What car are you changing to?

[Rifleman]

I’ll be looking for a new car soon. I’ve been trying to convince myself that another XC40 (B4) would be suitable. Given the residual value on my current car and the current Volvo offers it certainly seems a good idea financially but other than that nothing really attracts me.
I detest all things Android so having to use AAOS will be a real downer for me. Moving to petrol will mean higher running costs. Cost cutting and penny pinching by Volvo means a new car wouldn’t quite be the same spec as my current FE.
The two tone Bursting Blue/Black roof on my current car really enhances the design in my opinion, it was what made me pull in when passing the Volvo dealer almost 5 years ago when out shopping for a new saloon car. Hadn’t even considered a Volvo or an SUV back then but the Bursting Blue FE they had on the forecourt looked stunning in the autumn sunshine and I was hooked. Going back to single (boring) colours on a XC40 doesn’t really attract me, it looks a bit bland without the black roof in my opinion.

I came to the XC40 from a Skoda Superb L&K which I found much more comfortable than the XC40, it’s Canton sound system makes the HK system sound like an old transistor radio in comparison ( ok, an exaggeration I know but you get the gist.)

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Superb’s facelifts ever since and I have just watched a teaser video on YouTube showing the cabin layout of the all new mk4 Superb which goes on sale early next year.
It looks absolutely superb and I think I’m hooked. I’ll put of buying for now and wait to see the full spec and price list when it’s published.

I know Skoda don’t carry the prestige of the Volvo and the residuals are nowhere near as good but they do make really good nice looking and reliable cars and if I go for it I can see me hanging on to it for a long time. No agency model shenanigans with Skoda either so expect a decent discount ( I got a 23% discount through CarWow when I bought my Superb!)

Take a look at the videos on YouTube and see what you think. Sorry, I can’t work out how to post a link from You Tube into here…

[Deleted User 3359]

I've ordered a Kia Sportage GT Line-S Hybrid. With the XC40 abandoning anything that makes the fuel consumption 21st century, and their latest prices. I need a decent tow limit for the caravan, which the Volvo met, but the frequency of visits to the petrol station for the B4 (tank size as much as the 36 mpg).
f
On a two hour drive that I do regularly in the Volvo and matches my average, I achieved 49mpg with the Kia. The interior is excellent compared with the XC40...

I went into the replacement exercise with a completely open mind and looked at everything around the same length (drive constraints) and was amazed how poor the rear room in some of these so called family SUV's is...

[ChrisLF]

Rifleman - if you've read some of my posts you'll know that I feel the same about the R-Design, I still love the look of it, and the indecisiveness I've gone through over changing it! But in the end I thought I've got to change it sometime so I'll do it now.

The XC40 was still the best bet for me and it will take me 3 or 4 years closer to going electric or not. I've had many VWs, Audis and a Skoda Yeti and may well go back to the group brand in the future.

By the way VWG maybe moving to agency in the none too distant future!

Larry - is the Kia FWD or AWD?

Chris

[goi]

Recently (July) changed my XC40 Recharge T5 with a new XC40 PE TMER Ult. MY24.

[goi]

Here are the pictures of the new car:
car has been wrapped with PWF in „matte soace mugello“.

[Deleted User 3359]

Larry - is the Kia FWD or AWD?

Chris

FWD... Couldn't justify AWD, only been "important" once in ownership of the XC40...
I looked at and the reason for rejection:

Kuga - CVT and length
Evoque - no flat load space, rear foot room (no room under thefront seats to move your feet at all), headroom
CX5 - length, rear leg room, and difficulkt to get in the back
RAV4 - towball load, length
Tiguan - poor choices for Hybrid, seating, arrogant approach from dealership
BMW - price, excluded browsing internet
AUDI - ditto

Generally French models won't tow...

[ChrisLF]

Yeah, the options are limited aren't they? Similarly I like a flat load area and don't like CVT so the latter kicked out a couple straight away. I only briefly considered others like the CX5 but found it difficult to get the spec I wanted and didn't get as far as the Kia which sounds good.

Wondered about if FWD as your XC40 is AWD and you are never going to get comparable fuel consumption - my FWD T4 easily gets into the mid/high 40s on a run and the B4 should do even better.

Have you got a build date yet?

[ChrisLF]

Goi - nice shade of blue but I'm old school and like my cars shiny and something to polish!

Volvos colours are even more limited than they were before.

Is the roof black under the wrap?

[Deleted User 3359]

Yeah, the options are limited aren't they? Similarly I like a flat load area and don't like CVT so the latter kicked out a couple straight away. I only briefly considered others like the CX5 but found it difficult to get the spec I wanted and didn't get as far as the Kia which sounds good.

Wondered about if FWD as your XC40 is AWD and you are never going to get comparable fuel consumption - my FWD T4 easily gets into the mid/high 40s on a run and the B4 should do even better.

Have you got a build date yet?

Not yet, only ordered three weeks ago. I've got over 40 but only with a gale from astern or downhill. I'm an economical driver, as evidenced by 40,000 out of my tyres. It's range as much as consumption. If I could have got a T5, I would have done that, but Volvo put that into touch.

[m@rk]

My current XC40 T5 PHEV is a company car which is due back in December so have just ordered it's replacement.

I have loved my ownership of the Volvo. We have done 60,000 miles and they have been faultless. The dealership experience has been mixed at best. Some good experiences but some terrible.

My new company car MUST be all electric. I have no say in the matter and my shortlist came down to an XC40 single motor Ultimate or a BMW i4 Sport with a couple of optional packs on it. Having owned many BMWs before, I already know what the ownership experience is like (good). I should also mention that ordering as a company car is different to ordering privately or even via a company salary sacrifice scheme as they are looking at the total cost of ownership including fuel, service etc not just the lease cost so you can end up with 2 cars that cost the same to you even though they may be £10k difference in list price. I did toy with the idea of a fully loaded top spec EX30 but as nobody has actually seen a real one yet, and lead times are well into next year, I decided to rule it out for now

It ultimately came down to running costs. The i4 is more efficient plus as I will be using public charging a lot, the discounted public charging rates you get with a BMW were worth around £200 per month on their own to me. My company will pay me a fixed mileage allowance for business miles (9ppm) so the less I pay out in charging costs, the better off I am

I have just got back from Scotland after BMW lent me an i4 for the weekend (a 600 mile round trip) and the whole experience has been fantastic from rapid public charging to the car itself as an epic motorway cruiser. Yes it's different to the Volvo (I had a Clubman before) but on this occasion it fits my needs better and that colour will look great on my drive

PS

I know the picture isn't in Scotland (it's the Ribblehead Viaduct) but I took the scenic road north because it was a test drive after all