When to buy a new Volvo?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
yolli71
Posts: 451
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 9:53 am

When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by yolli71 »

My wife is turning 40 in March. She told me as a bday present, she'd like to have a new car (it can be used as long it's within a couple of years and low mileage). Her choice at this point is a Volvo XC series (either 60 or 90, T6). She likes the way it looks and the safety ratings. Since she started driving in her senior year in HS 22 years ago, she's had 2 cars: a Honda Civic and her current car...a 2005 Honda CRV. So I have no problem spoiling her a little bit especially since she makes 1/2 our income and we're good about saving.

My question is...does anyone have any advice on buying a car? Any website or service I should use? Any insight on Volvo cars in general? I haven't owned many cars myself...between the 2 of us, we've owned 1 Toyota, 2 Nissans, 1 Acura, and 2 Hondas. Are Volvos fairly reliable? Should I try to buy before the end of this calendar year for a great deal or should I wait until my wife's bday in March if I buy a previous model? I'm open to buying new or used. We plan on owning this car a long time. At this point my budget is up to 50k, but I'm hoping to spend less of course.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! [Please note...as a fellow Boglehead, I understand this may not be the most desirable car or price, but I'm not looking for advice on buying a different type of car or on leasing or spending less on a car. Thanks!]
oslocal
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat May 21, 2016 5:30 pm

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by oslocal »

See if your company has any perks, ideally you qualify for Volvo's A-Plan. That's basically no hassle pricing, although the incentives change a bit from month to month.
If you don't qualify for A-Plan, occasionally Costco members temporarily are allowed to use it, however I think they have restrictions on new Costco members.

You can also get A-Plan by joining the volvo club of America or something like that, but there's a waiting period on that as well I think... Or I'm mixing it up with the BMW club... A good place to ask questions is leasehackr forum - or you can probably read once you figure out how to search that forum.
Topic Author
yolli71
Posts: 451
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 9:53 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by yolli71 »

I work for the Fed govt., so no company perks. I am a member of Costco. I live in the DC area and am also a member of the Checkbook CarBargains (though I know nothing about it). I'm also a PenFed member if that helps at all!
User avatar
ResearchMed
Posts: 16795
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:25 pm

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by ResearchMed »

yolli71 wrote: Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:42 pm My wife is turning 40 in March. She told me as a bday present, she'd like to have a new car (it can be used as long it's within a couple of years and low mileage). Her choice at this point is a Volvo XC series (either 60 or 90, T6). She likes the way it looks and the safety ratings. Since she started driving in her senior year in HS 22 years ago, she's had 2 cars: a Honda Civic and her current car...a 2005 Honda CRV. So I have no problem spoiling her a little bit especially since she makes 1/2 our income and we're good about saving.

My question is...does anyone have any advice on buying a car? Any website or service I should use? Any insight on Volvo cars in general? I haven't owned many cars myself...between the 2 of us, we've owned 1 Toyota, 2 Nissans, 1 Acura, and 2 Hondas. Are Volvos fairly reliable? Should I try to buy before the end of this calendar year for a great deal or should I wait until my wife's bday in March if I buy a previous model? I'm open to buying new or used. We plan on owning this car a long time. At this point my budget is up to 50k, but I'm hoping to spend less of course.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! [Please note...as a fellow Boglehead, I understand this may not be the most desirable car or price, but I'm not looking for advice on buying a different type of car or on leasing or spending less on a car. Thanks!]
I've had Volvo's since 1969, and love them. DH purchased his first Volvo almost 20 years ago (his previous car was... *very* old).

We purchased our first "non-new" car about 3 years ago, a CPO Volvo XC60, just 1 yo, with 10k miles. We were considering one of the new model XC90's, but there was a multi-month wait at that time, and we were tired of juggling one car after a teen totaled DH's first Volvo.

We were very iffy about anything not new... would we have someone else's problems, etc.
The seller had purchased from this same dealer I've dealt with since the early '80's, and only sold because they got one of the very first XC90's to arrive.

The warranty we got was better than the original owner got, which was a nice surprise while we were considering this.

