Thinking of Spending some Money

[Roy V70 850]

Need a DMF/Clutch etc + Intercooler approx £1700. It's a gamble spending that on a 18yr old car, but what's the alternative?. I currently have a car which drives well, is comfortable, a manual with cloth seats, not to mention the pop out dash cup holder (wife's favourite). It's had cam belt change, I replaced all the pulleys + aux belt, steering pump, brakes/discs and more.

Alternatives :-
- buy a 2016 Xc70 for £20k. (I'd like a 4 wheel drive) ULEZ compliant but auto with leather seats. With all the maintenance that's already been done to my car to come in the next 2-3yrs.
- Another model with the same maintenance problems.

Which ever way you look at it, you're buying a 5yr old car and you start spending to keep it maintained.

Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

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V70 2004 D5 165k 163bhp

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Roy V70 850

Need a DMF/Clutch etc + Intercooler approx £1700. It's a gamble spending that on a 18yr old car, but what's the alternative?. I currently have a car which drives well, is comfortable, a manual with cloth seats, not to mention the pop out dash cup holder (wife's favourite). It's had cam belt change, I replaced all the pulleys + aux belt, steering pump, brakes/discs and more.

Alternatives :-
- buy a 2016 Xc70 for £20k. (I'd like a 4 wheel drive) ULEZ compliant but auto with leather seats. With all the maintenance that's already been done to my car to come in the next 2-3yrs.
- Another model with the same maintenance problems.

Which ever way you look at it, you're buying a 5yr old car and you start spending to keep it maintained.

Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

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V70 2004 D5 165k 163bhp

The car you have is the same as the best car I ever had! If the VED is manageable I’d keep it .
I kept mine eight years, unheard of for me. That model was brilliant!👍🧐

[stuart bowes]

I always think of car costs in terms of years of usage

I.e if the car is currently assumed to be unusable at this point and its at the end of its life without the repairs, then either way you need to spend

In that case if 1700 quids grants you 4 more years of motoring just for example, well that's under 500 quid a year to keep you on the road and you can reassess at the end of that time frame (or whatever time frame you decide is acceptable)

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Roy V70 850

Need a DMF/Clutch etc + Intercooler approx £1700. It's a gamble spending that on a 18yr old car, but what's the alternative?. I currently have a car which drives well, is comfortable, a manual with cloth seats, not to mention the pop out dash cup holder (wife's favourite). It's had cam belt change, I replaced all the pulleys + aux belt, steering pump, brakes/discs and more.

Alternatives :-
- buy a 2016 Xc70 for £20k. (I'd like a 4 wheel drive) ULEZ compliant but auto with leather seats. With all the maintenance that's already been done to my car to come in the next 2-3yrs.
- Another model with the same maintenance problems.

Which ever way you look at it, you're buying a 5yr old car and you start spending to keep it maintained.

Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

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V70 2004 D5 165k 163bhp

I think that everything you say makes total sense really.

I can’t argue with any of it.

[Georgeandkira]

"Better the devil you know", is one overused quote.
"It'll cost more to fix than the car is worth", is a perennially off-target expression.

1,700 quid divided by 48 = 35.41 quid per month. What are you going to drive for 4 years (if you dump your car) at that price point?

A 2016 XC-70 (come Autumn it'll be 8 model years old) for 20K, which in all likelihood wasn't maintained as well as yours and is as representative of outgoing technology as any, would be, in my humble opinion, a foolish buy.

Throw the 1,700 at your lovely car and drive it while thoughtfully learning about your "next tech" car. Listening to charging station availability stories, calculating the details regarding installing your own charger and figuring out when to sneak onto your neighbors' chargers when they're not looking is what will pay off more.

The bevel gear in the 2016 is as neglected as any part in any car and if it's fried, you'll spend 1,700 there.

You'll have no problem selling your current car when the time comes.

What's the odometer reading of the 2016? Is it petrol or diesel?

You have to decide your money/time value. Do remember that the items you listed are maintenance items. What prompted the PS pump change?

And, if you're comfortable financially and just want a "new car", balance the 20K for the 8 year old against what some "actually new" vehicle would cost.

ps Sometimes people skimp on insuring an older car; preferring to more completely insure a newer car. That'd be an additional monthly expense you don't want to overlook. If you finance a new car, I believe you must fully cover replacement cost, no?

Best of luck with your decision.

[TLPower]

Before dropping 20k on a Volvo of dubious provenance consider a nearly new Kia with seven years warranty.

Or spring for your repairs and forget about depreciation and car park knocks.

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by TLPower

Before dropping 20k on a Volvo of dubious provenance consider a nearly new Kia with seven years warranty.

Or spring for your repairs and forget about depreciation and car park knocks.

No no don't, there's a reason they have a 7 year warranty, they're not the great cars the media tells you, oil burners for starters.

[Roy V70 850]

Thanks for all the comments as you could probably tell I'm drawn towards keeping the car. It cost me £1500 over 3yrs ago with a dubious history. I could, in all probability, drive it another year without having the work done. After all, the DMF has been failing since I bought it at 139k miles (didn't realise what the bang was when starting the car)* and the intercooler*has been leaking just as long. Never even hear of the word intercooler.


My philosophy has been that If I spend a load of money and buy another car, it has to be considerably better than the one I have and that's where I hit a problem. I was looking at the 2016 XC70 Volvos because of the loading capacity and ULEZ which will eventually come to Greater Manchester. There are 2016 XC70's out there starting at around £16k (60k miles), a lot more money than £1700 to get relatively the same drive and you've got to find out why the last owner sold the car. I found that out in the first few weeks of owning my current car.


I'm drawn towards Volvos because I can balance the cost between the repairs I can do myself and those where it's easier to leave to the garage. Also, there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum if I'm stuck.


By the way, my last car was a Kia Sportage from new. The thought being, if I looked after it, it would cost me less in maintenance. Not a chance, just out of warranty at 50k miles the water pump seized and shredded the cam belt. Cost £1500 back then. The list went on every year.



Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

What's the odometer reading of the 2016? Is it petrol or diesel?

You have to decide your money/time value.

Do remember that the items you listed are maintenance items. What prompted the PS pump change?

Best of luck with your decision.



I was looking at diesel around 60k. I changed the pump because it was leaking. A long list of many items I had to fix in the first year.

[Auldgit]

Having exactly the same internal (eternal!) debate here. '07 XC needs a/c fixing, could be costly, rear sensors not working (have replacements but not fitted yet), phone given up together with the satnav, but it's "only" done 110k and I've had it ten years so know pretty much everything about it. Tried a '15 model, disappointed overall, not as good a car as mine, and they've mostly done 100k+ already! On the other hand, 6/7 year old electrics have got to be better than 15 year old, and these days I think it's the electrics that can become v.troublesome and expensive as time goes on, rather than the mechanicals or the bodies.

Throw the exponential rise in the cost of living into the mix and it's enough to drive you to drink...... Confused.com....