Volvo Price Depreciation?

stlmcgovern · 15-08-2014 6:16pm #1

Hi everyone

Sorry if this is a daft or obvious question, I don't know very much about cars...

I'm looking to purchase a Volvo S40 around the 2011/12 year (the newer model). I like the spec of the car and it looks to be ticking all the boxes I'm interested in.

However, a colleague has advised me that Volvos (in general) drop particularly fast in price after purchase and that he wouldn't buy one because of this.

Can anyone advise on this please? I like the look of the car, but don't want to get stuck with something that going to be very difficult to sell on/trade in for a good price in a few years time.

Thanks in advance for any help/opinions...

Sean

colm_mcm · 15-08-2014 6:18pm

Nothing drops straight after purchase unless you pay too much in the first place.

Depreciation from new is sharp enough, but that makes the car cheaper for you to buy used. Which is good.

stlmcgovern · 15-08-2014 6:21pm

Thanks Colm

That's the theory I'm working on - I should be able to pick up a 2011/12 for a good price (and a quick look at the various websites seems to prove that).

I suppose I'm worried about trying to trade it in against another car in 3 years or so - would it be worth next-to-nothing at that point or does the depreciation level off (within reason) against other cars that are 6-ish years old?

Thanks for response,
S

NIMAN · 15-08-2014 6:25pm

All cars will depreciate, thats the nature of car buying. They are a bad investment from that point of view!

I can't see how Volvo's would depreciate any more than most other brands. As someone who has been looking at Volvo's recently myself, they are a nice car and I would think you shouldn't find it too hard to sell on in 3 or 4 years time. OK so it might not be as easily sold as a VW Golf or Audi A4, but it should still have people interested.

With all cars most of the initial depreciation is in the 1st couple of years so someone has already taken a big hit on this a 2011/12 car.

colm_mcm · 15-08-2014 6:25pm

Don't think of depreciation as a percentage.
If you want a particular age of car and a certain segment, then Volvo is a cheap enough way in. Of course it won't be worth as much as an A4 or a 3 series in 3 years, but it didn't cost as much to buy either.

stlmcgovern · 15-08-2014 6:34pm

Thanks for responses, Colm and Niman.

It's really the spec that's drawing me to the car. Leather seats, cruise control, parking sensors, etc. I also really like the 3 series but the price difference is significant (plus there's not that much out there around 2011 mark for this one, while there's a good number of S40s). I realise the price of the 3 series would hold better over 3 or 4 years, but taking into account how much less the S40 would cost to begin with, I'm wondering if I'd fare out okay (and I think you are both suggesting 'yes' to that) on balance.

Thanks,
S

bazz26 · 15-08-2014 7:01pm

Just to give you an idea OP. I bought a 3 year old 2006 S40 diesel with 65k miles for about €14k from a dealer, 2 years later and with just under 100k miles I sold it privately and got €9k for it. I only had it on sale for a few days, got a few calls and the first person to view it bought it. So that works out at about €2500 in deprecation I lost per year which would be normal in my books.

Now granted the S40 has now been discontinued and replaced with the V40 so depreciation might be a bit more as the S40 gets older but it will still sell due to the decent spec they have and attraction of being diesel.

NIMAN · 15-08-2014 7:57pm

I would love to change to a S60, so I wish Volvo's would depreciate a little bit quicker!

PurvesGrundy · 15-08-2014 8:53pm

No problem at all shifting quality S40's/V50's with the 1.6 diesel, sell very fast. XC60's and XC90's are also incredibly good news and the market cannot get enough of them.

When you think about it, what reason would there be to generalise Volvo as heavy depreciators? The only reason they might have been cheap in the past was the larger cars all having at least 2.0 litre 5 cylinders and being costly to run.

nice_guy80 · 15-08-2014 9:19pm

S40 has been discontinued.
That'd be my main concern in terms of depreciation.
Those 1.6 diesels are just ok.

bazz26 · 16-08-2014 12:40am

Volvo traditionally pitched itself against more premium branded cars from BMW, Audi, etc. however the general public never seen them with the same level of premium image as the German premium brands or desirability which dictated lower resale values.

Dia1988 · 16-08-2014 1:18am

A 2011/12 Volvo S40 is essentially a Ford Focus saloon tarted up, underneath it is has the same engine and platform.

If you want a "Sweedish" car buy one of the last Saab 95s, for the same money of a S40 with better engine and equipment.

Here is what I have in mind

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-95-vector/7333643

stlmcgovern · 16-08-2014 10:34am

Thanks for all the responses. I didn't realise the S40 has been discontinued, that would worry me a bit, would be afraid of being stuck with it or getting a poor trade-in value because of that.

Thanks for all the opinions,
Sean

bazz26 · 16-08-2014 1:04pm

Dia1988 wrote: »

A 2011/12 Volvo S40 is essentially a Ford Focus saloon tarted up, underneath it is has the same engine and platform.

If you want a "Sweedish" car buy one of the last Saab 95s, for the same money of a S40 with better engine and equipment.

Here is what I have in mind

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-95-vector/7333643

Lol, you are aware that the model 9-5 is as much an Opel/Vauxhall Insignia as the S40 is a Focus right? The previous 9-5 used a mid 1990s Opel Vectra platform. Saabs have been cloned GMs since the early 1990s. If you want a "Sweedish" Saab then buy a 900 turbo from the 1970/1980s.

For Forks Sake · 16-08-2014 9:24pm

stlmcgovern wrote: »

Thanks for all the responses. I didn't realise the S40 has been discontinued, that would worry me a bit, would be afraid of being stuck with it or getting a poor trade-in value because of that.

Thanks for all the opinions,
Sean

All cars get replaced at some stage.

Browney7 · 19-08-2014 3:08pm

I'd always work off the premise that the value of a car halves every 3 years

R.O.R · 19-08-2014 3:17pm

Browney7 wrote: »

I'd always work off the premise that the value of a car halves every 3 years

If only it was that easy....

Titzon Toast · 24-08-2014 12:40pm

Dia1988 wrote: »

A 2011/12 Volvo S40 is essentially a Ford Focus saloon tarted up, underneath it is has the same engine and platform.

If you want a "Sweedish" car buy one of the last Saab 95s, for the same money of a S40 with better engine and equipment.

Here is what I have in mind

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-95-vector/7333643

Those things are fugly and badly built.
I'd take a Volvo over one of those any day.

Volvo Price Depreciation?

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