I'd suggest having a look on Autotrader, and seeing what prices are like over a wider geographical area.Also, non-franchised prices (if there are some out there outside the dealer network) will tend to be a bit more ... realistic.

In general though, I've noticed that Volvo dealers seem to only sell cars that are up to 2 years old - and even then, most of what they sell seem to be ex-demo, etc.

Regarding fuel economy, you might find yourself rather disappointed with the Audi 1.2TSFi petrol engine. Though HJ doesn't have and 'real' fuel economy data for the A3 with that engine, the A1 with the 1.2 TSFi seems to be returning about 40 mpg. I'd expect the A3 to do similar, or possibly a bit worse, being heavier.

Is it likely to hold its value better than the rest when the time comes to sell, or is this just a halo effect as its not 3 years old yet as a design and there's no supply to the 2nd market? I'd expected it to be similar to the Golf in price, and the difference (albeit as a percentage) I would hope to recoup at the other end.

Its a new model, and to be fair it looks upmarket and completely different (thankfully) to the millions of German Japanese and Korean clones out there, so yes i think its used values are a bit high as they seem to be with any properly new model...this may not affect German cars insofar as you can hardly see a difference between the new and the previous models.

Some Volvos hold their values, mid to late 2000 V70's for instance, yet the saloon S60 version is worth about half as much...a real bargain now if anyone's looking.

Jury is out on latest Ovlovs.

As said above, it's a bit too early to tell with the V40 as it's the newest model compared with the other cars you've looked at, and seems to be in demand, which will keep the forecourt prices up for the moment.

My last two cars have been Volvos (both V60s) so I like them, and take my advice with a pinch of salt ... but I'd go for a more powerful engine than the D2. It's adequate for the car but not fantastically economical. From my time on the Volvo forums, the 2 litre 5-cylinder D3 or D4 variants give the same economy in real-world usage as the D2, and are effortlessly torquey and much more enjoyable to drive.

I had the 163bhp 5-cylinder motor in my last V60, and it averaged 46.8mpg (real, not on the computer) in my 40,000 miles of ownership, and that certainly wasn't trying to drive economically.