We LOVE this car. We got the Turbo, only because this car had it, and we'll probably always get a Turbo again. The pep when merging or passing is ... even fun, not what one thinks of with "Volvo" :happy

Our next car (when our 2004 XC90 finally conks out) will probably be another XC60, one of the new models of course.
And it will almost definitely be another CPO.
The savings surprised us.

RM
This signature is a placebo. You are in the control group.
Scrapr
Posts: 330
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:19 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by Scrapr »

a little out of the box thinking and it may bust your budget. You can go to Sweden to pick up your Volvo. The XC60 is not in the program. But the XC90 is for another year or two. It's called Overseas Delivery. Volvo buys your 2 airline tickets to Sweden. Plus one night in a nice hotel, delivery and tour at the factory. It is fixed price, no haggling

Here a couple links...scroll down on the 2nd link for pricing
https://youtu.be/kNKEzwcv648

https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-t ... s-delivery

We did it last year and Mrs Scrapr wanted to go back for an XC60.....right after they dropped it from the program. They treated us very very well.

If that doesn't appeal to you I would think about an CPO for a good value. Personally i would miss the 1st model years. That is '16 for the XC90 & '18 for the XC60 (I think) The models for sale will start dropping off about now until March or so when there won't be much for sale. You won't want to settle for a 4th choice exterior color and 2nd choice interior
Commodore
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:39 pm

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by Commodore »

We purchased a 2019 XC90 through the Volvo Overseas Delivery program and it was an awesome experience. We picked up our car in Gothenburg, Sweden in mid August for a 10 day European vacation; car was then shipped to our local Volvo dealership in Texas in early October.

The 2 free airfare tickets + 1 night hotel stay was a huge perk.

We love our new volvo.

Good luck.

Commodore
InvisibleAerobar
Posts: 515
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:33 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by InvisibleAerobar »

Note that the CPO coverage has changed. Used to be 7 years from first purchase date of vehicle. Now it’s 5 years, extendable to 8 years.

The V60 is still a car i’d want to buy, but i didnt like seeing the change
gtd98765
Posts: 952
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 3:15 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by gtd98765 »

yolli71 wrote: Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:52 pm I work for the Fed govt., so no company perks. I am a member of Costco. I live in the DC area and am also a member of the Checkbook CarBargains (though I know nothing about it). I'm also a PenFed member if that helps at all!
while i have not done it myself, i know several people who have purchased cars with CarBargains and felt they got much better prices than they would have otherwise, so I recommend you look into that option if you end up purchasing new. Also, we have had a Volvo XC70 for more than ten years now and have been very happy with it.
User avatar
ResearchMed
Posts: 16795
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:25 pm

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by ResearchMed »

InvisibleAerobar wrote: Tue Nov 20, 2018 11:23 pm Note that the CPO coverage has changed. Used to be 7 years from first purchase date of vehicle. Now it’s 5 years, extendable to 8 years.

The V60 is still a car i’d want to buy, but i didnt like seeing the change
Did not know about this change, which was obviously after we purchased our CPO 3 yrs ago.
When did it change?

Do you know the approx cost to add the extra 3 years? If not staggering, we'd like the additional year!

When we purchased our CPO, we were still nervous about possibly getting someone else's lemon. So for the first time ever, we added an additional warranty for just about "everything else" other than tires and wipers. The cost was lower than we'd have thought. And given the savings from the CPO, we were still very pleased with the total price. Pleased and surprised. We should have considered CPO sooner.

BtW, when did "used" almost universally become "pre-owned"?
Seems silly; does anyone really think they are different?

RM
This signature is a placebo. You are in the control group.
tony_roach
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:05 pm

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by tony_roach »

Scrapr wrote: Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:45 pm a little out of the box thinking and it may bust your budget. You can go to Sweden to pick up your Volvo. The XC60 is not in the program. But the XC90 is for another year or two. It's called Overseas Delivery. Volvo buys your 2 airline tickets to Sweden. Plus one night in a nice hotel, delivery and tour at the factory. It is fixed price, no haggling

Here a couple links...scroll down on the 2nd link for pricing
https://youtu.be/kNKEzwcv648

https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-t ... s-delivery

We did it last year and Mrs Scrapr wanted to go back for an XC60.....right after they dropped it from the program. They treated us very very well.

