S40 Value

[cassell]

Hi,

My wife's elderly uncle wants sell his car as at 91 he's decided to give up driving! I am looking for constructive comments and guidance any S40 forum members could give to help us pitch it at the right price. I'm a Volvo owner too, a classic 1800ES and a modern XC90 but know very little about S40's.

Car details: One owner, 52 plate (2003 model) S40 S 4 door saloon, 1.6 manual, metallic red, grey cloth trim, full service history, 12 months MOT, excellent condition, small scratch on o/s/f wing and here's the best bit - 27,000 miles from new!

I've looked on Autotrader and EBay, lots of similar S40's but none with such low mileage and the prices range from a few hundred to three thousand pounds!

Any help is welcomed, thanks,

Paul

[kieran40]

£500 max and £600 at a push but it would be a push, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[ilikewatch]

Unfortunately I think Kieran's about spot on with his estimate - it's a real shame that it has the undesirable 1.6 engine...

If you're not in a rush to sell I think you have a chance of getting lucky and finding someone willing to pay over the odds due to the low mileage - I would try starting it at £1200 ono and gradually reducing the price till someone bites.

Most savvy punters will be well aware that a car that has covered 2500 miles a year with an elderly chap driving could easily have more problems than a car that's been doing 15000 motorway miles each year, however, some people still attach disproportionate value to low mileages and you might be lucky and find someone like that - I recently spoke to a muppet that had forked out £1900 for a '94 Volvo 440 with 25K on the clock, so these people do exist!

I don' t suppose there's any youngsters in the family due to start driving soon? - could make an excellent first car, often cheaper to insure than the standard Corsa/Saxo/Ka models that most kids go for, and extremely safe/reliable too.

[pacman67]

Ive got a teenager that's starting to drive, and he really wants a volvo
Let me know your decision please.

[tt82]

I would have to agree with the others. A 1.6 petrol with S trim is basically the cheapest possible version of this model. I wouldn't put too much value on the low miles, particularly as the low milers in my family have tended to be the unreliable ones, with high milers soldiering on without fault, but as said, some people do value low miles and believe it is better and will pay for it.

Try a cheeky starting price of around £1,000 and see if anyone bites, but expect a realistic price of £500.

[ilikewatch]

Originally Posted by pacman67

Ive got a teenager that's starting to drive, and he really wants a volvo
Let me know your decision please.

My friends 17 year old daughter recently bought a diesel V40 and loves it - her friends all have the usual small Citroën/Renault/Peugeot "first cars", but she pays less insurance and was able to buy the car outright with savings from her part time job rather than relying on finance or the bank of mum and dad...

[kieran40]

Sadly when cars hit the 3 year old mark they start becoming worthless in terms of value, not to the owners, that's why I'm going to keep mine for aslong as I can because on paper it's not worth anything. My next door neighbour's Bentley arnage 10 years old and it's worth about 2000 on paper and when new you were talking about something that cost 170 thousand. It all comes down to supply and demand and desirability. Most members of the public know their stuff. As likewatch said. The days of Arthur Daley are over. Vw's seem to hold their price but that's because they are highly desirable I guess.

You can always sell a polo or golf

[philrocks]

Looking at the price of the other 1.6 Volvos, I would start with mid to high £1000's, sort of 1500-1800.

I would disagree with the rest of the guys who say its not worth a great deal, purely because of its low miles. From what ive noticed, used cars tend to depreciate the most by the engine miles on it, rather than the gear it does or does not come with.

Mostly it depends on how quickly you want a sale, I am assuming he doesn't mind it sitting around for a while, as he doesn't need the parking space for anything else? if so, I wouldn't go to much under £1000.

Also people tend to have a price they have set for a car, so if they are looking to spend £1500 on one and yours is £600, they are not very likely to consider it. (I know thats quite true for me atleast, I tend to look for cars in a price range and engine type.)

[tt82]

You might have a point Phil. A quick look on autotrader and it does seem that £2,000 might be possible. We're only giving our opinions and if that car was advertised over £1k, I would immediately dismiss it as overpriced.

[philrocks]

People on this forum are used to seeing these cars struggle to go for peanuts, but i have also witnessed some go for way above the regular price, simply because people put it at a high starting price.

Also, to Paul, I would ignore people saying about the engine being undesirable, as that is only comparing it to the rest of the S40's, I doubt buyers are looking for a S40, if they are, then yes, they won't be interested in this one. But thats a very small amount of people, most are just looking for a new car, and your 1.6 will be compared to what ever else they are looking to buy, be it fords, Peugeot's or Honda's. In that respect, it will come down to what car they like the most, and will it last. This being low mileage should tick their box of will it last.
As for what they like, I find once people see and drive a Volvo, they are often pleasantly surprised!

These are my two cents, and I tried to approach it from a generic buyers perspective rather than a Volvo owners perspective, as that can be biased or marred with what we know (usually seeing the price on trying to sell it on the forums, not a great place to sell, since most of us own one already!).