Not blown away by the ultimate driving machine

[Myview2]

It was time for some car shopping today. I headed off to one of the well known German badge garages having read the reviews and browsed the brochures and was completely prepared to be sold too.

Maybe the marketeers have done too good a job? The car looked ‘quite’ nice and drove ‘ok’ but unfortunately on neither aspect was I convinced to part with the cash to meet their substantial price tag. Such a shame, I have lost my justification to buy what seems to be universally renowned as a fantastic car that will blow all others out of the water.

Off to the more reasonably priced Spanish badge garage tomorrow!

VW and Seat are pretty much the same brand now.

Are you looking for a brand new car?
If not, get yourself to a car supermarket, tell a sales assistant what you're looking for (eg, split rear seats, big boot, whatever) and see what they suggest.

Yes, I read that. It was BMW I was at today, totally underwhelmed but maybe my expectations were too high. We’ll see how Seat measure up tomorrow.

I drive all sorts of cars in my job and I'm always underwhelmed by BMW. The lower brands have improved immensely in the last 3-4 years so worth a look.

Not sure what car you're after but have you considered Lexus?

I’m looking at brand new cars, it’s a company car but I’m balancing up the benefit in kind cost versus list price. The BMW was a hybrid so good on benefit on kind but I’d need to contribute to the list price. I thought it would give me a premium brand that I wouldn’t otherwise buy privately. The Seat has higher benefit in kind but is cheaper list price so overall cheaper per month, will see how that compares tomorrow.

Avoid car supermarkets like the plague they may seem cheap but there’s a reason for that the cars often are rejects from main dealers and after sales are non existent.

Well I write the car list for work so......

If you're looking for a hybrid, then look at Lexus. What size vehicle is it and annual mileage? If it's premium, we have quite a few Merc C350e on the fleet but fuel bill is huge due to mileage and like the BMW, underwhelming.

A friend has just got a Lexus hybrid and loves it. We have a Skoda Superb which is fab if you do a lot of business miles as it really is so comfortable to drive for hours and hours

I toyed up between Audi and Seat and am so glad I did - I LOVE my Seat Leon and even the basic models (rather than the fr and above) have so many gadgets and tech, and I find the styling so much nicer.

If I’m completely honest the main draw to the hybrid was the bik rate. Lexus isn’t on my company car list but I can take a car allowance instead so will see if there’s any private leasing options for that.

I drove the BMW 330e today. I just don’t understand it, everyone seems to rave about the 3 series and I seem to be missing my BMW appreciation gene.

I’m test driving the Seat Ateca tomorrow, not quite comparing like with like I realise! I suspect I will like sitting higher up and not feeling quite so enclosed. My business miles are only around 7k per year and 8k private so I’m generally not sitting in the car for hours on end. Keep the recommendations coming please :)

That's a shame as the NX is fantastic.

I've got the Peugeot 3008 on demo at the moment and it's a lovely drive. Never been a Peugeot fan before. I've got 3 on order at the moment.

Have you looked at Volvo? The V40 is a great car and CO2 is low. Or the Golf GTe but the list price is expensive for what you get but worth a look.

I had loads of BMWs on my list last time. Went for a high spec Skoda Superb in stead much better car. Much better spec.

I drove the Ateca today and really liked it. In my humble opinion it was just as nice a drive as the BMW (horrified BMW enthusiasts!) but has loads more space in it and I like sitting higher up. Nice spec too. The mad thing is that with the benefit in kind I’m actually much better off leasing it privately, even with paying for servicing and insurance I’ll have approx £120 a month extra in my pocket to cover tyres etc and I’m not anticipating to have to spend that much on a brand new car that’s under warranty on the kind of mileage I’ll do.

That's good news! Glad you found a car.