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Wanderers Ways. Neil Thompson 1961-2021

Electric Cars / Company Cars


birch-chorley

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11 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

All these suv types; whenever I've looked at them, they seem like an inverse tardis. Huge on the outside, but less so inside. A higher driving position, but far prefer my estate car; huge legroom and boot space. Essential for three hounds.

Depends on the car. And what it is being used for. Most SUV's don't beat an estate for leg room in the back or boot space. They are also less fuel efficient.

But I've never found a car as comfortable or pleasant to drive as the XC60 I test drove a while ago. Just ridiculously comfortable especially for my dodgy back. 

Edited by bwfcfan5
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28 minutes ago, bwfcfan5 said:

Depends on the car. And what it is being used for. Most SUV's don't beat an estate for leg room in the back or boot space. They are also less fuel efficient.

But I've never found a car as comfortable or pleasant to drive as the XC60 I test drove a while ago. Just ridiculously comfortable especially for my dodgy back. 

Comfort is down to construction quality etc. Shouldn't be governed by car type.

Currently got a Passat all track. Remarkable, by far the most comfortable and easy car to drive that we've ever had.

Also once had a c4 grand Picasso, it was also a comfortable ride for the most part, but a far poorer drive.

Within reason, you get what you pay for.

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If you like estates then look no further than the Škoda Superb, just had a refresh and is an excellent car for the money 

Effectively just a slightly bigger Passat Estate with a different badge that saves you a few thousand pounds. Early £30’s for a top spec model. You’d have to spend £10k to £20k more for an equivalent Audi / BMW 

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49 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Comfort is down to construction quality etc. Shouldn't be governed by car type.

Currently got a Passat all track. Remarkable, by far the most comfortable and easy car to drive that we've ever had.

Also once had a c4 grand Picasso, it was also a comfortable ride for the most part, but a far poorer drive.

Within reason, you get what you pay for.

Not just that - headroom for taller people like me and seat positioning can be an issue in estates. Its subjective of course. I've had a lot of estates - never an SUV - but that Volvo was incredibly tempting - purely for comfort/seat positioning. 

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1 hour ago, birch-chorley said:

If you like estates then look no further than the Škoda Superb, just had a refresh and is an excellent car for the money 

Effectively just a slightly bigger Passat Estate with a different badge that saves you a few thousand pounds. Early £30’s for a top spec model. You’d have to spend £10k to £20k more for an equivalent Audi / BMW 

Couple of my colleagues have just gone Skoda. One of them has the Superb, which is excellent, but one of them has the Kodiaq, which is an incredible bit of kit for the money.

When I joined this company 12 months ago, pretty much everybody was driving BMW and Audi  - now as various cars are changing, and there are generally one or two a month in the fleet, it's weird to see more and more people are going for Skoda and Kia cars

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23 minutes ago, Sweep said:

Couple of my colleagues have just gone Skoda. One of them has the Superb, which is excellent, but one of them has the Kodiaq, which is an incredible bit of kit for the money.

When I joined this company 12 months ago, pretty much everybody was driving BMW and Audi  - now as various cars are changing, and there are generally one or two a month in the fleet, it's weird to see more and more people are going for Skoda and Kia cars

Kia is an outstanding brand for quality and value combined  I would say they are unbeatable value for money 

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1 hour ago, Sweep said:

Couple of my colleagues have just gone Skoda. One of them has the Superb, which is excellent, but one of them has the Kodiaq, which is an incredible bit of kit for the money.

When I joined this company 12 months ago, pretty much everybody was driving BMW and Audi  - now as various cars are changing, and there are generally one or two a month in the fleet, it's weird to see more and more people are going for Skoda and Kia cars

The value of a car doesn't have a great deal of impact on what appears on your P11d. CO2 is the figure that fucks you over the most by a long shot, so if you're swapping an Audi for a Skoda, but it has the same engine, then it's not going to make much difference to the tax you pay.

It's more likely an employer will encourage you to take a 'cheaper' car because it'll be a cheaper lease cost for them.

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I need summat with big boot space to be able to get 2 mountain bikes in plus I do a lot of winter driving in the snow in Scotland and over the Pennines so 4x4 is ideal. With all that a SUV is preferable for me. Currently in a Merc which is lovely but I’ll probably go Kia or Hyundai when it’s time to change as they are looking really good now

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The Kodiaq is an excellent SUV 

Its on my short list if I go down the car allowance route, not on the company car list for CO2 reasons 

Also of the VW stable is Seat, the Tarraco is also a great car, basically the Kodiaq with a different badge. However it’s got a lot of kit as standard thats an extra on Kodiaq (likely you be added to standard when the Kodiaq gets a refresh this year) 

