i will be purchasing a vehicle for myself in august and i do not know what to satisfy…my very practical side (used pick up truck) or my getting ready for a mid life crisis side (new volvo c30, the only volvo i can possibly afford)
i went on line to configure my perfect volvo and since i picked a special color, me and one other person can fly for free (accomidations also!) to sweden to see “my” car… delivery is free too! sounds too good to be true. my practical side and my midlife crisis side says “go for IT!” My daughter graduates from college this spring, so I can treat her to a free weekend in sweden!
Seriously, I want a car that is going to last a long time, gets good gas mileage, and is a good camping car (volvo has a hatch back, at least.)i have till august to decide, as my younger daughter will get the nissan cube that i am driving right now.
I think I will be buying my midlife crisis vehicle this summer. I am going to retire at the end of May. My midlife crisis vehicle will be a compact pickup truck. There is an organization in my community that does volunteer home repairs to help older people on fixed incomes be able to stay in their houses, and the truck will come in useful. Since I am a younger person (I’m only 69), I’ll equip my dream vehicle with a Swan hood ornament, mud flaps, a squirrel tail on the radio antenna, and if I can find them, some fake portholes to put on the front fenders so the truck will look like a Buick.
Camping in a C30? That’s pretty funny. Please post video when you try it.
There are a multitude of vehicles between a used pickup and a new C30. Keep looking.
Or blow the retirement fund and take the kid to Sweden. You only live once.
Personally a Volvo would be very far down on my list due to cost, style, and reliability. I got my mid-life crisis/retirement vehicle and it is a Pontiac G6. Back seat folds to take a 6 foot item in the trunk, 30 MPG, fun to drive, well equipped, comfortable, can still pull a small trailer with it, and a 100K mile warranty, plus pretty cheap. There are no free trips-you pay for it one way or another.
Honda CRV.
If the C30 is on your bucket list, by all means go for it. It’s attractively priced at under $25,000. But I suspect that the one you want must not be the base model. Other, similar cars might be the Audi A3, VW GTI, or a Mazda 3s Grand Touring hatchback. The Mazda3 and C30 are both based on the same platform ( so is the Ford Focus). It will be more expensive to maintain than a small SUV like a Rav-4, Equinox, or CR-V. But you need to decide if you want the C30 enough to put up with extra cost of ownership. It appears that Volvo will pay for maintenance and repairs for the first 4 years, and that is a bonus.
C30…not my idea of a ‘camping car’…Subaru Forester? If you’re considering the C30, look at a VW GTI - lots more room, more fun, too. Or a Mazda 3 for less $$, or a Mazdaspeed3 or Subaru WRX for FAST.
If that is the car you want go for it.
It may turn a little pricier latter in its life vs most of its peers. However just keep that in the back of your mind.
I thought the typical mid-life crisis car was a Corvette or Miata…
For the price of a C30, you could get a Mazda Speed 3, provided you can shift a manual.
thanks for the advice. lots of lutheran guilt accompanies “planning” for the mid life crisis car. Now i am interested in a subaru (manual shift red = mid life crisis) outback to satisfy practical camping lifestyle. To satisfy my guilt complex, a prius…will have to purchase a roof rack for kayak. will get the red color…but a stick shift is so important to me! could get a volkswagon diesel, but one other thing that i like about the subaru is the higher clearance.
Stop dreaming and take the good advice given here.