To buy or not

macphee70

I've got a bit of a dilemma and I'm look for some advice.

Currently I drive a 52 plate volvo s40. I drive 100 miles to work each day, 4 to 5 times a week, roughly 400 miles a week.

The volvo is due its tax soon £290 for the year and has an MOT until the beginning of April. The tyres have 3.5mm, 4mm, 6.5mm and 7mm on them. Front two are the shortest.

If I was to sell the volvo privately I might get between £500 - £700 for it.

I've found a deal to buy a pre-registered Aygo for 8k, drive the deal are selling the same car for 9k and motorpoint have a 6 month older one with 9,000 miles on it for 7.5k. I will save on the tax as the aygo is £0 and I guess I will save around £50 a month on fuel.

So my dilemma is do I buy the Aygo and get rid of the Volvo, thus saving on the tax and petrol and getting a newer car for the winter, Or do I keep the volvo running?

I don't know what to do! If I keep the volvo is might run fine till April and go through an MOT for very little, on the other hand it might break down tomorrow and cost way more than its worth to fix. But if I but the Aygo I reckon i'll put around 10,000 miles on it before April. Help

aeroblade

DW has an Aygo and while its a good car for short run arounds I wouldn't ever do 400 miles a week in one.

moneyuser

It really depends on how you plan to finance it? If you're paying cash and have plenty reserves then go for it. If you need a loan then I would keep the Volvo as you aren't really going to be saving anything by getting a new car.

New cars can break down as well! Has the volvo showed any signs of breaking down? How did it do in its last MOT?

macphee70

Paying cash, Volvo has a few minor issues and had a couple of advisory's on its last MOT, got the major concerns sorted but I suspect there will be more next year. That said its still going strong and get me to and from work each day without any issues.

I suppose I need to remember than a new car can break down but the warrenty give a bit of piece of mine

forgotmyname

You forgot to add in depreciation to your costs. Thats approx £2000 in the first year and an average of £2000 over the following 2 years.

So 3 years motoring will cost £4000 before you even put it to use on the road adding fuel and wear and tear.

A smaller engine may use more fuel on a journey than a larger one, around town my sisters 1.6 engine uses less fuel than my 2L, on a good motorway run i can get more mpg than her.

macphee70

so would you just keep the volvo for the time being?

LandyAndy

macphee70 wrote: »

so would you just keep the volvo for the time being?

Definitely. There is a lot to be said for a cheap car that is proving reliable.


My mother has an Aygo (the previous model). No way would I do a 100 mile commute in it.

LadyDee

I have a 2010 Aygo and it's a lovely little car for buzzing around town and local country roads. It is not a comfortable car for journeys longer than about an hour - certainly not for passengers in the back seats.

I do use it for motorway trips of about 30 miles and it's fine, but noisy! Overtaking two or three mega trucks always feels a bit hairy, and it is very light, so I certainly wouldn't want to travel on an exposed motorway on a very windy day.

I love it - but it's definitely a city car.

macphee70

Thanks for the advice, given the route that I take to work it would only be about an hour there and an hour back. 90% of the route will be either on a dual carriage way or motorway, outwith normal office workers times

Just me in the car as we have another car we use as the family car.

Anyone have any experience of the new style Aygo?

LadyDee

macphee70 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, given the route that I take to work it would only be about an hour there and an hour back. 90% of the route will be either on a dual carriage way or motorway, outwith normal office workers times

Just me in the car as we have another car we use as the family car.

Anyone have any experience of the new style Aygo?

Check out the Aygo Forum if you don't get the info you need here - http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/forum/78-aygo-club/