I have the chance to buy my old company Volvo V40 Diesel.
It's a 115bhp, 53-plate with a tidy leather interior and 100k miles on the clock.
I know it has been treated reasonably throughout its life. Serviced on time, never been smashed or thrashed, and spent most of its life cruising at "motorway speeds" on the motorway.
The HJ CBC seems to focus on the petrol, so I would value opinions on:
What is its value?
Is it as bad as the petrols?
Should I buy it, to replace my Pug 306 HDi?
Thanks
Simon
|
|
Simon, what figure (if any) is the company offering it to you for?
|
I have to put in a sealed bid for it.
But I know that similar ones have gone for around £3k.
|
If you decide to bid, you may like to heed the advice my father gave me when I purchased what is now the missus' 306 in a sealed bids auction from the estate of the deceased previous owner.
"What are you going to bid?"
"Well it is not only in superb cosmetic condition, but with completely known history, 14k genuine miles, all receipts and old tax discs, drives taught and perky like a new car, garaged, and with previous owner known to us, so I'm prepared to pay top book, £2600."
"Don't do that"
"Why not?"
"Others will do the same. Offer £2601."
I did, and that one quid got me the car over three bids of £2600.
Even if you are not offering top bid, take what seems a reasonable price then inflate it slightly to an odd number.
|
The old ebay trick.......
Auto bid to X+ 1.99p if you really want it
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
Do you reckon £3k sounds a fair price?
I'm in two minds about buying it, as the Pug is a 99V, with known history from new.
The advantages seem to be a 4-year newer, nicer car for not much cash to change.
The disadvantages are that it has 25k more miles and might be more costly to maintain.
|
|
You don't sound as if you are really desperate to get this car so if you do decide to bid why not put in a fairly low bid while not being insultingly low? That way if you get it, you get a bargain. If you miss out it doesn't matter. As for prices - I am sure someone will be along soon with chapter and verse on that however you could also look on Autotrader to see what sort of prices are being asked for similar vehicles.
|
Autotrader only has one equivalent car, on the age and mileage front. Mine was the 115 bhp S, wheras this is the 115 SE. The basic difference is sat-nav. Its up for a fiver under 8k from a trader, which seems steep for a 100k mile motor.
I know the car market is/was rock bottom recently, so I'm not sure whether the car I can make an offer on, and hopefully buy for about 3k to 3.5k, is a real bargain, or whether the car on autotrader is living in cloud-cuckoo land.
Another option would be to buy it and sell it on......
|
Doing a search on www.smag.co.uk/guide.aspx came up with:
VOLVO S/V40 SERIES S -1.6 5dr Estate Apr 2003 (03) None 58,971 4350
VOLVO V40 D SPORT (115BHP) - 1870CC 5dr Estate Sep 2002 (52) Aug 2006 35,418 7550
VOLVO S/V40 SERIES D SPORT (115BHP) - 1.9 5dr Estate Jun 2002 (02) Jun 2006 64,776 5000
VOLVO S/V40 SERIES D S (102BHP) V40 - 1870CC 5dr Estate Sep 2001 (51) May 2006 90,713 3900
VOLVO S/V40 SERIES I S40 - 1588CC 4dr Saloon Mar 2001 (Y) Mar 2006 50,168 3225
Where the first date is manufacture, the second date is MOT and the last figure is price. Second last figure is mileage. It doesn't tell you anything about condition of course but it gives you a bit of a guide.
|
|
|
|
Do you reckon £3k sounds a fair price? I'm in two minds about buying it, as the Pug is a 99V, with known history from new. The advantages seem to be a 4-year newer, nicer car for not much cash to change.
Simon, have you tried a V40?
They often seem to get a bad press on the backroom, but a friend has one and it's OK. Nicely designed interior, supportive seats, but a rather firm ride and very cramped in the back seat, with a much smaller boot than you'd expect for an estate.
Overall, I'm not sure that I'd prefer one to a 306. You may differ, but I do suggest putting in a few miles in a V40 before you decide that it's a nicer car.
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
|
>Simon, have you tried a V40?
Yes. It's the same car I put 35k miles on, before I left the company last year. It was a very nice car and cruised all day effortlessly up and down the motorway.
The only thing that worries me are that I'd be buying into bigger servicing bills - nothing I worried about when paid by the company. Also that I can't find much on their long term reputation.
B'roomers seem to slate the petrol with cries of 'Mitsubishi in drag', but there's not much on the diesel.
|
>Simon, have you tried a V40? Yes. It's the same car I put 35k miles on, before I left the company last year. It was a very nice car and cruised all day effortlessly up and down the motorway.
Sory Simon, I should have read that in your original post :(
The only thing that worries me are that I'd be buying into bigger servicing bills - nothing I worried about when paid by the company.
I know my friend's V40 petrol isn't cheap to service, but I have no idea of detailed figures.
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
|
Well, I paid £7k for a 2003 52 plate S40 1.9D(115) Sport Lux with 55k miles in January and I've put almost 1500 miles on it so far, without even a blink of the eye.
I'm very happy with it, but of course having driven the V40, you will know that it's a good car anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
![2017 Volvo V40 D2 [120] R DESIGN Nav Plus 5dr](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/assets.heycar.co.uk/t_default-export/f_auto/application_assets/images/holding.jpg)
![2019 Volvo V40 T2 [122] R DESIGN Edition 5dr](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/assets.heycar.co.uk/t_default-export/f_auto/application_assets/vehicles/pictures/54f839873c612ec42656d12ab6298331/6311cb9cc3cdd03ad1133d70a3c0a70d.jpg)
![2019 Volvo V40 D2 [122] R Design Edition 5Dr Geartronic](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/assets.heycar.co.uk/t_default-export/f_auto/application_assets/vehicles/pictures/49b7d3728163a03eb0d5107c2bd2d0ba/ec6fee22c43ab38869a57fba607910ff.jpg)
![2018 Volvo V40 T2 [122] R DESIGN Pro 5dr](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/assets.heycar.co.uk/t_default-export/f_auto/application_assets/vehicles/pictures/039b5b5fc44246339344faeff2510d02/d920766defe88a317a38d3e16dfb2384.jpg)
