- Got the notion of swapping a year old KIA Cerato 2.0 auto with 11000 km for something a bit more characterful: tinyurl.com/3t4h8ja
I'm a bit of a Volvo-ista and there aren't too many of these in circulation over here. I'm doing less mileage/year than I expected to. Almost never carry passengers. Don't compare pricing/spec to what you can find in the UK, it's a totally different kettle of fish over here!
Nice motor though eh..?! Presumably imported from Japan or Singapore to NZ. Would probably get it independently serviced and maintained; very few Volvo dealers in NZ anyway... Cost to change quite small, but of course I'll be getting a 4-year old car with 3x the mileage... Would you be tempted?
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Yes, Nick, it is a nice motor, and it is more characterful...but...is the cost to change really that small? Plus you are giving up at least a two year warranty.
Is heart overruling head here?
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Given what you say about scarcity in NZ, I'd be looking at what it might cost to do some of the jobs a four-to-six-year-old car might need. For example, replacing the rear brakes of my 2002 S60 last year cost £350 - and that's at an independent specialist in the UK where Volvos are abundant. Replacing the DMF and (manual) clutch cost £1,600, but those are my only non-routine items in eight years.
If you can do all that without frightening yourself, I'd say go for it. The Volvo fives are lovely engines to travel behind, and the interiors are the very best I've experienced for giving the feeling that the car was designed to look after you. But I expect you know that anyway.
Good luck.
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Have volvo not gone down the route of requiring the car to be connected not just to a dealer computer but via dealer direct to Torslanda in the case where you're fitting a replacement control unit (Body control module, ABS control unit etc. etc.)
Rare problem but if there's no dealer support you'd have a lump of metal not a car :-)
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Beauty is in the eye.
C30 and the similar Scirroco are just a fashion fad, keep your much more sensible and useful Kia, and your money in your bank.
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Nick, I'd be interested in where it has been imported from, if it's Hong Kong or Singapore then 40K Km is a lot in 3 years and most of those Km may have been chugging through city traffic or (worse still) in HK it might mean it's been thrashed up and down to Shenzen or its environs where poor fuel quality with resultant engine wear is common.
Lack of dealer support would be another concern and (in the end), if you're prepared to suffer the economy of a 5 cylinder Volvo then surely a T5 would be better ?
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Definitely a case of heart over-ruling head, although head has started to fight back today. In any case I'm sure SWMBO will stamp on it (the idea, not my head).
But, since I'll be passing near the dealers next week I **may** go and kick its tyres and look vaguely interested and see what kind of reaction I conjure up. If it's still sitting unsold in 4-6 weeks' time then I reckon I could do a good deal..?
Yes, a T5 would be better, so few around though...
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Well, I went and kicked the tyres yesterday. Needless to say it's very clean and attractive. It's an import from Japan and appears to have been looked after. (I imagine that a new C30 can't be a cheap car in Japan, so maybe it's been given lots of TLC?) Just a bit of metal discoloration on one wiper arm, a very faint stain on the driver's seat fabric, and I'd say that the front tyres are 50-60% worn.
One big omission: no cruise control, which is often missing on used Japanese imports apparently. The dealer's had it for the best part of 3 months and has already had it tested and MOT'd for NZ use, so may be they'll be keen to shift it as (NZ) winter nears?
It's quite keenly priced already TBH, but another 500 quid off and a fair trade-in for the Kia and I reckon I could get it for 2000 quid cost-to-change....
Man maths at work again?!
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Cruise control might be relatively easy and cheap to retro-fit depending on how it's implemented ? For instance I believe that on most VAG cars it merely requires a column stalk change and the ECU reprogramming, however if the Volvo uses a different steering wheel or lacks the appropriate servos / drive by wire then this might not be so cheap and easy.
IIRC it'll be quite thirsty.
By contrast, many cars in HK do have cruise control fitted - in a small area where you rarely get an open road, can only do 50kmh and drive about 50kms in any direction......
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Wed 18 May 11 at 04:05
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Volvo puts the cruise buttons on the steering wheel (rightly, because there must be no hunting for the off switch), but I'd imagine the dealer could get it changed for less than the retail price of the job. If he's keen to sell the car it would be worth asking.
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Volvo C30 - Talk me out of this..?! - Londoner
