The S40 is a lot more comfortable and will have a more upmarket interior: as it was a lot more expensive when new, for your money you'd get an older Volvo than a Hyundai.

Not having owned either I wouldn't go as far as to say a better all-rounder. The i30 is a competent, reliable workhorse built down to a price as regards luxury (though not engineering); the Volvo has upmarket aspirations and is solid and very safe.

Horses for courses perhaps: I'd have a Skoda Octavia ahead of either, with the 1.9 TDI engine if I wanted a secondhand diesel.

You'd like me to come off the (Skoda-shaped) fence, wouldn't you! Difficult as you best know your priorities.

The i30 is the better low-risk bet (unless the last owner sold it because they hated it - or did they get a good deal on a new Hyundai?), being younger and with fewer miles.

The Volvo has plenty of life in it but with your highish annual mileage there will be some repairs and replacements. And as you say you don't know how it was used - as an office hack or by an executive who cruised up and down motorways.

If it were me....I'd test-drive both and go for the Volvo if it turned out to be a lot better to drive and more comfortable than the Hyundai - and wasn't too well-worn (look carefully at the condition of the interior).

Edited by Avant on 03/02/2012 at 23:35

As I recall, the DPF on diesel S40's needs replacing at 100 k and costs £1000 at a main dealer. Something else to consider. This may have changed for later models.

Good luck with it! I thought you might go for the Volvo, as a lot of us would have done. Maybe after a couple of years' saving you'll be choosing between an XC60 and a newer ix35!