New Volvo S40 1.6D SE v's Skoda Octavia Estate 1.9TDI 0Elegance

Rashers72

Ok, here's the deal.
Own a Renault Grand Scenic, but after 4 Renaults in a row, looking for a change. And with the VRT changes due in July, looking for a good value diesel with low road tax (i.e. low CO2 emmissions).
The above 2 cars are my preferences.
Overall, looking for a car that will depreciate slowly (Renault are great value at the start, but depreciate quickly), and cost me as little as possible to run. I assume both will hold their value, but taxi drivers would be more interested in a 2nd hand Octavia.
Volvo should cost EUR29,702, Skoda Combi 24,500 from July onwards.
Don't need a tow bar, but have a roof box for holiday use. Will also need to carry a kayak/sails during the summer, hence the estate preference.
Have 2 kids, so car will take a bit of wear.
So if you had the choice, which would you go for?
I will be trading in the Renault, so trade in value matters.
Final question: Is the 2 litre diesel Skoda worth the EUR2.5k extra v 1.9?

All feedback welcome, especially from owners of either car.

mountain

i drove a petrol V50 for the best part of 3 years, that was under powered,
but had a loan of the 1.6d for a few days and it was great, plenty of power.

Volvo is well kitted out, if kids are small get the built in booster seats, they are very handy. However its not a big car, and space in back is tight.
If the budget stretches to it, have a look at the flexi fuel in the V70, the price appears to be great.

Rashers72

V70 are some machine alright. However, they cost at least EUR50k, even with new VRT rules. Out of my price range. tbh.
Might think about it in a few years, and then opt for a 2nd hand model. Thanks for the feedback though. The 2.0 d SE should cost EUR31.5 (a reduction of EUR4,100 off todays price). Another option....

E92

V70 is 40k till July for the Flexifuel model.

OP you said you wanted a car with low depreciation, the 2 cars you mentioned are poor at holding their value. IMO the Volvo would hold up better, Volvo at least have a reputation for estate cars which Skoda don't have, and the V50 is surprisingly popular.

Obviously you're not going to go for a petrol because in the long run a diesel will offer superior resale value and lower running costs, plus I have a Volvo S40 1.8(in addition to the car to the left of this post) and it is tepid performance wise, though that was the old model, but I doubt it the new one is any different, so I definately would not recommend a petrol for the Volvo(well I'd say no to petrol for either car really).

Apparently Volvo dealers have their July pricing for the V50(and all other Volvos), so make enquiries at your nearest Volvo dealer.

Rashers72

Thanks for the price correction, but that's still out of my price range.
Was surprised to hear about the depreciation on the Skoda+Volvo. Checked out the depreciation calculator on whatcar, and it shows both models depreciating at a pretty even rate. Whereas the Scenic drops at a much higher rate. And even the Mondeo Estate drops - despite costing >GBP1,600 then the Octavia when new, they are worth the same after a year.
So I'm not sure what estates will hold their value better then a Skoda. I know I am using a UK website, so maybe the Irish rates are a lot more different, but I would not have thought so.
Any other owners of either model got thoughts?

E92

UK guides are just that...UK only. It certainly does not follow that if car x behaves one way over there that it will do the same here;).

A 1.4 petrol family hatchback like a Corolla or Focus is extremely desirable here(don't ask why I don't know how people can live with such slowness), but in the UK it's a totally undesirable car(unsurprisingly).

Estate cars are much more popular over there as well than here and hence they are more desirable than they are here where they don't sell well at all.

Toyotas sell for silly money here used(I don't know why anyone would pay so much for such mediocrity but there you go), in the UK they're merely average for depreciation(the UK doesn't have rose tinted glasses at the thought of a Toyota badge even though they build plenty of the European market ones over there).

You see far more V50s than Octavia Estates around the place, that's always a good indication that the Volvo is going to be better for resale value.

