10 years of S40 expenses

[Markos01]

Originally Posted by Welton

I've had my S40 for 10.5 years now, always kept a folder and every Invoice and Receipt got thrown in there for keeps.....until yesterday when I put them all in order and totaled them up.

£8,500.00

That's every oil change, every tyre, every suspension repair (lots), the whole lot.

Sounds a lot but if I add the depreciation of the car it works out at 0.18p/mile (plus fuel and insurance) not sure how that fairs in general though.

Yes, £850 a year isn't terrible I guess. No idea what my costs are, if I added it all together including mods, petrol, insurance, MOT, road tax and depreciation then without doubt it would be much cheaper for me to get cabs everywhere, with the train for longer journeys. But I like having a car

My previous car lost about £3k a year in depreciation over the 2 years I had it – never mind servicing etc on top – so that alone was enough for me to chop it in...

[Welton]

Originally Posted by Markos01

My previous car lost about £3k a year in depreciation over the 2 years I had it – never mind servicing etc on top – so that alone was enough for me to chop it in...

That's the thing isn't it, do you 'ignore' depreciation and accept re-financing cars every 3 years or buy a 'keeper' and suffer the repairs?

It genuinely shocked me to total it up like this because in my head I can only refer to the car as being pretty trouble-free overall. It's probably unfair to include oil changes, brakes and tyres because all cars need those. And to be fair the car has never once failed to proceed and I've never had any ECU related faults or warning lights come up.

[Markos01]

Originally Posted by Welton

It genuinely shocked me to total it up like this because in my head I can only refer to the car as being pretty trouble-free overall.

I think this is the thing to keep in mind, the trouble-free part: that shows the car hasn't been a drain on your time or resources which is great. And if we all tallied up our totals I think we'd all be a little slack-jawed!

Originally Posted by Welton

That's the thing isn't it, do you 'ignore' depreciation and accept re-financing cars every 3 years or buy a 'keeper' and suffer the repairs?

I just can't make the 3-year lease thing that everyone seems to do stack up for me, so I buy a keeper and hope I get a little lucky and do better than average with repairs and depreciation etc.

Originally Posted by Welton

It's probably unfair to include oil changes, brakes and tyres because all cars need those.

I'd only add those in as I sometimes think about how much I'd save by not owning a car at all (I take public transport to work and could get away without a car)... but I like owning a car so that's not going to change!

[FunkyMelon]

Originally Posted by Welton

So are we saying S40's /V50's are expensive to own? worse than other makes?

Generally yes, they are expensive to own.

It's easy to forget that our cars are just a Focus in a frock, which at the end of the day, is not a premium car by any means, it's a budget family hatch.

Only difference really is Volvo took most of the electrical 'cheap to repair' stuff out and instead made it very expensive to repair, propitiatory crap that requires Volvo this or Volvo that to repair to milk to consumer.

I like my T5 but it's definitely not of the quality of past Volvos, overall I'd say it's pretty poor actually.

Originally Posted by Markos01

I just can't make the 3-year lease thing that everyone seems to do stack up for me, so I buy a keeper and hope I get a little lucky and do better than average with repairs and depreciation etc.

This is something I used to agree on but seriously struggle to argue against these days. Yes you don't own it etc but for what I've put into my T5 over the last 3 years could have me driving a pretty fast BMW/Audi/Merc for the same (average) monthly amount...

It's only when you add all the bills up you realise what you could have been driving for the last 2-3 years for the same money, with no MOT's or repair bills to pay for.

I think in time as cars get more and more complicated and expensive to repair, finance is pretty much going to be the only option. Imagine the latest XC90/XC40 in 10 years time with over 100 modules and numerous software loads and computers all beginning to go wrong - Dread how think how much main dealers will be charging.

[Markos01]

Originally Posted by FunkyMelon

This is something I used to agree on but seriously struggle to argue against these days. Yes you don't own it etc but for what I've put into my T5 over the last 3 years could have me driving a pretty fast BMW/Audi/Merc for the same (average) monthly amount...

It's only when you add all the bills up you realise what you could have been driving for the last 2-3 years for the same money, with no MOT's or repair bills to pay for.

Let's not forget the up-front payment on the schemes too. But yes, I hear you on no MOTs and manufacturer warranty etc. Plus the fact you're in a brand new car, haven't had to deal with private/trade seller.

Slightly off-topic but still kinda relevant: are newer cars getting less and less reliable nowadays, thanks to the in-built shelf life and amount of tech in them? Perhaps the late 80's to early 00's was the best time for reliability? FM if this is the case then the argument for 3-year lease deals gets stronger.

[T5R92011]

Originally Posted by FunkyMelon

Generally yes, they are expensive to own.

It's easy to forget that our cars are just a Focus in a frock, which at the end of the day, is not a premium car by any means, it's a budget family hatch.

Only difference really is Volvo took most of the electrical 'cheap to repair' stuff out and instead made it very expensive to repair, propitiatory crap that requires Volvo this or Volvo that to repair to milk to consumer.

I like my T5 but it's definitely not of the quality of past Volvos, overall I'd say it's pretty poor actually.



This is something I used to agree on but seriously struggle to argue against these days. Yes you don't own it etc but for what I've put into my T5 over the last 3 years could have me driving a pretty fast BMW/Audi/Merc for the same (average) monthly amount...

It's only when you add all the bills up you realise what you could have been driving for the last 2-3 years for the same money, with no MOT's or repair bills to pay for.

I think in time as cars get more and more complicated and expensive to repair, finance is pretty much going to be the only option. Imagine the latest XC90/XC40 in 10 years time with over 100 modules and numerous software loads and computers all beginning to go wrong - Dread how think how much main dealers will be charging.

