Company cars experts

The Older Gentleman coughed up:

I always hated having a Sierra or Cavalier as a relief car.
Although they were fine cars in their day, they were still fucking
anonymous rep mobiles whereas the Renault 19 was a bit different (and
had an electric sunrooof). It was also the first car I ever had with a
rev limiter (I discovered that whilst overtaking up a hill on holiday
in Cornwall).


--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

The Older Gentleman coughed up:

It can work both ways though.

Invariably when I had the Jag I'd choose to park it in the street
rather than the customer's carpark.

Although it was worth less than a 3 series beemer of the same age, it
was percieved to be flashy, and I was a bit self conscious about it
despite being a director of the company.

I much preferred the Golf, it was somehow classless.

--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

The Older Gentleman coughed up:

Hmm, Ford Capris were always a difficult one for company car admins to
deal with, only having 3 doors.

--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

message

A slightly different reason, I think. I've always worn decent suits to see
customers as a mark of respect, as much as anything. Turn up scruffy -
especially in sales - and you are a) not taken seriously and b) they think
you don't take them seriously.

The car thing is more complex. For one thing, a customer may not see the
damn thing. And they may also think you are being *too* flash. Thobbut, the
same caution can apply to suits. I don't wear my Escada or Armani numbers to
visit a mid level manager in a council, it'd get their backs up.

Ali

 

A colleague of mine once said: "If you want to know what a journaist's
desk looks like, look at the inside of his car, and vice versa."

 

That's working exactly the same way, IMHO.

 

Which is, oddly enough, one of the reasons that Mazda RX-8s did quite
well in recent years - you could finally get one as a company car
because it had four doors...

 

I had an Opel Manta once. I really liked that thing.

Ali

 

Wouldn't like to see the tax bill on one of those, though.

*thud*

Three fucking grand a year for a 40% tax payer.

 

The Older Gentleman coughed up:

You're prolly right, but it's late and I cba to figure it out.

I was more comfortable turning up in the Golf than the Jag, as I felt
the Jag sometimes gave wholly the wrong first impression. And you
don't get a second chance to make one of those.

The Hyundai, OTOH gets me the sympathy order.



--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Alison Hopkins coughed up:

Proper Mark 1 one, or the Cavalier-esque thing that followed?

--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Gawd, I can't remember the marque, I'm ashamed to say. It was 1985, and it
was the sort of long thin version. Looked nothing like a Cav, and went like
the proverbial off a shovel. Bright orange and a 1.8 injected engine. How
the hell I never got nicked....

Ali

 

Yup, that's the 'Cavalier Coupe' shape. Didn't look like the Cavalier of
it's time, as it was based on the previous version of the Cavalier.

Lovely cars, but not quite as nice as the Manta A. Which looked like a
3/4 scale American 'muscle car'.

 

Probably less than the deprecation on them - they were quite cheap to
lease initially but by now the leasing companies noticed that they
deprecate quicker than expected.

 

Indeed. Father had one of those. Only a 1.6 though not the 1.9.

My Manta 'Y' reg. GT/J was OK but I really wanted a GT/E as driven by
McRae Senior.
Same with my old Magnum 1.8. Should have got a 2.3. I even had the
offer of a genuine DTV 2.3 in full 'colours'. The owner had to detune
it by changing the carbds just to insure it.

 

Alison Hopkins says...

Turn up at mmost small bike shops in a shirt and tie and you're liable
to have your arse kicked out the door until at least the tie is removed.
I sometimes used to go back to the car to change into a company polo
shirt and walk back in to find a coffee and biscuits on the counter
waiting for me.

 

Heh. I have a special way of wedging stuff into the boot so it doesn't
slide around whilst I'm driving.

 

Pete Fisher says...

One of my first cars was a 6 year old ex-Metropolitan Police Vauxhall
Magnum 2.3 coupe in yellow with a black vinyl roof. Packed out with Nato
standard wiring and a plastic cover on the back shelf where the
"Police" light box had lived and cut outs in the front panel where
lights had been fitted behind the grille slats. When I got it there was
an almost brand new 1.8 engine and box in it, despite the reg doc and
badges saying it was a 2.3. That engine/box lasted 3 months before I got
my hands on the 2.3 engine and 5 speed ZF box with LSD from a written
off but otherwise immaculate VX4/90[1]. It all went in over a 4 hour
period at the local Vauxhall dealers one Sunday morning. A car breakers
somewhere bought a VX4/90 with a half decent 1.8 engine and box held in
with about 4 loose bolts, and no diff innards at all.

[1] My then girlfriends brother was yard manager at Arlingtons. He
called me as soon as the car arrived and told me to get the Magnum down
there on Sunday as he'd arranged for two techies to help us do the swop.

 

I like having a nice car, but I'd have to draw the line at that kind of
expense. You could buy and run a decent bike or silly car in addition to
a company car if you took something with a diesel engine for work.

 

Yes. You buy something older and very silly - like a Caterham type
thing, 'cos you've halved your tax bill.