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Help me choose a used luxury convertible...
hi everyone,
trying to decide on a used convertible - i want it to be a luxury brand
the two i think that are on the top of my list are bmw 3 series and volvo c70 hardtops - looking for 2007/2008 with hopefully low mileage - but would like to know other alternatives to consider - I want to be closest to $20K as possible but from looking on ebay and stuff it seems like I might be closer to $30k
trying to decide on a used convertible - i want it to be a luxury brand
the two i think that are on the top of my list are bmw 3 series and volvo c70 hardtops - looking for 2007/2008 with hopefully low mileage - but would like to know other alternatives to consider - I want to be closest to $20K as possible but from looking on ebay and stuff it seems like I might be closer to $30k
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Did you purchase one yet?
A 5-6 year old BMW(unless CPO) is not something I would consider, personally. Ideally, finding a soon-to-be-off lease '08 or '09 C70 and purchasing direct from the consumer before turn-in would be the route I'd take. Good luck!
how do you locate "soon to be off lease" owners?
A fair question. Folks who knew us during the past few years could have asked us at any time "When are you going to trade your vehicle? I know it will be SOON!". We went through a number of Volvos during that time...we've slowed a bit since.
Taking it from a 'one on one' circumstance to a larger scale would require an enterprising nerd or geek with access to dealer records.(I'm NOT suggesting anything illegal!)
I actually wanted to find such a list when getting rid of the Scorpion A/T tires on my XC60. They had at least half their usable life left and someone turning in a vehicle with 40-48K miles could have replaced their worn-out tires with pretty good ones for a song!
By the bye, our list of owned Volvos includes '01 S40, '04V70, '04C70, '07 XC70,'08 C70, '10XC60 and '11C70(with an RX330 in the middle).
thank you!
The answer to your question is very simple;
Drive the two cars and decide how much you enjoy the response and handling performance of the BMW.
If it does not mean that much to you, get the Volvo-otherwise enjoy the fabulous handling and ride of the BMW.
I got the extended warranty, top of the line, to 100,000 miles.
The car is sheer fun, reliable and fast.
Good luck.
The best feature is the retractable hardtop. Raising or lowering it still gets attention from anyone nearby, and even after seeing it ourselves so many times, it's still fascinating. It also makes the car much quieter than a ragtop, and the body is noticeably stiffer than any other convertible I have driven.
The overall design of the car is functionally beautiful, IMHO, with no cosmetic tricks. Everything is there for a reason, and it all goes together perfectly.
Despite the Edmonds review comments about performance, the car is very quick and handles well, especially for a convertible, which usually have increased weight due to the additional strength required by the "no top" design limitations.
Used C70s are a great deal, when comparing the price of a new one to one even two or three years old. I was surprised to learn that a new C70 has the highest base price of any car in the Volvo line. While it's bad news for Volvo that the value drops so much and so fast, it's good news for buyers, especially since Volvo owners tend to treat their cars well. Ours had a bit less than 20k on it when we bought it, but looked brand-new throughout.
It also doesn't hurt that Volvo hasn't changed the overall look of the car very much, so the 2008 could easily pass for a newer model.
We'd buy one again in a minute.