The Skoda is certainly a nice car, but I would be of the opinion that the Volvo will cost little if indeed any more to run depreciation wise(Volvo garages know how to charge for servicing though) provided it's not kept for too long and you're getting far more comfort and safety thrown in for good measure too.

Rashers72

You are probably spot on about the UK depreciation models. I would imagine the Volvo would hold it's value more.
Also, with the present 'glut' of 2nd hand models, I would imagine you would shift a Volvo a lot quicker then a Skoda.
When I put both models into any of those comparison checkers, the amount of extras you get with the Skoda (especially the boot space), is impressive.
And you are correct - you see a lot more Volvo's around.
So my next question is the Volvo 2.0 diesel a much better prospect then the 1.6, considering it will cost EUR1,800 more? Remember I don't need it to pull a horsebox, but would the 1.6d be underpowered, and therefore might reduce it's trade in value at a later date?

E92

Drive both of them and make up your own mind. I can't say for sure if the 1.6 is slow or not since I haven't driven it. My guess is that the 2.0 would be a much better choice though, since it does 0-100 in 9.6 rather than 12.1 seconds. That is a big difference in my mind.

The 2.0D has higher emissions, so you would end up paying €290 rather than €150 every year for road tax from July though.

If it were me I'd have the 2.0 no question but I'm not the one buying it, and I probably value performance more than most people when it comes to cars.

Zonda999

Rashers72 wrote: »

Ok, here's the deal.
Own a Renault Grand Scenic, but after 4 Renaults in a row, looking for a change. And with the VRT changes due in July, looking for a good value diesel with low road tax (i.e. low CO2 emmissions).
The above 2 cars are my preferences.
Overall, looking for a car that will depreciate slowly (Renault are great value at the start, but depreciate quickly), and cost me as little as possible to run. I assume both will hold their value, but taxi drivers would be more interested in a 2nd hand Octavia.
Volvo should cost EUR29,702, Skoda Combi 24,500 from July onwards.
Don't need a tow bar, but have a roof box for holiday use. Will also need to carry a kayak/sails during the summer, hence the estate preference.
Have 2 kids, so car will take a bit of wear.
So if you had the choice, which would you go for?
I will be trading in the Renault, so trade in value matters.
Final question: Is the 2 litre diesel Skoda worth the EUR2.5k extra v 1.9?

All feedback welcome, especially from owners of either car.

I've drivin both cars and the there really is'nt a big difference btween the 1.9 and the 2.0.Pre july there is a 4k difference between the two.Post july that 'll drop to 2.5k but i still thinki'd have the 1.9.That engine always has the power you need for comfortable overtaking.True the 2.0 has a six speed gearbox so it may be better suited to long distance cruising.The 2.0 is quite uncommon in this country that shows you that the 1.9 is totally adequate for most.

E92

That 1.9 TDI in the Octavia can be heard about a mile before it arrives. I don't know about the 2.0 in the Ocatvia but from my experience of other VAG products the 2.0 being a much newer engine, is a lot quieter.

The real reason why there are so few 2.0 Octavias/Golfs/Passats etc is because of our old engine size system. I'd expect with the new CO2 system that the 2.0 with no VRT/road tax penalty will become a lot more popular than hitherto.

Rashers72

While I put S40 in the title - I meant V50!
Went into a dealer yesterday. He mentioned a few interesting points.
They don't get any orders for S models, only SE's. In fact, the S is a special order.
They are due to get the July prices next week, but the prices he was quoting were a lot higher then I expected.
The S40 boot was bigger then I thought, but access is still small.

Another question. I want to go for black/dark leather interior. All the models they had were either black exterior/black interior (which I don't fancy), or cream interior (which I don't fancy).
What exterior colour best matches black/dark interior leather?
Also the 2.0 diesel looks like a better bet to keep it's 2nd hand values. I imagine most potential purchasers would want the pulling power for a trailer etc., even if I don't need it.

E92

The beauty of black interiors is that they go with any exterior colour, as well as being the most desirable colour come resale time.