My company car lease of 3 years is about to expire in mid-May. I

The thing is with leasing, that the lease payments include an element of depreciation, hence with the higher mileage you will pay more per month. This along with the calculated residuals of of the octy in 3 years time form part of the fee.

Our lease company will also let us have ex demo cars which are cheaper. Unfortunately, talking direct to the lease company is the best way to find these. You could also try a lower model with the options you would like to take it near the L&K spec. Bet you won't get a new BMW for that price, as the time you got yours it was model change time, so there were some good deals on 3 series.

One of my colleagues is in the same boat, having a BMW of the same age, he cannot afford another one.

Get a quote direct from a Skoda dealer. Our lease company (HSBC) is miles more expensive than a dealer, all our new leases are now direct. Get the cheap quote and wave it under the fleet managers nose!

I have to agree - I would start by getting a quote for your current BMW too - and then compare the two, you might find the Octy isn't that much more.

In fact, a quick check of a personal lease website shows the BMW 320d ES estate as £565/month for a 3 year, 25,000 (per year) car with no extras (full maintenance) - the Skoda Octavia 2.0TD L&K manual on the same system (full maintenance, again no options) is £508/month.