Hi all,
Wife and I have finally settled on replacing our 04 plate avensis (using a bit of inheritence money).
We are currently torn between a blue moon deal on a new avensis (old shape), T-spirit, D4D, black with stone leather, manual 6-speed. Cost £15700 or thereabouts (with £2800 trade in for our current car (the saving is about £6k). Other option is a June 08 Volvo S80 2.4D SE lux in dark grey, geartronic.
The Toyota has the advantage that it's brand new, and being a hatch is more convenient than the boot on the Volvo. The Volvo, however, just feels a bit more special and has a nicer interior.
Thoughts/ experience on either/ both cars appreciated!
Many thanks in advance,
Alex.
|
There are dozens of diesel Toyotas for around £12k /£13K- 6 mths old with nominal mileages - then you can negotiate from there.
Offer the asking price less 20% then say nothing ............. if you do not speak they have to!
|
I have an older, high mileage S60 petrol, which I am very pleased with. Has shrugged off 140,000 miles and is still a reliable daily driver with excellent performance, refinement and comfort.
If there is a better built, more comfortable long distance cruiser at anything like this price, I am not aware of its existence.
Cheers
DP
|
The Toyota is an obsolete model - the "new shape" version is out already. So it will date rapidly and value will plummet.
Volvo a nicer car, BUT... you mention hatchback vs. boot. Do you need lots of load space? The Volvo boot is huge and deep, but has a very narrow aperture - bit like a letterbox. Could be a deal-breaker if you lug bulky items around.
|
|
Sell your T/I via Autotrader or local paper - 5 yr old for <£3K seems cheap -assuming mileage and condition are good!
|
|
|
|
One thing to bear in mind, the new shape S80 with the 2.4 diesel and autobox typically only manages around 30-35mpg in combined driving. I imagine with the Avensis D4D you're looking at more like 45mpg in the same conditions.
I love my Volvo S80, but the new ones are so heavy (tipping towards 2t now) I'm not sure I'm that keen on another.
FWIW, my old 2005 S80 D5 auto does about 30mpg round town and around 45mpg on the motorway. But then it's about 350kgs lighter than the new one and has no DPF!
|
What's your old Avensis Alex... not a diesel estate by any chance?
David
Edited by M.M on 26/01/2009 at 12:43
|
Hi David,
No, I'm afraid It's a 1.8VVTi petrol hatch.
The trade in is low, as it's done 97k, and has a small scrape on the bottom of the driver's door (swmbo v low garden wall). Otherwise, it does feel very fresh really.
Thanks for all your comments. The mrs is off to test a D4D Avensis then have a go in an S60. the ultimate decision will lie with her, as she'll be the main driver.
I do agree that the Avensis is an ol design, and will depreciate despite the discount. Then again the S60 is old too, and will be replaced next year.
The Volvo dealer is very reluctant to deal, and apart from matching the trade in for our car, doesn't want to shift. Seems rather suicidal in the current climate, but there you go.
There is some time pressure, as the Toyota would need to be registered by end of Jan to get the deal.
I'm leaning towards the Volvo- see what the wife reckons.
Cheers,
Alex.
|
Alex,
Oh well it was worth asking. We're on a long term hunt for a value diesel estate around 2004/5 to replace our petrol Mondeo. I've not driven an Avensis yet but friends who have exactly the model I'd like rate it highly.
I guess for a petrol at 97k that's a fair trade in.
David
|
My Avensis has a huge boot. I think the S60 has a much smaller boot (don't know about S80). A colleague has an S60 and loves it. Another colleague had a second-hand one - again, all the fripperies - and it was plagued by an engine electrical fault, so it went back in favour of an A4.
The Avensis is great to drive, and you might well get 45 mpg with the 150 bhp engine (I'm getting 40 mpg). It's anonymous, and certainly doesn't have the cachet of a Volvo. That's one of the things I like about it, but it ought to be worth something in the discount department!
The one you're looking at does seem overpriced, though. But I found that our local Toyota dealer didn't understand the concept of haggling last year - when other dealers did.
Edited by GroovyMucker on 26/01/2009 at 17:05
|
|
|
|
|
Having driven the Volvo, I bet you and the good lady wife would not feel safe in anything else. Go on just try the Volvo, and spoil yourselves.
|
I remember trying the 150hp Avensis diesel in, I think, 2006. It's a thoroughly competent and well made car that does nothing badly and some things - notably rear seat legroom - very well. But I think it's let down by its interior: it's all there and it all works, but there's nothing about it to make you glad to be in it, comforted and reassured for that drive home in the rain after a long day.