If that doesn't appeal to you I would think about an CPO for a good value. Personally i would miss the 1st model years. That is '16 for the XC90 & '18 for the XC60 (I think) The models for sale will start dropping off about now until March or so when there won't be much for sale. You won't want to settle for a 4th choice exterior color and 2nd choice interior
Wow, never really considered Volvo before but after learning about this it may be something I consider for the wife's next car. In the next year or so our oldest will start driving so expecting to pass down the DW vehicle and purchase another.
Scrapr
Posts: 330
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:19 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by Scrapr »

tony_roach wrote: Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:47 am
Scrapr wrote: Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:45 pm a little out of the box thinking and it may bust your budget. You can go to Sweden to pick up your Volvo. The XC60 is not in the program. But the XC90 is for another year or two. It's called Overseas Delivery. Volvo buys your 2 airline tickets to Sweden. Plus one night in a nice hotel, delivery and tour at the factory. It is fixed price, no haggling

Here a couple links...scroll down on the 2nd link for pricing
https://youtu.be/kNKEzwcv648

https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-t ... s-delivery

We did it last year and Mrs Scrapr wanted to go back for an XC60.....right after they dropped it from the program. They treated us very very well.

If that doesn't appeal to you I would think about an CPO for a good value. Personally i would miss the 1st model years. That is '16 for the XC90 & '18 for the XC60 (I think) The models for sale will start dropping off about now until March or so when there won't be much for sale. You won't want to settle for a 4th choice exterior color and 2nd choice interior
Wow, never really considered Volvo before but after learning about this it may be something I consider for the wife's next car. In the next year or so our oldest will start driving so expecting to pass down the DW vehicle and purchase another.
Sweedespeed has a nice message board for OSD. Lots of questions asked & answered there. Just plan ahead a bit and use an experienced OSD salesman. There are several little quirks that can trip you up. Then you have to plan for not having a car while it's getting shipped back from the continent. Overall if you want the lowest cost then buy off the lot. The OSD has a small discount. But do it for the experience and not the savings

We spent 3 weeks in Europe and it was fantastic.
Topic Author
yolli71
Posts: 451
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 9:53 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by yolli71 »

Thanks for the replies everyone. Regarding CPO, does this mean buying used directly from the Volvo dealership? Or does this mean going to a place like CarMax?
Jazzysoon
Posts: 138
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:05 pm

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by Jazzysoon »

I'm on my 3rd Volvo. I found my current car- XC70 via Cars dot com. I knew what was looking for price, mileagewise on a pre-owned car. I had it set up to set me a trigger when a car was listed. New listing popped up at 7pm one night, I called and was there before they opened the next morning. and bought it (after my independent mechanic checked it). It was a trade-in at a Lexus dealer, they had underpriced it, and the Volvo dealer next door is where the car had been service it's entire life.
I've had good luck with pre-owned - 1 owner, no accident, locally owned, & full service history available via Carfax. My last 2 cars had 255k & 290k at trade-in.
The XC70 works best for me because I like the cargo space for bikes, etc. and longer roof for kayack, SUP. But they stopped making it a few years ago.
Scrapr
Posts: 330
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:19 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by Scrapr »

yolli71 wrote: Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:53 am Thanks for the replies everyone. Regarding CPO, does this mean buying used directly from the Volvo dealership? Or does this mean going to a place like CarMax?
CPO can only be done at the dealer.
InvisibleAerobar
Posts: 515
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:33 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by InvisibleAerobar »

ResearchMed wrote: Wed Nov 21, 2018 5:23 am
InvisibleAerobar wrote: Tue Nov 20, 2018 11:23 pm Note that the CPO coverage has changed. Used to be 7 years from first purchase date of vehicle. Now it’s 5 years, extendable to 8 years.

