Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

[Spidy25]

Went down to Volvo showroom yesterday and was told that they are trying to clear the current S80 for the new 2007 S80 (arriving in September). It seems to be a very good deal as they are throwing in most of the T6 accessories into the 2.0T (eg. Xenon, sports seats, wood trim panel and steering wheel, high performance tyre and rim from T6 etc)

Test drive the S80 2.0T and my feel is that a little slower in the pickup compare to the E39 I am drving now. But ride comfort, space, noise level etc are all better than E39. of cos this is not a fair comparison as my E39 is 4 years plus.

The S80 2.0T is going at $134k, anybody know whether is it a real offer or is it just some sales tactics ? The new 523 is out of my budget range of around $130K, unless I look for a pre-owned.

Any other recommendation (for my budget range ?)

The dealer is offering $8k for my E39 body (65k mileage). Is this a fair offer ?

 

[Ahbengdriver]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

Spidy,
I dont own any 5 series or the S80. But I ve test drove the S40 and S60 before and the feel is probably similar to yours with the S80. Volvos are heavy cars, built that way as safe cars. consequently, the pick up is not very fast, one would feel its generally tad slower than BMWs for initial acceleration.
If u are looking at ard $130k for cars, u have the 320i, IS 250 Lexus, Merc c180 Kompressor, Audi A4 2.0L to choose. Further down, there are also some good japanese cars which cost lesser such as the new CAMRY, HONDA accord-euro R [from PIs], MAZDA 6 SP 2.3L

 

[diablo_728]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

the best s80 is the 2.5 even when compared to the t6, the 2.0 is very sluggish and is going to be near impossible to sell in the future. So u if u want s80, buy a 2nd hand s80 2.5, 1yr old shd b within ur budget. cheers

 

[T6]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

I used to own a S80T6 and now driving an E39 525i. I only owned the T6 for 7 mths before switching to the 525i. Lemme share my likes and dislikes:

Dislikes abt the S80T6 in no particular order:

(i) Handling is poor
(ii) Abit of floating feeling at high speed
(iii) U-turn is horrendous, u will need 3 lanes
(iv) 17" rims abit skinny but very hard to find suitable 18" rims that will not compromise the inner walls of the car as well
(v) Doesn't feel as powerful as the paper declaration of 272bhp
(vi) Image-wise, not so good coz very few young drivers driving such a ride

Likes:

(i) The car phone is way cool
(ii) Nappa leather
(iii) Very good rear space and boot space
(iv) Excellent sound system
(v) Better fuel consumption (even though it is a 2.8 twin turbo vs my E39 525i NA)
(vi) A real sleeper, very strong on the straights but u won't feel the surge of a T5
(vii) Aftersale-service is not bad

Like what diablo said, u are better off getting a used S802.5T. I had a run with it before when I was driving my T6 and I was suitably impressed. To buy a brand new S80 when a totally new model is coming out soon takes alot of consideration. People looking for a used S80 in future will look for the new design if the registration dates are not too far apart.

Ah heck, go get a S60R or if u need m,ore space, a used V70R (the V70 is a much more spacious car), u shd be able to find a used one for $130k to $140k region.

 

[oomph]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

i moved from a vw passat 1.8T chipped to 200hps to a 523i recently.

as i'm an old fashioned driver, i don't care about all the other active steering, adaptive headlights, dynamic drive stuff.... simply put the 50:50 balanced weight and RWD simply makes makes up for it.

i don't think its easy for me to be weaned off these attributes in the future. yeah, and I couldn't cough up any more blood for something faster - PML is overpricing the BM's especially when they scale up.

if i could do this again, I'd import my own and count on the 2-year warranty by PML.

 

[yky]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

Spidy,

Don't you find the plastics making the console / stalks of the Volvo abit too tacky and hard? Feels very different from the German cars ( including Audi and VW ). This was what turned me off when I tested the S80 2.5.

 

[Welbo]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

Hi Spidy,

If u are looking at 130k region, another choice will be the Alfa 166. Comes with a 3litres V6 enginebox. Nice growl from the the engine and beautiful interior.

Cheers!

 

[Spidy25]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

Thanks guys for the feed back... after some consideration i decided to drop the idea of getting a S80 and will start to look for pre-own 520 or 523. hm.. may be a Merc ...

anyone know of a good deal do let me know.

 

[bimmerlive]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

found that the e60 520 is less responsive than the e39 520...possibly, the e60 520 is overloaded by the i-drive and the active-steering. If you have decided to get the e60, remapping of ecu may be necessay that increase bhp by some 10% and then use S-mode for city cruising. Whilst u will still have the disappoining power lag by then, at least you would not feel too far away from your existing e39.......

 

[T6]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

Hi Spidy,

If u are looking at 130k region, another choice will be the Alfa 166. Comes with a 3litres V6 enginebox. Nice growl from the the engine and beautiful interior.

Cheers!

Wow, price of the Alfa 166 has become attractive. Spidy, go be unconventional and test drive the Alfa.

 

[silverbeam]

Re: Another 520 (pre-own) or the S80 ?

The new 523 is out of my budget range of around $130K, unless I look for a pre-owned.
Any other recommendation (for my budget range ?)
The dealer is offering $8k for my E39 body (65k mileage). Is this a fair offer ?

From my recent research :

130k will get u a feb-june 04 car

E39 body price is about 8k-9k

5% commission on parf will set your paper value back by abt 4k