purchase new v50 or not?

  • Thread starter Thread starter humblejohn
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humblejohn

my wife wants to buy the v50. we have never owned a volvo. i am really
worried
because it is owned by the slimebags at Ford. Is this a car that the
owner can service (brakes, oil changes, trans. fluid etc) or must it be
brought to a dealer? I hope it is not a ford dealer. if anyone has
experience with these cars
please let me know. I have already seen some negative comments about
servicing costs and dealers on this newsgroup. i think that the volvo
shares the frame or body with mazda. in addition, is there enough
serious saftey advantages on the volvo to make it worthwhile to overpay
for it? i have looked at brochures and on the net but i can't find
exactly what the supposed saftey features are. I mean features which
are not on other cars but are worthwhile. thanks in advance.
 
my wife wants to buy the v50. we have never owned a volvo. i am really
worried
because it is owned by the slimebags at Ford. Is this a car that the
owner can service (brakes, oil changes, trans. fluid etc) or must it be
brought to a dealer? I hope it is not a ford dealer. if anyone has
experience with these cars
please let me know. I have already seen some negative comments about
servicing costs and dealers on this newsgroup. i think that the volvo
shares the frame or body with mazda. in addition, is there enough
serious saftey advantages on the volvo to make it worthwhile to overpay
for it? i have looked at brochures and on the net but i can't find
exactly what the supposed saftey features are. I mean features which
are not on other cars but are worthwhile. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I'd say no, save money and buy the Mazda version if you must have the car.
IMO, Volvo died when the 900 series was put to rest. Damn you Ford, damn
you!
 
Stewart Hargrave said:
Ford had nothing to do with Volvo when the 900 ceased production in
the mid 90s. It wasn't until 1999 that the Ford buy-out occured.
Meantime, there was the 850, 40, 70 and 90 series, all in production
before Ford took over.

They bought Jaguar 10 years earlier, and seemed to have revived their
lacklustre production rather well.

Personally, I think it is still too early to be able to say whether
Ford have adversly affected Volvo. By about 15 years.
--

Stewart Hargrave


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name
Click to expand...

I never cared for the FWD Volvos. As for Jags, well, they are really nice
Fords...
 
IMO, Volvo died when the 900 series was put to rest. Damn you Ford, damn
you!
Click to expand...


Ford had nothing to do with Volvo when the 900 ceased production in
the mid 90s. It wasn't until 1999 that the Ford buy-out occured.
Meantime, there was the 850, 40, 70 and 90 series, all in production
before Ford took over.

They bought Jaguar 10 years earlier, and seemed to have revived their
lacklustre production rather well.

Personally, I think it is still too early to be able to say whether
Ford have adversly affected Volvo. By about 15 years.
--

Stewart Hargrave


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name
 
if anyone has experience with these cars
please let me know. I have already seen some negative comments about
servicing costs and dealers on this newsgroup. i think that the volvo
shares the frame or body with mazda. in addition, is there enough
serious saftey advantages on the volvo to make it worthwhile to overpay
for it? i have looked at brochures and on the net but i can't find
exactly what the supposed saftey features are. I mean features which
are not on other cars but are worthwhile. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

The V50 was selected the car with the lowest cost of ownership in its
class.

Netscape and Edmunds published a list of the most economical cars to own
in a number of different classes.  Their assumptions were that the car
would be driven 75,000 miles in 5 years and then sold.  It would be
bought at the best dealer new price and sold at the Edmunds private
party used sale price.  Insurance, dealer maintenance costs and fuel
costs are included.  So the following are the true costs of vehicle
ownership.


The report is at:
http://netscape.edmunds.com/reviews/tco/2004/index.html


Wagons
Wagon Under $15,000: Scion xB $0.35 per mile
Wagon Under $25,000: Toyota Matrix $0.34 per mile
Wagon Under $35,000: Volvo V40/V50 $0.48 per mile
Wagon Under $45,000: Volvo XC70 $0.57 per mile
Wagon Over $45,000: Audi S4 $0.78 per mile

The V40/V50 are also leaders in safety in their class.
 
The Mazda is a nice car, and is definately the best value in the economy
class... But the V50 is in a class above it, has more cargo room (V50 is a
real wagon, the Mazda3 Sport is a cross between hatcback and small wagon),
upgraded safety cage to Volvo's standards, bigger engine as standard than
optional on the Mazda3 (and the Volvos engines are... Volvos own engines),
you can also get optional AWD on the Volvo (a benefit in countries with
winter) you can't on the Mazda. The Volvo also has an interior that has been
designed with a more conservative clientel in mind, the Mazda's is more
youthfull and sporty (Though as a 21 year old I prefer the Volvo's interior
by quite a large margin. I don't really like a flashy car or interior, so
the S40 appeals to me greatly. Understated timeless class and elegance is
more appealing to me than this-minute styling and a flashy interior that
will only impress for 5 minutes).

Other niceties are the Dolby II stereo system (optional) - why not include a
similar system on the Mazda as an option? Younger people seem to like big
rich sound, at the Mazda dealer I was shocked to learn it only had a 6
speaker stereo system driven from the headunit as the highest level audio
system in the car... Ie only on the GT model, I don't think you could option
out the better system on the more affordable models.

When I compared the S40 (V50 is the same, but I was looking at S40's at the
dealer as they interest me more) to the V70 sitting next to it I noticed
they were built in the same manner, structure looked as good as the V70,
panel gaps were tight and even - It looked like a Volvo.

I can't wait to test drive one... I was impressed with the Mazda3 when I
drove it in the summer... when the weather is warmer I will drive the
S40.... As I have gone over the car as far as I can without driving it, so I
am missing that one big point in determining if it is a good car.
 
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