31yr old Volvo v50 driver(wife and dog)

Johnnyq79

I really like Volvo estates. I'm married and also have a golden retriever. No children. I do a good bit of driving to work. I'm looking at a 2l D Volvo v50. I have a good priced one in mind and can now afford it. Coming from 1.4l Seat Leon.
My question is, will the car suit me, or will my friends and work collegues laugh at me?
Suggestions please?

mcshape

Dude I got my s40 when I was 29, getting rid now for a new bus but I got no bad vibes about it

Johnnyq79

Ya, but that was a saloon. I'm more talking about the estate. Do you 'need children' to have one, etc etc

Ali Babba

Johnnyq79 wrote: »

Ya, but that was a saloon. I'm more talking about the estate. Do you 'need children' to have one, etc etc

Whatever about kids you'll need a pipe anyway!!:pac:

ardmacha

Do you 'need children' to have one, etc etc

I am sure that some one can send instructions on how you and your wife should proceed to have children.

Johnnyq79

ardmacha wrote: »

I am sure that some one can send instructions on how you and your wife should proceed to have children.

Very funny! But who said I wanted children? I only wanted some advice on the car

Ali Babba

You should buy a commercial X5 or Range Rover, cheap tax, diesel and looks the part too.

Max_Damage

Ali Babba wrote: »

You should buy a commercial X5 or Range Rover, cheap tax, diesel and looks the part too.

Incorrect, you'll look like a twat in those.

Pete67

Johnnyq79 wrote: »

My question is, will the car suit me, or will my friends and work collegues laugh at me?
Suggestions please?

Honestly, why waste energy worrying about what anyone thinks - you are the only one who can decide if a particular car suits you. Just buy a car that you like and that meets your needs. If your friends laugh at your choice of car I'd suggest finding new friends.

Johnnyq79

Don't think the finances would stretch to those. Looking at a 2007 for €14000

Johnnyq79

Cheers Petes. The lads would take the Mick a bit I'm sure but will prob like the car itself.

mcshape

Johnnyq79 wrote: »

Ya, but that was a saloon. I'm more talking about the estate. Do you 'need children' to have one, etc etc

The estate is better looking imo

pajero12

I think things have changed since the times of the old boxy volvos,And anyway who cares...I think its a class looking motor!What colour out of interest?

R.O.R

As long as it's not the light (gay) blue colour, you'll be OK.

I have no problems driving the wife's V50 for the past 3 years (since I was 30). No kids and a smaller dog than yours.

If I bring it in to work I'll get a little stick, but relaxing in the comfy leather seats with climate control, cruise control, 6 disc CD changer etc. means I really don't give a damn (and they're only joking anyway).

Very handy to have the additional space in the back if needed - recently helped my Brother in Law move house and could fit a fair bit in the back with the seats down. The Passat Estate I borrowed took the really big stuff, but the V50 performed pretty well.

Handy to have incase little ones turn up as well :-)

keithclancy

Johnnyq79 wrote: »

I really like Volvo estates. I'm married and also have a golden retriever. No children. I do a good bit of driving to work. I'm looking at a 2l D Volvo v50. I have a good priced one in mind and can now afford it. Coming from 1.4l Seat Leon.
My question is, will the car suit me, or will my friends and work collegues laugh at me?
Suggestions please?

I bought a 2005 Volvo V50 back in February for my Commute to work, I also bought it for dog factor I went from an Octavia, I do miss the massive boot !

It has plenty of power, 136hp Engine, most power between 2000 and 3000 RPM. 6 Speed gearbox, a little niggle for me was getting used to the way 1st and Reverse are setup. On my Skoda it was Push down, over left and up, on the Volvo its sort of a push over left hard and up, listen for a beep and your in reverse.

Storage space in the front is a little bit lacking, pockets in the doors are tiny and can hold a box of cigarettes and a lighter, thats about it. The Cup holders suck, they are placed right behind the brake lever so if you have a high cup its difficult to disengage the brake without hitting your hand off the cup. Theres also a storage space behind the center console for sunglasses etc. TBH I thought it was a curse at first but after a while it was a blessing as I didn't leave receipts, tissues and other sh!te build up in the car.

Road holding is great and I usually cruise at around 160/180, still relatively quiet.

Get a decent set of bars for the dog, I tried a few sets and some were awkward to fit due to the sloping roof at the sides in the back, ended up getting a Mont Blanc for 54 euros in Halfords and its great, not rattles etc and stops stuff from falling from the back if the boot is loaded above the seats.