For anyone looking at cars, don’t go anywhere other than Carwow, the best deals by miles! They had half a dozen top of the range Tarraco’s on the site last week, ready for delivery at 30% off RRP (circa £28k)

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14 minutes ago, MancWanderer said:

I need summat with big boot space to be able to get 2 mountain bikes in plus I do a lot of winter driving in the snow in Scotland and over the Pennines so 4x4 is ideal. With all that a SUV is preferable for me. Currently in a Merc which is lovely but I’ll probably go Kia or Hyundai when it’s time to change as they are looking really good now

Have a look at the Kodiaq or Tarraco 

Both 5 + 2 SUV’s with 4 wheel drive 

Boot is like a van in 5 seater mode 

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Looked at skoda a couple of times, unfortunately the old dealership was absolute wank: we actually asked them to source us a car of the right age etc, but the guy didn't want to know. Only offered us the one they had in and that was too old.

Won awards and great value for money though.  Not quite the same quality as vw, but certainly better priced.

Won't be changing car for a good while though, definitely need more electric infrastructure before that happens.

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42 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Looked at skoda a couple of times, unfortunately the old dealership was absolute wank: we actually asked them to source us a car of the right age etc, but the guy didn't want to know. Only offered us the one they had in and that was too old.

Won awards and great value for money though.  Not quite the same quality as vw, but certainly better priced.

Won't be changing car for a good while though, definitely need more electric infrastructure before that happens.

No point going to one dealer these days 

Carwow allows you to deal with all dealerships nationwide allowing you to get the best price as they all cut each other’s throats on price 

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12 minutes ago, birch-chorley said:

No point going to one dealer these days 

Carwow allows you to deal with all dealerships nationwide allowing you to get the best price as they all cut each other’s throats on price 

Aye. I'm going back a few years.

Can look for a specific motor on the internet without buggering about.

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3 hours ago, birch-chorley said:

Have a look at the Kodiaq or Tarraco 

Both 5 + 2 SUV’s with 4 wheel drive 

Boot is like a van in 5 seater mode 

Probably that one size too big. Don’t want a big SUV - want Merc GLC, BMW X3, VW Tiguan size but without the badge. Just googled the Tarraco and found the Ateca which is the perfect size. Not due to change for a bit so hopefully we’ll see more hybrid options coming along

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4 hours ago, DazBob said:

The value of a car doesn't have a great deal of impact on what appears on your P11d. CO2 is the figure that fucks you over the most by a long shot, so if you're swapping an Audi for a Skoda, but it has the same engine, then it's not going to make much difference to the tax you pay.

It's more likely an employer will encourage you to take a 'cheaper' car because it'll be a cheaper lease cost for them.

C02 plus list price of car all contribute, so a Skoda will cost a few quid less than its Audi equivalent, especially when you're in the 40% tax bracket.

Edited by Sweep
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18 minutes ago, Sweep said:

C02 plus list price of car all contribute, so a Skoda will cost a few quid less than its Audi equivalent, especially when you're in the 40% tax bracket.

Correct. The tax you pay is a function of the co2 emissions as a percentage of the List price and then tax bracket. 
 

im in same sort of boat as @Rudy’s Message wife in that my car costs me buttons every month due to the nature of the scheme at work so I don’t actually pay any company car tax 

Edited by Escobarp
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2 hours ago, Rudy’s Message said:

One of the perks of her employer, she barely pays fuck all. Road Tax which I think is nothing and insurance. 

If it’s an employee perk I’d imagine she’s into £400 BIK tax a month on that car, £800 if it wasn’t hybrid 

Edited by birch-chorley
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20 minutes ago, Sweep said:

C02 plus list price of car all contribute, so a Skoda will cost a few quid less than its Audi equivalent, especially when you're in the 40% tax bracket.

The list price does affect it, yes, but the CO2 figure is a far bigger factor.

My point was if you're looking at bringing your BIK value down you should be looking at the engine, not the badge.

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5 minutes ago, DazBob said:

The list price does affect it, yes, but the CO2 figure is a far bigger factor.

My point was if you're looking at bringing your BIK value down you should be looking at the engine, not the badge.

Indeed, this new car in getting is only a 1.6l, with minimal C02, in comparison to my current vehicle

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17 minutes ago, birch-chorley said:

If it’s an employee perk I’d imagine she’s into £400 BIK tax a month on that car, £800 if it wasn’t hybrid 

I don’t know the ins and outs all I know is she’s doing alright and the company looked at a contract with Tesla and got knocked back and they went with Volvo. They even have a scheme which means spouses can get one at a good rate as well. 

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2 minutes ago, Rudy’s Message said:

How easy is it getting a charging point fitted at your house? Thinking for the future.

Piss easy, I'm told.

Costs about £300 or you can just plug into your mains, but that's a slow charge.

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