What's it worth?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by capt jack

If it helps with your thinking Kev, my V70 is the D5 twin turbo, Euro 5 version, and has the six speed Geartronic gearbox.

My daily commute is a 70-mile round trip, a mix of two-thirds motorway (M62 and M1), one-third rural A-roads. Taken as a long-term average, the car's computer says I get between 46 and 47 mpg, which is does actually work out pretty much spot on when I calculate it based on miles per fill.

I think the best it's been is on our holiday trip to Cornwall when for the two long drives I reckoned it to be averaging in the high fifties mpg.

The mpg does quickly drop if the car is stuck in traffic though, and when I'm only round and about near home, so mostly local rural roads, the computer mpg will drop down to the low forties.

One thing that did catch me out a bit was the substantial jump in insurance premium from my old 1997 S90, so your costs for insurance might be something to factor into your calculations.

Oh, and whatever you buy probably is going to need something by way of additional expenditure - tyres, brakes, cambelt etc.

Cheers

Jack

Thanks, Jack.

I don't do anywhere near that mileage. No doubt a newer car will have problems too, but I've always said cars have a running cost... they all cost money somewhere down the line.

Unsure whether to invest in mine or get something newer, but petrol. The Volvo petrol's are too thirsty (the ones in my budget anyway). That's why I was looking at euro 5 diesel's, but that could be just opening a can of worms. Although, it could be okay if I give it a regular motorway drive like I do with my car?

[john.wigley]

'Kev0607', I wouldn't get too hung up over fuel consumption if I were you. When I was doing 20, 30 sometimes 40 thousand miles per year for business, it was a significant part of my total motoring expenditure.

Now that I am retired, I do maybe 2,500 in my V70. At 29.5 MPG, that is 85 gallons or about £500. If I had a car that averaged 50, it would cost me £300. I feel that the comfort and safety that my Volvo affords is worth a premium equivalent to the cost of a weekly pint. The saving in depreciation over a newer car more than compensates for the additional cost

Just another way of looking at things if you don't mind driving an older car. I quite like the warm feeling that that gives me, but you must do what is right for you!

Regards, John.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

'Kev0607', I wouldn't get too hung up over fuel consumption if I were you. When I was doing 20, 30 sometimes 40 thousand miles per year for business, it was a significant part of my total motoring expenditure.

Now that I am retired, I do maybe 2,500 in my V70. At 29.5 MPG, that is 85 gallons or about £500. If I had a car that averaged 50, it would cost me £300. I feel that the comfort and safety that my Volvo affords is worth a premium equivalent to the cost of a weekly pint. The saving in depreciation over a newer car more than compensates for the additional cost

Just another way of looking at things if you don't mind driving an older car. I quite like the warm feeling that that gives me, but you must do what is right for you!

Regards, John.

Thanks, John. That’s a very valid point.

I do like my Volvo, it has been a very good car. Yes, its not the most economical in the world, but its a big car with a 5 cylinder engine… its not going to be. I like the “understated luxury”. No it hasn’t got a big Mercedes badge on the front of it or an Audi sign, but its just as equipped as a same year/similar model in their line up, with the added safety of it being a Volvo.

I also have some local Volvo specialists near me that can fix things that are beyond what I can do, but that may not be the case if I bought another car.

There’s a lot to take into account. Around town, which is mostly the miles I do, the D5 doesn’t do too well. At a push, maybe 28mpg. Newer cars do much more than that, some as much as 10mpg more… that adds up at the pump, but like you/others say, there’s the depreciation of the newer car and the cost to buy it.

Its worth noting, I’m not looking at “new” as such. The cars I’m looking at are around 2011/2012 plates… the bulk of their value is gone.

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Thanks, John. That’s a very valid point.

I do like my Volvo, it has been a very good car. Yes, its not the most economical in the world, but its a big car with a 5 cylinder engine… its not going to be. I like the “understated luxury”. No it hasn’t got a big Mercedes badge on the front of it or an Audi sign, but its just as equipped as a same year/similar model in their line up, with the added safety of it being a Volvo.

I also have some local Volvo specialists near me that can fix things that are beyond what I can do, but that may not be the case if I bought another car.

There’s a lot to take into account. Around town, which is mostly the miles I do, the D5 doesn’t do too well. At a push, maybe 28mpg. Newer cars do much more than that, some as much as 10mpg more… that adds up at the pump, but like you/others say, there’s the depreciation of the newer car and the cost to buy it.

Its worth noting, I’m not looking at “new” as such. The cars I’m looking at are around 2011/2012 plates… the bulk of their value is gone.

...and likely fix it too, remember - the work you've already done.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Bonefishblues

...and likely fix it too, remember - the work you've already done.

Yes, that's also true.

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Yes, that's also true.

That's the bit that always gives me pause for thought, hence me mentioning it. Cars are always sold for a reason, and all that!

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Bonefishblues

That's the bit that always gives me pause for thought, hence me mentioning it. Cars are always sold for a reason, and all that!

Yes, but they aren't always sold for bad reasons. There's some well looked after cars out there for sale that are just being moved on for genuine purposes. Not all are lemons and not everyone hangs onto cars for years and years on end.

Its like my car now... if I was to sell it, I know its in good condition for its age and has been very well looked after. I couldn't guarantee nothing would go wrong with it in future, of course... naturally things will. However, I'd be confident that whoever did buy it (if I was to sell) has a good car for goodness knows how many miles if they maintain it.

It would be "sold as seen though", as I can't offer a warranty or any guarantees.

[Bonefishblues]

No, not always - trick is sifting through the ones that are to find the good ones!

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Bonefishblues

No, not always - trick is sifting through the ones that are to find the good ones!

Yep and that's time consuming! I always have a good look through the online MOT history to see if there's any advisories on the past/previous MOT's and to see if there's any that regularly crop up again (that means they haven't been done). I check the mileage tallies up too.

Some seller's hide the number plates on their cars, I avoid those. Surprisingly enough, I've found quite a few registrations that don't exist when you type them into the MOT checker, and that's double checking what I'm inputting in to the search. Very odd.

[Stu B]

Just a note to say I generally hide the number plate on any for sale advert photos when I’m selling a car if it’s advertised on a public website. There are legitimate reasons for this, mine being that when selling a VW van once someone used the reg from my advert and cloned a plate onto a stolen vehicle of the same make, model and colour. They then used the vehicle to pick up speeding fines, parking tickets and steal caravans and trailers! Tickets for which all came to me and took a while to dispute, also delaying my sale and calling into question to potential buyers whether my vehicle was legitimate.

This also happened to my brother in law selling a BMW.

On that basis, I don’t discount cars advertised with obscured number plates but just enquire with the seller or ask for photos emailed with the plate shown.

Thanks,
Stu