I'm currently in the process of choosing a new company car. For the past four years I have been driving a Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec, a very comfortable and practical car which when I can be bothered to clean it looks quite smart. To be honest there is nothing really wrong with it but my four years lease is up and I need to select my next car. Of course I could get the same again but that would be no fun at all.
Four years ago I decided to select a car from the entitlement band below my level in order to get a little extra cash each month to compensate. This time I decided to select something from my own band and hopefully get to drive something that I wouldn't normally be able to afford (or insure) if I were buying a new car myself privately. As most cars have a 10-13 week delivery period from the signed order, I need to make a choice quite soon. I have narrowed my selection down to three cars so far and to help me make a decision the leasing company has arranged for me to borrow demonstration models.
Yesterday I borrowed a BMW 320d Touring SE for 24 hours, it is a great looking car from the outside and drives really well. However, the interior layout and appearance was very disappointing very 'Germanic' and plain. My wife's first comment on sitting inside the car was that it looked like an "Ojiisan" car (an old man's car). The drivers seat could be adjusted up/down, forward/back and tilted... but I couldn't find a comfortable driving position. There just didn't seem to be enough room for my legs due to an overly wide centre console. Another niggle was that with the centre arm-rest down getting to the handbrake was pretty awkward but driving with it up felt even more uncomfortable. There was a metal foot rest next to the clutch and I found that whenever I used the clutch my foot would clip the side of it which I could imagine becoming very annoying. These negative points are a shame as I really wanted to like this car a lot but I don't think it's the one for me. Still, it looked good on our driveway last night and no doubt got some curtains twitching along the street.
Although I'm still waiting for confirmation that I can borrow a Jaguar X-Type Estate, later this week I will be borrowing a Ford Focus 2.0 C-Max Ghia for 4 days. The C-Max is a lower class of car than the BMW or Jaguar and lacks all of the status, but where the BMW was an entry level model and therefore lacked some features this C-Max is one of the top models in the range and therefore should be jam packed with gadgets and nice touches. After having driven a Focus for 4 years I'm expecting this to be a good, solid car although I can't see myself burning up the M3 like I did last night on the way home...
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