Economy is fine, about 48/50mpg with normal driving. It has DRL's so you cannot turn off the lights completely, think this can be done in a dealership though.

Radio also drove me nuts for the first few says, buttons are a bit confusing as it looks like a calculator but its fine after a while.

Make sure you get it with the Performance Audio option as the standard one isn't great, also make sure it has an Audio-In as its not easy to fit this afterward.

And finally get a Haynes manual for all your Weekly/Monthly checks for whatever maintenence you would feel like doing yourself

Overall its fine and is grand for my purposes, good combination of practicality and doesn't look like a dogs backside, imo I prefer the way it looks to the S40.

Also managed to fit my old couch from Ikea (with the legs screwed off) in the back with the seats down to bring it to the dump.

langdang

V50 is a nice looking estate. I don't get this anti-estate thing in Ireland, you'd swear we were a nation living solely in apartments in the city. Was in Portugal recently and if it was something other than a small hatch, then it was 50:50 saloon:estate. (I've had an estate since I was 25, no kids, no dog!) Once you've had one you'll find it difficult to manage without!

pete4130

Dude, I bought my first estate when I was 25 or 26. It was my first car and I can't ever see myself without having an estate. It was a 1.4 Focus estate and I'm onto my 2nd 1.6 TDCI Focus Estate now.
The practicality of them is amazing. Nobody will laugh at you and if they do, its their ignorance.

I initially got an estate because I ride BMX bikes and I'm able to fit 5 lads and 5 bikes (taken apart) in the boot with all the bags, jackets and everything else.

Lots of people into surfing, canoeing etc buy estates for their practicality. I've used mine for surfing before and it was a breeze sleeping in the back.

There is no old man factor about it. Estates look good these days, practical and pretty much no difference in handling/performance really.

keithclancy

pete4130 wrote: »

Dude, I bought my first estate when I was 25 or 26. It was my first car and I can't ever see myself without having an estate. It was a 1.4 Focus estate and I'm onto my 2nd 1.6 TDCI Focus Estate now.
The practicality of them is amazing. Nobody will laugh at you and if they do, its their ignorance.

I initially got an estate because I ride BMX bikes and I'm able to fit 5 lads and 5 bikes (taken apart) in the boot with all the bags, jackets and everything else.

Lots of people into surfing, canoeing etc buy estates for their practicality. I've used mine for surfing before and it was a breeze sleeping in the back.

There is no old man factor about it. Estates look good these days, practical and pretty much no difference in handling/performance really.

+1

Although I think the new shape mondeo estate is lovely

R.O.R

keithclancy wrote: »

Get a decent set of bars for the dog, I tried a few sets and some were awkward to fit due to the sloping roof at the sides in the back, ended up getting a Mont Blanc for 54 euros in Halfords and its great, not rattles etc and stops stuff from falling from the back if the boot is loaded above the seats.

Ours has a net that comes from the top of the tonneu cover (retractable) and clips in near the roof to stop anything coming from the boot to the passenger compartment. I would have thought this was standard - it's just above the umbrella holder.

keithclancy wrote: »

Make sure you get it with the Performance Audio option as the standard one isn't great, also make sure it has an Audio-In as its not easy to fit this afterward.

Standard Radio kicks ass! Wouldn't be dismissing a car because it doesn't have the performance (extra speaker in centre of dash). Have to turn the Bass Boost feature off on my music player when in the Volvo otherwise it gets a bit uncomfortable, but no distortion even at ear splitting volume.

An Aux in would be nice, but the FM transmitter does an adequate job.

Berty

I like Volvo's, I like estate's so Im sold on the V50 as it is.

A V50 R Design would be nice!

That new shape Mondeo is ONLY nice when you buy this one

EDIT It's a Titanium X Sport



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201017357590334/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_1_year_old/body-type/estate/model/mondeo/make/ford/keywords/x%20sport/page/1/radius/1501/postcode/g50ul?logcode=p

Johnnyq79

Thanks lads, really good feedback from ye all. The one I'm looking at has that net dog guard. Don't know about that radio-doesn't bother me anyhow. The colour is black. I'd nearly prefer the dark grey or silver but this one is a good deal. It's got 56k miles as is UK car imported. That price is including VRT too. Good deal?

keithclancy

R.O.R wrote: »

Ours has a net that comes from the top of the tonneu cover (retractable) and clips in near the roof to stop anything coming from the boot to the passenger compartment. I would have thought this was standard - it's just above the umbrella holder.

