The Vauxhall Insignia has been a popular choice for company car drivers for many years now. It boasts competitive pricing, practical features and thanks to a recent facelift, a range of fuel-efficient and low-emitting engine options to choose from.
When it comes to picking the right Insignia there is a plethora of engine and trim levels as well as the four different body styles which can make picking your new car for the next three or four years a daunting task.
The key is finding the right balance between performance, kit, low tax costs and efficiency; and Parkers is here to help you do just that.
We’ve trailed through the Insignia range to help you find the engine and trim choice that makes the most sense as a company car including any optional extras that may be worth a look.
Which body style?
There are four choices here; saloon, hatchback, Country Tourer and Sports Tourer.
The Country Tourer provides a higher seating position and off-roading capabilities and is targeted to a very niche market. Since it’s based on higher-spec trims, its CO2 emissions and P11D prices are generally higher so we can discount this option straight away.
The saloon option actually looks more like a Coupe and is fairly limited with only one engine choice available.
The Sports Tourer estate version (pictured above), is arguably better looking than the hatchback but falls down when it comes to practicality with only 500 litres of boot space available with the rear seats up. The hatchback version has 520 litres so is actually more practical despite appearances. The Sports Tourer also carries quite a premium over the hatchback and has higher emissions.
So the hatchback would be our choice as it combines good levels of space and practicality and offers the best figures of the bunch for fuel economy and CO2 emissions.
Engine choice
Despite some pretty impressive advancements in petrol efficiency, the diesel is still champion when it comes to engine choice for the Insignia.
It is also worth bearing in mind that although for the next two years diesel engines are penalised by a three percent levy when it comes to Benefit-in-Kind tax (BIK), in the 2016/17 tax year this will be removed so possible savings over petrol engines will increase even further, depending on how many miles you drive.
The 2.0CDTi ecoFLEX diesel engine is the best option here and is available with three different power outputs to choose from, 118bhp, 138bhp and 161bhp.
The most powerful of the three offers CO2 emissions of 114g/km (manual) and official combined fuel economy of 65.7mpg. Although impressive, the 138bhp option would be our choice here as CO2 emissions are an impressive 98g/km and official fuel consumption is 76.3mpg. The lowest powered option actually has the same emissions and fuel economy as the 138bhp and there is only a small difference in the price. We think the small financial sacrifice will be worth it when it comes to day to day driving.
Trim level
There are 13 different trim levels you can choose from on the Insignia hatchback. While that sounds quite daunting, there is one that stands-out for company car drivers.
A few years back Vauxhall introduced TechLine trim, which was aimed directly at company car drivers. It includes plenty of must-have kit like Bluetooth, sat-nav, cruise control, rain sensor wipers, automatic lights, 17-inch alloy wheels, climate control, DAB radio, USB connection and seven speakers. You get all that for a competitive P11D price of £21,594.
Optional extras
There are plenty of options you can go for if you’re after a little extra luxury and equipment for your Insignia. Some options are pretty pricey while others offer good value for money.
Although having a leather interior is nice to have, for the Insignia it’s pretty pricey at £1,045 – so unless it’s a must-have for you, we would avoid.
Free paint options are usually few and far between. To make your new Insignia particularly pleasing on the eye you can opt for metallic or pearlescent paint which will set you back a pretty reasonable £545.
A large proportion of accidents happen in the car park, so having parking sensors and a rear view camera can help to avoid costly repairs. This is especially true if there is a chance that your company will pass the bill onto you.
Vauxhall’s advanced park assist system with parking sensors costs £500, and if you would also like the rear view camera it is an additional £300.
Keyless entry and start, although standard on a lot of the Insignia’s rivals, will cost you £395, and if you like your music then the premium Bose system may be worth a look at £525.
One of our must-haves would be the Winter pack which includes heated steering wheel and seats and is priced at £695; you will be incredibly grateful for this bit of kit once it gets to winter again.
Our choice
We would go for the Insignia Hatchback with the 2.0CDTi engine which offers 138bhp in the value-for-money TechLine trim. Options we would choose would be the Winter Pack and the parking assist system with sensors and the rear-view camera.
This means our Insignia will have a P11D price of £23,089. That’s £57.72 a month for a 20 percent taxpayer for the 2014/15 tax year.