Nobody has deposit money for second hand cars these days because all of their income goes on rent or subscription services.

I think we'll end up with two distinct ways of obtaining a car. Buy a banger for £200 and scrap it when it fails the MOT (rinse and repeat)

Or PCP finance/lease a brand new car and renew every 2 years.

Agreed with the XC90 comment.... I mean these T8 cars are super charged, turbo charged AND electrified. The sheer scope for things to go wrong is astronomical.

However, if you are extremely good with computers and electronics, there may be many bargains to be had in the coming decades.

[LizardOfBodom]

I actually keep 4 columns in excel where I note the spendings - gives me an interesting perspective on how it actually cost me to own T5AWD versus any other, similary old but "average I dont care about" car.
Part of my problem is I am REALLY OCD about my car and I usually replace things just because those tend to go wrong or just starting to behave in the way I am bothered about. Not waiting for parts to fell/break or squeak myself to death.
so just to give you example oin that 9k of mine:

Service&maintenance: 2770e (unavoidable cost for owning any car I would drive)

"BecauseCarIsOld" - 3990e (that is the speniture I wouldnt have if car was brand new or much younger, include for example 2100e for Clutch+DMF + engine drop for manifold fix etc)

"fixes, replaces, breakages" - 990e (those are the actual issues that happened either randomly or because some problems, could happen to any car older than few years, example like waterpump leak or expansion tank cracked etc)

"whims and tuning" - 1491e (exactly what says on the tin, all avoidable but not to me as I have always done it to any car I owned no matter how little i cared about it).

so yea, I think its pretty fair to admit that this main spenditure of 4000k would be avoided if I had new or almost-new car, but in the same time all that money spent on suspension/clutch and other wearing-out parts would at some point hit me even with much younger vehicle. You can get 3 year old Octavia VRS that is ex-salesmen car with 100k on the clock and you are facing some $$ straight away to get the car to stage0, or atleast I would as I cant cope with shock absorbers at 40% capacity or brake fluid/coolant as old as a car. Well, not to even look further - my previous car, 2003 S40 was 6 years old and bought it with 53k miles on the clock, and still within 1st year I replaced shocks, all fluids and some other wearable components as car was not "up to my standards".
Only problem with T5, especially AWD is cost of parts and sometimes in my case - lack of aftermarket equivalends = volvo store only. But still I dont think its a huge price to pay for owning a truly unique car that I can be proud of (and seeing the amount of V50AWD manual in SPORT trim registered on howmanyleft makes me even more proud).
its a 14y old car, yes, have cost me a lot, yes, but in return I have car that drives/looks/feels better than 6 year old corolla that is as exciting to drive as your average wheelbarrow. :}

[benrpatterson]

On my S40 2.0d, I'm around £850 per year too all in, after 4.5 years and mileage 130k --> 190k

Lots of suspension parts, and the stupid ignition barrel was expensive.

2017 was an expensive year, so far 2019 has been great

Now that oil leak needs looking at though...

[welshphil7805]

Well if that's anything to go by then I will probably end up spending loads on mine. I have had my car exactly a month and so far I have spent over £300 on various items including fixing previous bodges
. Heater matrix, new wheel nuts, inlet manifold gasket, O2 sensor, MAF sensor and a genuine volvo PCV housing. I have it booked in for timing and auxiliary belts next week so another £350. Hopefully it will give me a few months before the next fault !!
This is my third S40 and I absolutely love them so I can forgive it for now lol.

[TheFiend]

Originally Posted by Clan

Back in 1981 dad bought a 343 it was an ex demo with 19000 miles , up until 2014 he did 250,000 miles in it .
I did the yearly service , it had occasional sets of tyres and one exhaust kit , other than that ALL the rest is original even the rear brakes are original , it has just had a couple of sets of front pads .

Back in 2014 I was offered another 343 this time a 1988 model in wonderful condition , it had done 55000 miles , I had to buy it , That is completely original , that came with a list of costs and jobs done which were just services , NOTHING whatsoever extra , even the coolant is still the original which back then was a bright green colour .. That is why i go on about Genuine Volvo Coolant all the time on here , however i was using it in my cars from the mid 1970's .

This was typical by the way not just a fluke with us .

That is how Volvos used to be in the golden era 1970 to 2000 .....
Brake pads would last 70 or 80000 miles discs did not wear
Exhausts were not stainless then, they were aluminiumised and would last 10 years ,
Clutches lasted for ever unless it was a CVT :-) Fanbelts would last at least 10 years and often went on a lot more than that . Cooling system hoses were robust and lasted indefinitely, Road springs never broke , Generally suspension ball joints lasted , hard used 240's did need the odd lower ball joint and axle bushes when well over 100,000 miles .
I would say the volvos back then were used harder and did higher mileages than they do today . I can only think of one drawback of them 25 mpg .... !

My acquired my current 2009 C30 1.8 R-Design in November 2018 after my previous one was written off when I got hit by a car travelling in the opposite direction (distracted driver failed to straighten up after coming off a bend)

My replacement car was another 2009 1.8 R-Design C30 and had 63K on the clock. It came with all the receipts from new and with a FSH. Apart from the tyres everything was original.

MOT was due in March, so in anticipation of needing the brakes done I acquired full set of discs and pads...... chose to go with Brembo's.

It passed it's MOT with flying colours.... the disks were good and the tester even said the pads were good for another 2 or 3 thousand mile, but I went ahead and had the Brembo's fitted anyway...

Now had the car 10 months and it hasn't missed a beat, and despite the reputation of the 1.8 using a lot of oil, the oil level has hardly dropped in the 7K miles since it was last serviced - it had a full service 2 weeks before I bought it off a private seller on fleabay.

My Volvo/Ford/Mazda C30 keeps me smiling every time I drive it!!!