Standard Radio kicks ass! Wouldn't be dismissing a car because it doesn't have the performance (extra speaker in centre of dash). Have to turn the Bass Boost feature off on my music player when in the Volvo otherwise it gets a bit uncomfortable, but no distortion even at ear splitting volume.

An Aux in would be nice, but the FM transmitter does an adequate job.

FM Transmitters are a pain in the arse .. mainly because you get the interference from mobiles and Local Radio stations. I'm installing an Aux in on mine

http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=105447&page=2

Going to get a mate to do the board soldering (pretty easy) and wire up a small board, then run a cable from the Amp in the back and fit the Aux port somewhere around the 12V socket.

The standard cargo net isn't much use for a Dog, most dogs will wiggle their way through the sides, its grand for Cargo though.

langdang

Also, black leather looks excellent in these, I sat into one with cream leather and it was nowhere near as nice, even if you could have gotten all the stains out. Either the valeters had done a terrible job or everyone who had used that car was incontinent.... don't get cream leather!

Stokolan

Johnnyq79 wrote: »

I really like Volvo estates. I'm married and also have a golden retriever. No children. I do a good bit of driving to work. I'm looking at a 2l D Volvo v50. I have a good priced one in mind and can now afford it. Coming from 1.4l Seat Leon.
My question is, will the car suit me, or will my friends and work collegues laugh at me?
Suggestions please?

I'm 31 myself, not married, no kids and the dog aint left in my V50. I got it so i could pop my bike into the back of it and for the comfort of it. Great car, Nice and comfy and lovely to drive.

I'd suggest go for it.

langdang wrote: »

don't get cream leather!

Cream aint too bad. I bough a v50 back in december and it had cream leather. I didnt like it initially but the more I drive it the more I like it.

langdang

Stokolan wrote: »

Cream aint too bad. I bough a v50 back in december and it had cream leather. I didnt like it initially but the more I drive it the more I like it.

Obviously no incontinent previous owners so!
My estate usually has one or two mountain bikes in the back as well. Or on occasions -a couch, or a single bed + mattress (tho not for very far the boot won't close with a whole single bed in there), or a skip bag full of hedge clippings etc etc. Who needs a trailer/roof rack! Integrated roof rails are a bonus if you will be hauling stuff...

-Chris-

I'm 33, and if I was buying a car it would definitely be an estate.

ninty9er

I'd have no problem buying one and I'm only 23. My boss is just recently 23 and drives a 99 Passat estate, and has done for a good 18 months at least, he gets a bit of a slagging, but it's all in good fun.

I've another friend with the S40 2.0D. I find it a decent drive and there's plenty of accelleration for most Irish situations.

Make sure you get one with cruise control and leather. Also make sure you get 2 keys with it as they're over €200 a pop.

If you do have kiddies any time soon, it'll need to go for something bigger as the back seat isn't noticibly different from my 01 Astra, a little cramped.

eamon234

Johnnyq79 wrote: »

Thanks lads, really good feedback from ye all. The one I'm looking at has that net dog guard. Don't know about that radio-doesn't bother me anyhow. The colour is black. I'd nearly prefer the dark grey or silver but this one is a good deal. It's got 56k miles as is UK car imported. That price is including VRT too. Good deal?

I'd make sure and get that mileage checked before buying I'd always be wary of any diesel estate quoting low mileage especially from the UK if it's still got the UK reg on it should be easy to check.
I love estates my last one was a 99 BMW 316i but when I sold it I couldn't find another decent one for the money so I've got an Octavia at the moment I'm also toying with the idea of a V50 if I can come across one cheap enough!

Vikings

Have you considered the Accord estate? Pick up a diesel and the savings on fuel will more than pay for the increase in tax for the 2.2 engine.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Accord/2.2-i-CT/201009197103365/advert?channel=CARS

Only problem is there aren't many of the estates around...they look the business though!

nialler

Listen, I bought an S Class merc when I was 36, never bothered me once that it was considered an very old "merchant bankers" car, I had the grey hair but not the wrinkles, if you like it get it, forget about image and enjoy the car for what it is, if you're comfortable, enjoy driving it and moreso feel safe, happy days.

N

Hal1

I'd have no problem drivng an estate car and I'm 33.