Saloon to Estate

jprender

Wondering what is the best way to proceed....

Currently own 2004 Volvo S40 T5 with 60k kms on clock

With tax now a whopping 1067 euro per year, I am considering changing cars.
Could do with some extra space aswell so thinking of an estate car.

I dont want to spend much more than what I would get for a trade in.
I presume that any dealer would want some cash moving in his direction when changing cars so unfortunately a straight swap is out!

Should I try to sell it privately to get best value?

Tax is up in April, so no real hurry as of yet. I like the S40 so maybe the V50 would be a good choice for me.

Anyway folks, all opinions welcomed.

many thanks,

J

Anan1

Is road tax really a valid reason to change car? The money saved will be buttons in the context of the overall running costs of a car. By the same token, the road tax expiry date really shouldn't be a factor in your deciding when to sell. I think what you really need to ask yourself is whether you need the extra space of an estate enough to change cars for it.

kyote00

I recently changed to an avensis d4d estate. While not the most exciting car ever, its actually quite acceptable. 2litre common rail turbo diesel with nice amount of power. I average about 50mpg (mixed urban and extra urban) or 60mpg (on motorway cruise)

The estate is only a few inches longer than saloon and handling is the same. Car has traction control, stability control, abs,ebd and brake assist so the handling and stability is very good on all road types.

I bought a 6month old demo model in the UK --- I found it rather hard to find low mileage estates in Ireland --- in fact Toyota didnt have any estate 2nd hand avensis diesels for sale.

Test drove the following estates: Merc E270CDI, A4 1.9TDI, Passat TDI

Overall the package I was after was :
budget: 23k
mileage: < 10k
age: 1-3 years old
economical: 45mpg+

I know this wont please the "boyracers" but it is a reasonable sensible choice....

jprender

Thanks for quick responses.

Savings in tax should be almost 500 euro per year.
Plus I should get a reduction in my insurance aswell.

Current car isnt too bad on petrol. I have had an average of 9.3 litres per 100km's over the last 2 years. Not sure what this is in mpg.

Need the extra space as my boot is always jammed.
I play golf, coach a rugby team, and have a 1yr old child !!

So it is a combination of saving a few quid and having the larger space.

BTW if I import from the UK, I am presuming that all info is in miles.
Is it possible to have the dials changed to reflect kms as have got used to this driving my current car. Only a trivial point I know.

Thanks

unkel

jprender wrote: »

Savings in tax should be almost 500 euro per year

That sounds like a lot, but how much do you spend a year in depreciation? In fuel?

Also when changing cars the "transaction costs" can easily be a couple of grand. By this I mean that to trade in a car for the exact same car in a dealer, you would hand over quite a bit of money to the dealer

cantdecide

Anan1 wrote: »

Is road tax really a valid reason to change car?

My thoughts exactly- Someone said her recently it would be like buying a plane ticket for the free peanuts to lose all that cash for less road tax.


Irish people can play russian roulette with new cars with regard to depreciation because of the amount of vrt paid so you could be screwing yourself if you try to swap ahead of schedule (assuming you don't have it from new).

If you definitely want to change you can either fund it and stay up or you can downgrade but you can be sure either way it will probably cost.

If you are determined to change the car- buy private and sell private.

jprender

Yeah I thought that the Transaction Costs would be steep alright. That is why I might consider selling privately although could really do without the hassle. Still a couple of grand is exactly that, a couple of grand and better off in my pocket.

Depreciation wise, I reckon I have lost about 4k per year on my current car.
Bought it for 28k in 2006.
Fuel costs are about 300 per month.

jprender

Like the point about peanuts

PaulieC

wait til July & trade it in to a Volvo dealer for a new V50 2.0d. It would be very hard to shift a T5 privately these days I would think

jprender

Dont think I would ever buy new due to huge loss in value over very short time.

Prefer to buy a car that is about two years old.
Still just as good as new in my book.

I know that there are no guarantees that dealers will pass on savings in VRT to the consumer, but is a new v50 going to be much less than current prices if they do ?

cantdecide

Essentially, you can't have it all your own way. If you want to swap an expensive car for a similar expensive car and you don't want the hassle of selling privately and you don't want to lose your shirt??

jprender

understood.

Anan1

How about buying a roofbox for the T4?;)

jprender

It would certainly make for a quieter drive if I put my kid in there !!;)

DonJose

I picked up my new Ford Galaxy this week and I was having a look at the new Mondeo hatchback, it has loads of space and could be a nice alternative, boot space wise, its between a saloon and an estate.

Del2005

jprender wrote: »

Thanks for quick responses.

Savings in tax should be almost 500 euro per year.
Plus I should get a reduction in my insurance aswell.

Current car isnt too bad on petrol. I have had an average of 9.3 litres per 100km's over the last 2 years. Not sure what this is in mpg.

Need the extra space as my boot is always jammed.
I play golf, coach a rugby team, and have a 1yr old child !!

So it is a combination of saving a few quid and having the larger space.

BTW if I import from the UK, I am presuming that all info is in miles.
Is it possible to have the dials changed to reflect kms as have got used to this driving my current car. Only a trivial point I know.

Thanks

If you empty everything out of the boot when not needed your fuel usage should go down. May be a bit of hassle but could save more then trading the car in. And if you get an estate you will be tempted to load it so may not save as much fuel as thought.

If getting a new, 2nd hand, car waith till July and buy a diesel estate from the UK.

jprender

Thanks for all advice every1.

Will keep car as empty as possible and see if that makes a diff to fuel economy.

It seems from reading posts here that trade-in will cost me a few quid or drop of standard in car for small enough savings in tax an economy. Might just hold onto it then.

Thanks again