To wonder how these prices are sustainable?

[Auntiedear]

I'm looking to buy a new car and safety is my priority. Looking online it seems the Volvo XC90 rates very highly so I decide to look at some secondhand options but the prices are absolutely ludicrous!!

A 6 year old car with over 50k mileage is £35000!! More than the average UK salary. Who is buying these cars? I mean people clearly are or Volvo would be out of business but I never thought of Volvo as particularly high-end, I thought they were fairly average family cars but clearly I'm out of touch!

I just can't believe that cars are being sold for this amount - particularly with the cost of living.

AIBU to think the prices are ludicrous and being surprised or am I just naive!

@Stumbleine Ooo thank you - that is good to know about the earlier models!

Xc90 is a huge SUV, why would it be cheap? If you want an SUV just look at different brands like toyoto, citroen, ford

Volvo is a much more premium marque than it was 20 years ago, and the XC90 is amongst their most expensive models. It competes with the BMW X5, Audi Q7 etc. It’s an expensive car.

Nissan Qashqai is safe and much cheaper.

Here’s a list of safe SUVs that might be useful. Obviously there are others but this is a start. https://www.carwow.co.uk/suvs/safe#gref

Volvos are hugely middle class, people that semi boast about their 100 year old very battered 'old banger' volvo are still in possession of a car that I wouldnt be able to afford.

I was looking at it because of its safety rating and when I saw it online I thought it was more similar to an estate - clearly I was wrong (and it is probably a good thing I can't afford to buy considering my inability to tell the difference!)

Thank you! I will definitely have a look.

So we had an estate when growing up as did lots of my friends parents. Generally speaking most were teachers, academics, doctors etc - I don't think many teachers etc now afford a new one for the prices they cost!

I'm assuming that Volvo are targeting a different market now - or maybe those professions don't have the spending power they used to!

I’d also look at the V40 - it’s a great car, we have one and it’s much cheaper (paid less than 10k for ours a few months ago, but it’s 8 years old so that’s the pay off) Do you have to have an SUV? If you get a ‘normal’ size car it’ll cost far less in fuel too. The v40 fits all of us in perfectly (family with 2 tall teens) plus the dog in the boot fine.

What about a Hyundai Tucson or Seat Ateca?

A bank loan will probably be cheaper than car finance.

£35k for a second hand XC90 is a good price 😆 Volvos have never been average cars.

Well yes Volvos aren't cheap unfortunately. We bought a V60 estate model outright 2 years ago and it was £50k. They are very solid cars though 🤷‍♀️

In 2022, 1.61 million new cars were registered in the UK. That was the lowest level since 1992. The numbers have been down close to that level since 2019, prior to which you were seeing around 2.3 million per year. The reduction of people buying new cars means a busier market for used cars, meaning prices are pushed up.

Of course it’s cheaper to buy outright as there is no interest to pay. When you signed your car deal there would have been a % interest to pay and looking with a friend for a new car last week most deals seems to be at 22%. So as someone upthread pointed out a loan from a bank would be less % to pay back.

A bank loan is most definitely cheaper than car finance!
Having just bought a car, I was quoted interest rates of around 5.9% for a loan, car finance was up nearer to 12%