Have a budget of $4000.00 and just found a used 2000 Volvo S40 with 130,000 miles. Going to look at tonight but what do people thnk?
Stay away if it’s a turbo. Also consider a Mazda Protege, the same basic car, more reliable, cheaper to maintain.
I think you should put $2,000 down on a newer more reliable car and pocket the other $2,000 for surprise expenses. Unless of course you want a project car to sink lots of money into.
It doesn’t make much sense to have to pay interest on an extra $2000 bucks that you may or may not need for repairs. If they’re going to finance a car, they should put as much down as possible.
Unless potential future repairs wouldn’t strain your budget, I’d say buy a 2-3000 dollar car with cash and keep the rest in reserve for repairs. Realistically, the chances of a catastrophic drivetrain failure on a 2000 dollar car are not that much more than on a 4000 car. And I agree from a strictly practical financial point of view the Volvo probably isn’t the best choice, but it’s not a terrible car by any means.
I’d find something a bit more common and easier to service; say a plain old Buick Century or whatever. With a used car and short budget the object should be to lessen expenses as much as possible and get yourself from Point A to Point B with as little aggravation as possible.
The Buicks are not as “exciting” and don’t have the “feel” that the Volvo would have but I think the Volvo is not a good choice unless you have the ability to take care of problems yourself and the ability to track down those obscure parts that may be needed to repair certain things; and those problems will occur to some degree. JMHO
If you only have $4000 in your budget, you cannot afford to maaitain a Volvo.
As mentioned by others, buy a good econobox, like a Hyundai Accent, Mazda Protege, which are more affordable to own.
Happy shopping.
I love Volvos. Have owned three. Folks here are right about the expense of HAVING it maintained. I like to do the brakes, serpentine belt and minor tuneups myself (saving over 80%). Newer Volvos require a certified Volvo mechanic to reset the service engine light. I spent $4200 for my 2000 V70 but I also looked for WEEKS to find just what I was looking for-one with a 5 speed manual. (Living in the SF Bay Area where Volvos are like weeds makes it easy). If you dont feel comfortable as a DYI then definitely have it looked at. I spent $110 for a survey and it revealed the car had been in an accident, and th e alignment was jacked up.