Frankly it's a lottery, as it depends on who drove the car when it was company owned.

I drove company cars from 1989 to 2006 and mine were in demand at the end of the lease because I looked after them, drove with mechanical sympathy, and always had them serviced on the button.

Conversely we had some BMW 3 series coupes (and saloons) which after 3 years with the Sales Account Managers were absolutely knackered. Other abused vehicles I particularly remember on the fleet were a Merc C180, a Volvo V70 and a couple of Omegas.

There were also some ladies in the Marketing department (my department) who had Audi A4s. They put oil in the engine only when the red warning light came on. They would normally forget to have them serviced on time as hey, who has time to book them in, drive to the garage and arrange a lift or a replacement car?

Caveat emptor indeed......

Regular servicing seems to be the key.

Agreed, and bit of care and mechanical sympathy and the ability/nous/common sense to lift the bonnet every week and just check the oil and then do something about it should it need some....judging by the few company cars i've driven whilst in company use this would appear to be far above the capability of some users.

Edited by Brian Tryzers on 09/03/2015 at 10:34

Company cars are like Motability cars. Its a lottery what you get as some people will look after them as if it was their own, and some people treat like a mobile skip.

Even private buys you get the same problem - some people look after their cars and others just don't care.