The V60 is still a car i’d want to buy, but i didnt like seeing the change
Did not know about this change, which was obviously after we purchased our CPO 3 yrs ago.
When did it change?

Do you know the approx cost to add the extra 3 years? If not staggering, we'd like the additional year!

When we purchased our CPO, we were still nervous about possibly getting someone else's lemon. So for the first time ever, we added an additional warranty for just about "everything else" other than tires and wipers. The cost was lower than we'd have thought. And given the savings from the CPO, we were still very pleased with the total price. Pleased and surprised. We should have considered CPO sooner.

BtW, when did "used" almost universally become "pre-owned"?
Seems silly; does anyone really think they are different?

RM
the change was apparently made earlier this month (on Nov 1, 2018). Specifically, it used to be 7 years/ 100,000 miles from first sale of vehicle (so when someone buys it off-lease at say, 2 years and 2k miles down the road, the 2nd owner gets only 5 years and 80k miles).

Now it's 5 years/ unlimited, which is effectively 1 additional year from the factory warranty. The exchange of 2 additional years for unlimited driving is a bad trade-off for most. No idea on the cost of additional warranty, but you can bet that they'll gouge you on that.

The 7-year warranty was the main selling point, as quality of Volvos suffered during the Ford ownership years, and they wanted to assure people. I'd hazard a guess of perhaps $1,500/yr? Would need to stop by a dealership to ask.

As for the OP, if cost is an issue, the CPO prices get lowered quite a bit by after the model revision has been out for two years. I know, b/c i've been eyeing a V60 for a long time. In 2014 (when it was first available), I could essentially get a vehicle with only courtesy driving miles (labeled by dealerships as new) for the price of a CPO. Then two years afterwards, the prices have decreased quite dramatically (for a corresponding one year-old vehicle). Last year was the first year of the XC60 (revamped model), so its price is not going to go down for a while. That said, the new XC60 is a well designed car. The first time I saw it I thought it was a V90, as the former sits relatively low. The thing's hauling capacity is so much larger than that of a V60; my only gripe is the relatively poorer fuel efficiency.
Topic Author
yolli71
Posts: 451
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 9:53 am

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by yolli71 »

So for the CPO, can you negotiate like you would a new car? For example, I'm looking at cars.com and see this car:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/deta ... /overview/

I have no idea how to determine if this is a good deal or not, but the website says this is a good deal. Will dealers haggle on CPOs as well? I'm noticing that a lot of what's available for used XC90 T6 Inscriptions is from 2016 (first year of current model). Is there a better chance that any potential problems w/ the model were worked out if it's a CPO?
friar1610
Posts: 2331
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:52 pm
Location: MA South Shore

Re: When to buy a new Volvo?

Post by friar1610 »

Jazzysoon wrote: Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:56 am I'm on my 3rd Volvo. I found my current car- XC70 via Cars dot com. I knew what was looking for price, mileagewise on a pre-owned car. I had it set up to set me a trigger when a car was listed. New listing popped up at 7pm one night, I called and was there before they opened the next morning. and bought it (after my independent mechanic checked it). It was a trade-in at a Lexus dealer, they had underpriced it, and the Volvo dealer next door is where the car had been service it's entire life.
I've had good luck with pre-owned - 1 owner, no accident, locally owned, & full service history available via Carfax. My last 2 cars had 255k & 290k at trade-in.
The XC70 works best for me because I like the cargo space for bikes, etc. and longer roof for kayack, SUP. But they stopped making it a few years ago.
XC-70 fan here as well. Had an '05 CPO that I bought in '06. Just got rid of it this past spring and replaced it with a '15 T6 that only had 13K miles. Sorry to see they've stopped making them. Should be a crop of '16's coming off lease this coming spring/summer and then I suspect they will become increasingly difficult to find.

For the OP...prior to the XC-70's above I also had a 940 sedan and a 240 wagon, both purchased new at the end of their model years. I've driven all of them >10 years and been very happy with them. Repairs can be pricey but I recommend finding an independent garage after the car is out of warranty.
Friar1610 | 50-ish/50-ish - a satisficer, not a maximizer
Post Reply