Picked up my new V50 yesterday

[covmutley]

As title, it's a 2.4 se on a 54 plate. So far so good! Comfortable, stable, quiet and the 5 cyl engine makes a nice noise. Probably should have gone for the 2.0d but never mind. Stereo is great

It doesn't seem to soak up rough surfaces that well, interior stowage space is,....where well is it? And being picky, the door staged opening is not well set. The first 'hold' position doesn't give you enough space to get out and the next is car park scrape open wide.

For the money I think I have made a good choice, but feel free to assure me that in doing only 10k miles per year I wouldn't have been better going for the diesel!

[VeeTEC]

at 10k a year it's not worth buying the diesel. Definitely not.

[Pferdestarke]

The D5 would have been nice, but not the 2.0d.

[F i F]

VeeTEC said:

at 10k a year it's not worth buying the diesel. Definitely not.

seconded.

Agree with the lack of interior storage space comment, at least you have the oddments box in the rear loadspace blind cassette; later models don't even have that.

Personally, I don't have the same issues of D5 vs 2.0D that another poster has, but we're all different. Yes the D5 is a better engine, agreed, but not that much better in the real world.

[covmutley]

F i F said:

VeeTEC said:

at 10k a year it's not worth buying the diesel. Definitely not.

seconded.

Agree with the lack of interior storage space comment, at least you have the oddments box in the rear loadspace blind cassette; later models don't even have that.

.

Yep, umbrella goes in there nicely. Even the nets on the back of the rear seats dont stretch enough to put stuff in them! Still, I took it out for a good drive last night and am very happy. It can carry plenty of speed through corners (focus chassis to thank I guess). Steering could have a touch more feel but I had a Matiz for a few days last week and driving that was scary, if not dangerous so it feels good in comparison- how you can make a car where the pedals and steering have seemingly so little to do with the speed and direction of the car is beyond me!

[F i F]

covmutley said:

F i F said:

VeeTEC said:

at 10k a year it's not worth buying the diesel. Definitely not.

seconded.

Agree with the lack of interior storage space comment, at least you have the oddments box in the rear loadspace blind cassette; later models don't even have that.

.

Yep, umbrella goes in there nicely. Even the nets on the back of the rear seats dont stretch enough to put stuff in them! Still, I took it out for a good drive last night and am very happy. It can carry plenty of speed through corners (focus chassis to thank I guess). Steering could have a touch more feel but I had a Matiz for a few days last week and driving that was scary, if not dangerous so it feels good in comparison- how you can make a car where the pedals and steering have seemingly so little to do with the speed and direction of the car is beyond me!

Crumbs my daughter had a Matiz for a while. There is an infamous double bend near us on an NSL DC. The bend is only infamous because of the number of people who used try to take it at three figures and because of their lack of car handling skills fell off the island and into the trees nicely placed on the outside of the bend. The bend can be taken significantly >100 (allegedly ) providing you drive smoothly and don't chuck it in with a car load of mates going "Watch this!!" At 70 it's nothing even in the wet. Sorry I digress.

However the Matiz felt on the limit at 60, seriously scary. Better for some proper tyres rather than the cheapo Ring Rongs or similar that were on it but even so, not good.

[mondayo]

covmutley said:

F i F said:

VeeTEC said:

at 10k a year it's not worth buying the diesel. Definitely not.

seconded.

Agree with the lack of interior storage space comment, at least you have the oddments box in the rear loadspace blind cassette; later models don't even have that.

.

Yep, umbrella goes in there nicely. Even the nets on the back of the rear seats dont stretch enough to put stuff in them! Still, I took it out for a good drive last night and am very happy. It can carry plenty of speed through corners (focus chassis to thank I guess). Steering could have a touch more feel but I had a Matiz for a few days last week and driving that was scary, if not dangerous so it feels good in comparison- how you can make a car where the pedals and steering have seemingly so little to do with the speed and direction of the car is beyond me!

Very nice car. I used to have a 2.4 auto and thought it was good....bit juicy but brisk enough and made a nice noise.

