Hi all,
I am due a new company car and have a large choice so need some help.
I need a car that is comfortable for motorway cruising, driving in London and most importantly it has to look good.
I have narrowed it down to a Mondeo ST TDCI, Titanium X 2.2, Golf GT TDI DSG, Audi A3 Quattro or a Saab 9-3 Vector Sport.
In effect I can chose any car by Vauxhall, Audi, VW, Ford, Saab, Volvo and Jaguar.
Also I am only 21 so I would like something that has "street cred".
Thanks for reading and as I said, any advice is helpful.
Aaron
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You are a very lucky lad at 21 to have that choice of car.
Out of those listed I think you should have the Golf.
The Astra 3-dr looks very good to my eyes, but not sure how it will fare over the long term.
Audi's look good but you can probably get a better specced Golf for the money.
Jags, Saabs and Volvo's are not for 21 year olds unless you can get into a new Volvo C30.
Can't think of any obvious Ford except for a Focus with some sporty badge?
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Bit too young for a Mondeo unless you want to stand out & be different.
Saab & Audi are seen as upmarket badges ( ones just a re badged Vauxhall & the others just a rebadged VW )
Golf is more suited to your age bracket.
Go take a test drive & see which one you like the loo / feel of, Mondeo would be my choice out of those 4 cars.
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I drive a Mondeo Titanium at the moment and enjoy it very much.
I am tempted by the ST TDCI but the lure of the DSG/paddle shift could be too great to resist!
I have had Focus', Vectras and Mondeos before and I feel the Mondeos are more fun to drive.
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Presuming you don't have kids and need the extra room of the 9-3 or Mondeo I would go for the Golf or A3 - much easier to navigate and park in central London.
Both the A3 and Golf have the image you require but I would imagine the A3 will cost you more in tax, you'll have to test drive them both.
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Lucky you!
Now, I'm going to ignore most of what you wrote...
Because, your company car TAX is based on the list price of the car.
Now, I don't know whether the amount your employers would require you to contribute would depend on the INSURANCE cost - but probably not.
Therefore, as a 21 year old, it suggests that to get the best value for money out of your employers, you need a group 20 car. You have come up with some p boring suggestions, if I may be so bold. How's the Audi TT?
I don't know what your definition of 'street cred' is. If you want to stand out, then what about one of those Jags? It's not the conventional chav 'streed cred' that would come with a piked up (phrase (c) Pologirl) Pug 106... complete with blue lights under the car.
I'm the wrong person to ask... but don't any of your suggested manufaturers produce a sports car? VW have a new Corrado on the way iirc. Do Ford still do a Puma?
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The 2.2 TDCi in the Mondeo is more refined and more torquey than the VAG 2.0 TDi and much more torquey than the 1.9/150 in the Saab. The Ghia X is the same price as the Titanium X and is still the best equipped Mondeo, you only get power seats in the Ghia X and ST220, they are optional only on the ST TDCi, though the ST TDCi is more likely to appeal to a 21 year old.
The only thing that would put me off a new Mondeo now is that there is a new model due next year though if you only keep your company car a couple of years that is not an issue.
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How about an X-Type Sport 2.2d?
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Don't stand in the same dreary line as everybody else.
A kid in a Jag should have to beat the birds off with a broom
You define what is credible, don't be dictated to
I had more girls in my XJS than I had tanks of petrol - which was quite an achiement given its MPG
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The driving in London bit should lead you to an auto of some sort, unless you really like changing gear. DSG for me.
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Dave,
That has made me laugh so much !
BMW 335 coupe - nothing in the list comes close. The prettiest car below 50k with the smoothest petrol engine built by man. Don't buy a Mondeo you can do that when you have kids and laughter lines.
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Buy whatever it is you like best (with an eye on your company car tax, which suggests diesel). If the Mondeo is the most fun to drive, and driving pleasure is important to you, get that. It'll have infinitely more cred than a 10-year-old with steel wheels, which is what people will expect when they hear the word Mondeo.
As for cred, my friend was an assistant manager at a bank at 21 and drove a five-year-old (M-reg) Mondeo LX. Suprprisingly the women loved it, largely because the other blokes our age were driving G-plate Fiestas at the time.
Incidentally, the people with G-reg Fiestas are now driving newish BMWs and Passats - and my mate is a penniless student on the first year of a three-year, full time undergraduate degree so it's not a happy ending.
If it's about "stret cred" (and as Mapmaker says, anything that's obviously better than a 106 with undercar neons will have it in abundance) I'd go Audi A3 S-Line, Jaguar X-Type Sport, Golf GT (too subtle to be top), Mondeo ST, Saab 9-3 Vector Sport, Passat Sport, Vectra SRi, Volvo anything, possibly even the C30 until they see it.
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