RE: Re: OT: Something for car fans!

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> You think you have a problem?  They changed the rules a few=20
> years back for us to save the company money.  My benchmark is=20
> a Ford Focus LX.  I'm not allowed to contribute, and I'm only=20
> allowed Ford Group cars (Ford, Volvo, Mazda, Jaguar, etc.).=20=20
> My last company car was a Fiesta Ghia.  Bloody uncomfortable,=20
> but at least it had sat nav and other gadgets.  I had a=20
> temporary Ford Focus LX .. Estate ... in white (blue flashing=20
> lights and medical equipment not included), which was bloody=20
> uncomfortable, and had no gadgets whatsoever.  I've now got a=20
> Ford Focus LX in a proper colour, but without the decent=20
> boot, a large amount of turbo lag, and the ability to hit=20
> 60mph.  Great!  My personal car is an M535i, so you see why=20
> it's a comedown.  So what are the rules for your new car?  Do=20
> you have a budget, then buy whatever you like?
>=20=20
> Cheers,
> Andy

The "rules" are basically you can have whatever you want but my
employers
will pay the going rate for the "benchmark" vehicle (Vectra 120PS
1.9CDTi
Club) only (minus a nominal =A356 a month contribution from me) - anything
over benchmark you pay the extra for and anything less than benchmark you
pocket. Other than that the only other rules are pretty much summed up
with...

1) Must have seating for four.

2) Can be a maximum of 2.2 litres for petrol engines, no limit on diesels.

At the moment the "shortlist" that I'm trying to get test drives
of are:

Mazda RX-8 (substantially over budget and trying to avoid paying out that
much extra but might as well go take a look), Honda Civic Type R (hopefully
taking one out for a test drive in the morning), Focus ST (OK - Over 2.2
litres but I want to take one for a play), Cooper S, Astra VXR and Vectra
SRi - just wondering whether I can live without air conditioning though!

Phil