[y2blade]

great cars
that is probably what I'll be going for next albeit the D5 variant


do you have any pictures of it? I'd love to see them

[covmutley]

No photos sorry, but it is the dark gun metal grey exterior like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2252842.htm

Interior is grey leather, grey dashboard with contrasting cream colour lower cabin plastics and grey centre console, same as this one:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2212906.htm

I really like the interior colour combination, seems to reflect some of the scandinavian design touches well. The interior is spotless except a couple of small marks on the door where it has been pushed open by feet. Rear seats look barely sat in.

I paid roughly £6.6k with new pads and discs, 3 month warranty, valet, new mot etc. I say roughly as we didnt get much off the car but got £200-£300 more than I was expecting for the fiesta we traded in. Probably not fantastic value, but a reasonable price and one I think gives a heck of a lot of car for the money. Seems a 2.0 diesel is about £1k more? I guess you would get that back on resale, but perhaps not all, as I guess the gap will close as the cars age and lose value?

I had a 2.2cdti civic (mrs now has it to replace her fiesta) so have nothing against diesels but i am enjoying the quiet wafting around and then the warbly sound when you press on.

[y2blade]

covmutley said:

No photos sorry, but it is the dark gun metal grey exterior like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2252842.htm

Interior is grey leather, grey dashboard with contrasting cream colour lower cabin plastics and grey centre console, same as this one:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2212906.htm

I really like the interior colour combination, seems to reflect some of the scandinavian design touches well. The interior is spotless except a couple of small marks on the door where it has been pushed open by feet. Rear seats look barely sat in.

I paid roughly £6.6k with new pads and discs, 3 month warranty, valet, new mot etc. I say roughly as we didnt get much off the car but got £200-£300 more than I was expecting for the fiesta we traded in. Probably not fantastic value, but a reasonable price and one I think gives a heck of a lot of car for the money. Seems a 2.0 diesel is about £1k more? I guess you would get that back on resale, but perhaps not all, as I guess the gap will close as the cars age and lose value?

I had a 2.2cdti civic (mrs now has it to replace her fiesta) so have nothing against diesels but i am enjoying the quiet wafting around and then the warbly sound when you press on.

that looks good I'll be going for a colour that hides the dirt next that is for sure

I looked at Civic 2.2s before buying my S60 D5 nice enough but lacked the punch of the 2.4 Diesel Volvo
you mention engine warbling have you driven a D5 at all? they sound superb too

I hope you enjoy your new car

[covmutley]

Just over a year on the car has been fantastic. I got made redundant though and found a new job with a 90 mile round trip to Bristol so handed the v50 over to my wife and I have a 1.6d focus. Oh well

In other news, we have just had our third child, and we are finding it hard in the v50 with 3 child seats. We have one up front and my wife squeezes in the middle at the back but it is not ideal.

Went for a look at an xc90 this morning, 2.4D SE about 78k miles on 54 plate / £10k We didn't try to fit the car seats but it looks like there is more room, plus integrated booster and 2 spare seats in rear. Anyone got experience of how it is with 3 kids. Trying to avoid an mpv.

I expect running costs will be higher, I wonder how much? Because my wife would be using it in the week I reckon it would be doing about 8k miles per year. Similar mpg to the v50 but more expensive diesel.? Your experiences of a xc90 would be appreciated!

Edited by covmutley on Tuesday 27th December 15:04

[t5monkey]

Are you on 18" rims?

S40/V50 does way better on 17's (I've had both)

[covmutley]

So we have decided on a 2 year old SMAX, should be finalising deal tomorrow. I want the titanium but it is a £1500 premium over the zetec, so the gap will need to close or we go for the zetec! (Father in law is topping up funds as he doesnt want us to have an 'old' car.

I just couldnt stomach the xc90 running costs, maybe next time. The last few years have seen my wage drop and costs soar.

Hope to be in this forum again on day. Check out my ad (CF5 postcode) in the classifieds if you want a V50!

[JaySTee]

Can I ask what mpg you got from your 2.4 over the time you had it?

[covmutley]

I honestly don't know. The computer says 24.9 but my wife just uses it fir short journeys around town. I would say 27 to 28 is a combined average? It has never bothered me too much at the mileage the car does. Cheaper to buy than the diesel and a lovely engine.