp of Saab V6 Turbo when I ran that for work. In traffic, you can't fully floor it without looking a prat at the next set of lights, On the motorway, no point speeding cos you aint going faster than the car in front and lose your job if your licence goes. As a car for work, Diesel DSG is perfectly fine around town and great on long journeys with cruise control on, enough torque pull out in a faster stream of traffic and match speeds of others without holding anyone up.

 

And if you want to thrash a few lanes, it will keep up with anything else around without driving like a racing ****. DSG paddle shifting on the twisties is great fun.

 

There seems to be a pre-heater in the ventilation system on my 2016 so the cabin warms up quicker than the engine. Useful for frosty mornings clearing the screen.

 

And around 500 miles off a single tank is achieveable if cruising highways a lot. City driving knocks it down a bit obviously. With that sort of range, you aren't looking for fuel stations on the way home at the other end of a big day out if you have filled up in the morning. it just isn't that good at traffic light GP in standard form.

 

Have I sold it...?

 

 

Commute will be motorway and A roads. But can change as I move around could be 60 miles a day then only 20. I'm leaning towards the petrol dsg 245 at the moment. 

You can get a new petrol VRS 245 DSG for around £24k at present. If you are putting a bit of cash in you could easily get it to your £20k

14 minutes ago, Jonny5isalive said:

You can get a new petrol VRS 245 DSG for around £24k at present. If you are putting a bit of cash in you could easily get it to your £20k

 

Where have you seen them new for £24k?

2 hours ago, BigEjit said:

My works fleet options were just base spec vehicles so I opted for a car allowance and bought the Diesel VRS 4x4 Wagon, chopped my own car in, chipped in a little money and filled the gap with a cheap loan. The car allowance covers the repayments and there is enough allowance left to feed a car fund. (servicing, tax, insurance, end of life vehicle replacement etc).

 

I get mileage expenses at 0.20p per mile for work journeys too. Annual mileage is approx 20K a year at 14p per mile on V-power Diesel. Its about 50/50 split private and company miles. Approx 2k of cold engine, short journey city driving in there.

 

I went Diesel on the Octy VRS as I wasn't using all 300hp of Saab V6 Turbo when I ran that for work. In traffic, you can't fully floor it without looking a prat at the next set of lights, On the motorway, no point speeding cos you aint going faster than the car in front and lose your job if your licence goes. As a car for work, Diesel DSG is perfectly fine around town and great on long journeys with cruise control on, enough torque pull out in a faster stream of traffic and match speeds of others without holding anyone up.

 

And if you want to thrash a few lanes, it will keep up with anything else around without driving like a racing ****. DSG paddle shifting on the twisties is great fun.

 

There seems to be a pre-heater in the ventilation system on my 2016 so the cabin warms up quicker than the engine. Useful for frosty mornings clearing the screen.

 

And around 500 miles off a single tank is achieveable if cruising highways a lot. City driving knocks it down a bit obviously. With that sort of range, you aren't looking for fuel stations on the way home at the other end of a big day out if you have filled up in the morning. it just isn't that good at traffic light GP in standard form.

 

Have I sold it...?

 

 

 

Only had my brand new (company car) Octavia estate SETech Auto diesel a week, but have to say that heater is fantastic, i wasn't aware of it until i got the car, heats up fast. Unlike my old company ford focus manual estate, that was totally useless regards the heater.

Got to say the Skoda is leaps above the Ford Escort. only thing stopping it from being a 10, is lack of soundproofing, it's not overly loud, but slap some more of that in it, job sorted. Oh and i'm going to call into the dealers next week and order a proper spare tyre, i wasn't aware it comes without one.

Get the vRS & have some fun, the vRD's are boring

28 minutes ago, Crunch26 said:

 

Where have you seen them new for £24k?

Depends on how quick you want it and what extra you want. Standard spec one from a dealer and they should be able to offer you just under £24k. Skoda are putting in £2500 for finance and £500 Jan test drive. I managed to get £6000 discount in total to bring it under £24k.

Edited 23 January, 20197 yr by Jonny5isalive

Is the petrol/diesel decision always down to mileage and the type of miles you do?

I'd question if things are so tight as to be worried about the cost to run, maybe not the right choice of car?

For me it was simple, petrol please because I hate driving around in a diesel - I'm paying for something with a bit of go, don't want to then lose that by having the wrong fuel.

I've a diesel, primarily for towing / longer journeys. My new commute is 20 miles there and back, but it's mainly a motorway / A road trip. So even in this colder weather, I'm getting 55mpg plus.

 

I've double checked with VCDS and it's able to do it's passive regens on the motorway, either work bound or homebound. The engine gets up to temperature quick enough.

 

I've a shed load of power (240ish tuned) if I do ever wish to wish go for a blast. Plus the cost of the petrol vs diesel when I bought my car was negligible (diesel was a few hundred cheaper), but add in the £30 road tax and better fuel economy, I feel having the diesel is proving to be better value. I filled up the other day with v power diesel (£65.28 for 47 litres), but I'd got just over 575 miles since the last time I'd needed to fill the tank. That includes normal driving, deicing the car in the morning, a trip into the city in busy traffic and the odd trip to the shops.

i have a diesel, its the best looking motor on here. 

Perhaps we could have your name changed to Moulinex for being a good stirrer... 

1 minute ago, TheWanderer said:

Perhaps we could have your name changed to Moulinex for being a good stirrer... 

 

i just deal in facts. its true! 

For the moment... My new one arrives on Friday. 

@Crunch26 I’d go for the petrol VRS definitely, much more fun imo and I’ll hopefully be getting the same engine in a Golf!

 

btw if you do a self assessment tax return you should be able to claim back the difference between 12p and 45p for any business miles you do (not commuting to and from a fixed place of work but genuine business miles). This is only the case if you are getting an allowance and providing your own car, not for company provided cars.

 

this is because the car allowance will be taxed the same as earnings, hence you are essentially getting penalised on the mileage rate.

I keep forgetting about the 'tax' cost.  £35 for my dsg burner.  What's the current cost for a tsi vrs either dsg or manual?

£140 iirc. 

My 336bhp Petrol Vrs cost 15.2 pence per mile on the last tank of Shell V-Power Nitro 99 octane rocket fuel currently at £1.319 per litre locally. Over 19,000 miles in 17 months averaged 40.8mpg, if that helps. More fun than a 236bhp diesel.

& much more opportunities to big up the modified TSI.     Where does the extra fun come in at UK NSL's?

13 minutes ago, Skoffski said:

& much more opportunities to big up the modified TSI.     Where does the extra fun come in at UK NSL's?

No clatter at start up, don't have to wait 10 miles for the engine to warm up, sounds better at any speed, you can do a track day without people laughing at you, don't get lovely diesel all over my hands when I fill up, handles better due to lighter engine, vaq diff not available on the diesel allows you to get the power down better, better braking, wider track (no need for spacers). MY 181bhp Vrs diesel averaged 45-47mpg and after 7 months and 7,000 miles had to get rid due to zero smiles so unless you've owned both cars you wouldn't understand. Regarding the National Speed Limit George you seem to have forgotten about being fined for exceeding it recently so perhaps shouldn't preach to those of us with clean driving licences.

Never preached just asked? 

Caught speeding, not caught having anymore fun!

My wife would sum it up nicely for you. She describes the Vrs as more fun below 30mph than her Karoq at 60mph, because of the nice noises it makes her words.