New Company Car Just Been Ordered

Nissan Leaf.

Combined CO2 emissions: 120 g/km (EU6D TEMP)

A colleague at work is desperate to buy the E320 and we don't need two estate cars, so an enhanced vintage or classic solution is a possible way to spice up weekend driving and maintain the cylinder count.

Some close guesses, but no cigar yet...

We have a winner!



A4 Avant Sport 35 TDI S Tronic


A4 Avant std spec.pdf (406.03 KB)

Sounds like a good choice and you've dodged a bullet with the PHEV.

We have come to the conclusion that the PHEV's on the fleet are proving to be very expensive to run. Now the government grant has stopped it makes the case for getting one even more difficult to justify, other than from a BIK point of view. 

The Audi gives me a decent car and keeps the BIK to a bearable level.

Three years. The previous model I drove was good and the current model is supposed to be much better, so I can't see there will be any problems.

It is an impressive standard spec for an Audi but does 150bhp go very far in an A4 Avant?

I was always rather annoyed to work in an industry that didn't dole out company cars (and we don't get a payment in lieu either).

Increasingly I am not.

The payment in lieu / car allowance is taken into account when salaries are being calculated, so doesn't really make a difference and company cars are getting so much more expensive.  When we were making a decision last year, we (very) briefly looked at Lindsays company car list.  She could go up to about £45k list and 150g co2 iirc, but that made the cost about £7,500-8,000 pa including the impact of losing her allowance.  That would have increased by about £500 this coming tax and another £200 next year.  It's not a perk/cheap option any more, hasn't been for years.

There is that. Sounds similar performance to the 140bhp TDI in the 54-plate A3 Sportback my mother had two cars ago, which was to say decent if you caught the torque surge. Hope the latest generation 4-pot engines are less tractorish than hers was !

Good man maths avoiding insurance, tax, tyres, servicing etc...but it's still cheaper than running one as a company car.  


I had a quick look at what mine would be, monthly BIK of £1,365 plus loss of allowance, so over £1,700 a month.   Interestingly, a Panamera Hybrid specced up to a a similar list price would have monthly BIK or £650, you can see why plug in hybrids are so popular. 

It isn’t easy making decisions on company cars these days and the rates are getting quite punitive. The model you’ve chosen will have a BIK of over £11k based on being in a band that has a 28% rate for petrol and 32% for diesel cars. It would have been half that not many years ago. That’s why I’m looking like choosing between a Niro or Corolla estate hybrid. Anything more premium or with a better engine quickly brings unjustifiable tax increases which, as you’ve alluded to, is pretty pointless to suffer for the sake of something slightly nicer to sit in motorway traffic in. You’ve certainly chosen a nice car though that looks good inside and out and has a pretty comprehensive spec (as it should for £36k). Might want to check the spec sheet though, it says it only has a 40ltr fuel tank, that seems a bit small.

Not surprised it’s stock only, my Dads friend is trying to get a new C class diesel and the dealer is struggling to get commitment that Mercedes will supply one (he likes to tick a fair few option boxes). I think a lot of manufacturers are scaling down the level of diesel models they’re willing to offer.

The diesels has a small tank, you can upgrade to the bigger ta k from the petrol for no cost, but I assume this one is already built?

Yes, already built, so we shall have to see what comes. One good point to emerge in the past hour is that they have been able to find a metallic grey one, rather than the standard black, so I have gone for that instead.