And that's why (although we've since bought a different Toyota) I still have the car I drove to the Toyota dealer that day - a Volvo S60.
Incidentally, there are references up-thread to both an S80 and an S60, which is a mite confusing, especially since two of the S60's major demerits - space in the rear seat and access to the boot - don't apply to the S80. Either, though, will have the standout features of the D5 engine, the seats and driving position, and the HU-803 audio system that mean the thing I most want to (eventually) replace my Volvo is another one.
|
|
|
|
Hi apm,
just changed jobs which meant getting rid of my Avensis D4D 2.2 estate. Am about to replace with an 03 V70 D5 SE (private purchase for mostly business use). The Avensis was ok, quiet, comfortable but to be honest not lovable. The V70 (and presumably the S60 you mention on a different thread) feels much nicer from the drivers seat. It is also a much better thought out load lugger, and seems generally better thought out than the Avensis (eg, the cup holder in the Avensis is just above the CD player slot, so if you are a slob like me, the coffee spills into the CD player. Also, I hated the digital temp control - just crank the dial from blue to red!). My previous experience with Volvos is of reliable high mileage cruisers. That said, in 18 months, 55k miles, the Toyota was faultless, and several hours driving was easy.
But to your question - the SE lux must seem like a different league to the Avensis, surely.
|
|
Having driven both, I would go for the Volvo, and I think that once the OP's wife sits in the front seat of the Volvo, that will clinch it. Soo comfortable!
|
|
Not always, I love the seats in my Volvo, but SWMBO hates them, reckons they're too big for the average female frame and therefore the support is all in the wrong place...
|
Alex, there is an airfield with hundreds of pre reg Avensis sitting on part of it, both hatches and estates.
Might be worth a nose around on the various internet car sales sites to see whose shifting them.
Difficult choice between the two, the Volvo is probably a nicer car inside, and better looking but overall ownership costs could be considerably more, fuel and servicing etc.
|
|
|
|
Sounds like you need to trade her in for a fuller model! ;-)
|
You can get low mileage immaculate 12 month old Avensis for a low as 10K if you do a search on Toyota's used car website.
If you look on places like Carfile and Drivethedeal you can get excellent deals on new old models.
The former has an excellent deal on the diesel Verso at the moment which perhaps you should consider also. Then again, you can get immaculate low mileage 2008 SR Versos for 10Kish now also.
Both sites have good deals on the new model Avensis which, personally, I was not impressed with on the inside, although it does look nicer on the outside than the, IMPO, old man Avensis older model.
Have you read HJ's review of the new Mazda 6 diesel?
Edited by tawse on 31/01/2009 at 23:31
|
Hi all,
Many thanks for all your help. In the end, we decided on the S60- our current Avensis has been a splendid performer, but just not exciting or involving to drive. No real spark of anticipation when looking out at it; new one would be the same.
We've chosen an 07 S60 D5 in burgundy with black leather, 25k. It's from a main dealer, so has full warranty etc, and we got a reasonable deal (got them down by a grand). We don't do a huge mileage, so the diesel is more about the power and the torque than economy! Pick up on saturday, as long as the snow is gone...
BW,
Alex.
PS any tips on remembering not to put petrol in?
|
|
Well done, had mine a year now and love it, and yes you will keep looking back at it in the car park and out of your window, they are ( in my opinion) a lovely looking car.
|
|
|
First time I've heard of someone choosing a Volvo because it was the more exciting option!!
;-)
Seriously though, good choice, you'll love it.
My personal tip to avoid misfuelling - make a point of reseting the trip computer every time you stop to re-fuel. While you're doing it, check the last MPG figure and think - that's good, not bad for such a big diesel engine.
It means you stop to think about what you're doing before you even get out and reach for the pump, so it takes some of the automatic action out of refilling the car.
Next thing I do is stick the nozzle in, check what it says on the nozzle, then double check at the pump itself, start the flow very gently and then finally check the pump display to see if it's dispensing diesel or not...
It all sounds laborious, but it's so far stopped me from misfuelling, which is all too easily done when you have both petrols and diesels in the household and muggins here ends up filling both of them up!!
|
|
Drive the Deal has 30% off old model Avensis.
|
|
I would go for an S60. It's still a big car but will hold it's value better and be more economical. The S80 is getting long in the tooth.
|
Err, the S80 (to 2006) is the same car as the S60... just different length and width and fractionally differences to the dash.
The new S80 (from 2006) is a whole new car based on Ford's EUCD platform, the same as the new Mondeo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
