New (Used) Car - Volvo or Mazda

dillo2k10

Hi,

My friend is looking for a used car, she doesn't care if its diesel or petrol.

1.6-1.8 range.

20% motorway driving 80% town driving.

About 12-15,000 km a year

She wants something thats reliable, thats the main need, she doesnt want to be putting thousands into fixing a car.

The main cars that she was looking at were 2004-2005 Mazda 3 or 6 and a volvo s40.

She prefers the look of the volvo but believes that they are less reliable. Are they?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

alias no.9

S40 and Mazda 3 are pretty much the same car.

For Forks Sake

alias no.9 wrote: »

S40 and Mazda 3 are pretty much the same car.

About 60% shared. You won't get leather or the other toys in the Mazda though.

dillo2k10

Which one would be the more reliable car?

Compton

I know a few people with Mazdas and they have all been reliable.. I know one person with a volvo and the only problem has been one sensor which cost about 350..

166man

Mazda 6 1.8 for me anyway. Definitely go petrol at that mileage and town driving too.:)

bazz26

While the Mazda 3 and Volvo S40 share the same platform and some engines they have alot less in common after that. The Mazda 6 is alot bigger than the S40 also. The S40 is generally reliable but not nearly as reliable as either the 3 or 6 (petrol models).

colm_mcm

I'll wager the suspension in the Volvo is more expensive to maintain too

bazz26

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'll wager the suspension in the Volvo is more expensive to maintain too

Actually I remember replacing two front wishbones on my S40 and iirc they were slightly cheaper than the same Focus ones. Mazda parts are not the cheapest either but probably less likely to be spending money on non wear/tear parts with them imo.

alias no.9

dillo2k10 wrote: »

Which one would be the more reliable car?

Pretty much anything that will determine reliability will be common between the s40 and 3. Body panels, interior trim, etc... are different but the oily bits and electrics/electronics are from the ford parts bin.

Tea 1000

alias no.9 wrote: »

Pretty much anything that will determine reliability will be common between the s40 and 3. Body panels, interior trim, etc... are different but the oily bits and electrics/electronics are from the ford parts bin.

No they're not. The petrol engines in the Mazda 3 are Mazda's own. The Diesel in both is a PSA unit, not Ford either. So no Ford oily bits or electrics at all in the Mazda.

alias no.9

Tea 1000 wrote: »

No they're not. The petrol engines in the Mazda 3 are Mazda's own. The Diesel in both is a PSA unit, not Ford either. So no Ford oily bits or electrics at all in the Mazda.

I stand corrected on the petrols, had assumed them to be the same, the persistance developing different engines with the almost identical displacement and power output for similarly sized models sharing the same platform may go some way to explaining why Ford got itself in financial trouble and had to divest itself of Mazda and Volvo.

The Diesel was developed jointly by Ford and PSA and is built in both Ford and PSA Factories so yes there are Ford oily bits.

Tea 1000

alias no.9 wrote: »

The Diesel was developed jointly by Ford and PSA and is built in both Ford and PSA Factories so yes there are Ford oily bits.

It was a joint venture from a capital point of view, but it's PSA design. Volvo build it in their plant in Sweden too.

dillo2k10

Its between the 1.8 Mazda 6 and the 1.8 Volvo S40.

Rather the looks of the S40 but heard they tend to have problems? Is this true, more so than the Mazda?

Thanks