hello again

[nicwood]

I just thought I'd say hello again from the non-XC70 drivers seat.

For those of you who dont remember my name (and thats me sometimes) I had a 2001 XC70 for fifty thousand miles (thats about 13 months now for me) and I still rate it as the best car i have ever had.

So why am I not driving another XC model now? well the answer is simple for me... Hight running costs, high servicing costs, high depreiciation and high miles and oh yes I have to pay for the thing myself.

I sold the XC (which I still see as it now lives 10 miles away) because I felt that the overall costs were too high to keep on running it.

I then bought a Landrover Defender 110 V8 LPG which was probably a male menopause thing, and then a Honda Accord Diesel.

As a big bloke who does about 40k miles per annum, this was too small for me and the manual stick shift was not something I liked. I now have a Renalut Espace 2.2 diesel which probably returns around 31mpg and is a delight to be in mile after mile (for those of you in the US and Canada etc, its a minivan type car).

Whilst it does not have the sheer drivability (something the french marketeers call 'VaVaVooom' its does stop me from going miles (and I mean miles over the posted speed limit, ("I'm sorry your honour, I'm a bloke and, well it is a very nice fast car").

I do miss the XC, but until Volvo address the problems I faced I am not coming back, but I do miss you all on this forum, just dont have a car to show for it.

hope you are all doing well, even remember those of you who have had babies etc, usual story miss the friends, not able to own the product....

Nic
xx

[John@CdnRockies]

Hi Nic - been travelling and only now catching up with the board. I do remember you making that switch to the Defender and wondering whether it would be any cheaper in the long run. Always nice to re-acquiant with old hands on the forum and wish you the best with the Espace. I have heard good things about them and hope yours will run faithfully.

John

[Puff The Magic Wagon!]

Never knew you as I'm a newbie here but I run an XC70 D4 M6 and do roughly the same mileage as you on an annual basis - 47k in 13 months.

Main dealer servicing total in this period will be about £900, the next year will cost approx £1200 (48/60/72/84).

1 set of tyres todate (yesterday) costing £280 fitted/vat

Fuel @ legal m/way cruising speeds is 43-45mpg, but my rate of progress 40-42

Cost of vehicle (SE + bits) was £29+k list but I paid £25k. Private with 44k approx £21K for a sale but £18K trade.

I was going to chop but they have raised the prices recently by £1500 & that wiped my deposit.

Having come from a Subaru, I don't consider the running costs outrageous & have found the servicing reasonable. Fuel consumption is fine & 1 set of tyres a year is awesome - cheap tyres too.

Obvious downside is depreciation as it is a big car with high miles. But because it is I think that I'll keep it for 5 years & still have a decent deposit for a new one. Don't know how those costs compare to what you found and other vehicles you had but would be interested.

[jeffhuffman]

any idea why such high depreciation?i looked in to trading my 02 xc (sticker price in 02 $40,000).trade in value as of 11-15-05 $16,800.in my opinion that's quite a beating!

[Raynald]

High depreciation does not affect only Vovlvo's. Rebates, incentves of all kind and so called "employee discounts" recently announced by some manufacturers certainly beat the heck out of many buyerrs who learned that the trade-in value of their newly acquired car had suddenly dropped by 10-15% in a matter of days! :rolleyes:

With so many recent low mileage used cars around, it may also explain, in part, low trade-in value.

Geographic reason too: I know for a fact that in Quebec and Eastern Canada in general, prices are lower than in BC for similiar cars. It may be the same in some part of US market.

My 2¢ :)

[al_roethlisberger]

High depreciation does not affect only Vovlvo's. Rebates, incentves of all kind and so called "employee discounts" recently announced by some manufacturers certainly beat the heck out of many buyerrs who learned that the trade-in value of their newly acquired car had suddenly dropped by 10-15% in a matter of days! :rolleyes:

With so many recent low mileage used cars around, it may also explain, in part, low trade-in value.

Geographic reason too: I know for a fact that in Quebec and Eastern Canada in general, prices are lower than in BC for similiar cars. It may be the same in some part of US market.

My 2¢ :)


That's true... don't even ask me how fast my then new 2002 Moto Guzzi "depreciated" when MGNA made some sweetheart inventory blow-out deals with an un-named large dealer or two out-west selling them new for $8900 just about 6 months after buying mine new :mad:

:rolleyes:


It really is a "fact of life" that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with regard to buying any brand new vehicle. I don't mean to sound patronizing, but it's not as if the "two golden rules" of vehicle purchases are new or unknown to most:

1) Never buy a first year model, unless you are willing to deal with the high potential of "new model" gremlins and bugs

2) Never buy a new car, unless you are willing and unconcerned about the "instant depreciation" one will experience immediately upon signing the papers and driving it off the lot


Of course, there are exeptions to said "rules"... where some really "hot" cars actually demand a premium, but this scenario is usually short lived as soon as the demand cools or supplies increase. And the "bug" rule is sometimes happily proven wrong by some manufacturer who "gets it right" the first time out the door, but unfortunately for us, that is rare.

Bottom line, if one is financially able, and personally willing to accept the risk of these two "rules"... then its not a big deal. But if one is buying a vehicle with high emotional content(first new car, first expensive car, etc) or pushing the financial envelope, then these two rules are probably good to consider.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.

All-in-all though, it still sucks when a car's value drops by $5k when driving it off the lot, or because it is a new model, it has quite a few more glitches than the same model one year later. It is very disappointing, as both conditions conspire/combine to often keep one "locked" in that model for quite a while, and unable to trade-up to a "better" model year without significant financial loss :(

al

[Puff The Magic Wagon!]

Exception the rule seems to be the new Mini

4 yrs, 2 months & 75K miles on & it's still worth 60% at trade in from a main dealer!

Not the tidiest example (wife's car for commuting and child carriage), nor the highest spec & being yellow/white not to all people's tastes.

I was mildly surprised to say the least (but we've kept it)