We're going to be getting a new car. We have a garage-kept 1995 Volvo 850 with 100k original miles that we'll get 1,500 on in trade. We also have a 1993 240 with 150k miles, about 3k that we put on it. We'll get 500 on it in trade. We're gonna give one of the cars to our 17-year-old son. Both cars are in excellent condition. Which one do you think we should trade? Selling on our own is out of the question.

 

Both cars are nice, but if I was the kid I would want the 850 over the 240 any day of the week. Plus it has less miles on it.

 

Have you asked your son which one he prefers? Both cars sound like they are in great condition for their age and the $1K separating the two isn't all that much. The dealer would probably prefer that you traded in the 850 since it's easier for them to resell. But, I am a firm believer in the notion of 'screw the dealer'. So it all boils down to which one your son would like more. You can always negotiate more for the trade, or less on the purchase price, or have your son pay back the difference... whatever. Hope that helps some.

 

If it were me, I would trade the 240 without even thinking and keep the 850.


JPN

 

A 1995 850 with only 100K on it is definitely worth more than $1,500. The first thing I would do is let your son decide which car he would prefer. The next thing I would do is put an ad in AutoTrader.com for the other car and see what happens. Cars selling for the neighborhood of $3,000 are in demand. Most of the correspondence is done via e-mail these days so you really don't have to talk to people too much. It would cost you about $40.00 and if it's too much of a hassle you just pull the ad. Heck if you lived closer to me, I would offer to sell the car for you for a small commison. I hate it when dealers screw people over. They will give you $1500 and try and sell the car for $5,000. You sell it for $3,000 and both buyer and seller gets a good deal. Same story on the 240.

PM me before trading in the car and I might just buy it off of you for a little more than the dealer is offering. I've done it before for cars for my kids.,

 

My son would definitely want the 850 but his judgement tend to be based on superficiality. My concern is what he can afford to take care of and which is the more forgiving of the two. He's really, really rough on things so that's a concern, too. Just from general observation, the 240 seems to have a better track record but since the 850 model is newer we don't really have an idea of its longevity. I know that all Volvos are safe, but I wonder about the difference of the two. The 240 seems more of a tank to me, but it doesn't have the safety features of the 850.

As far as autotrader.com, we had a bad experience selling through that in the past. And selling privately in the area we're in is very difficult. People around here are notoriously cheap horse traders. They tend to squeeze their pennies until Lincoln begs for mercy.

 

Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk - That's Curly Moe.

 

The 850 looks sportier. More younger of the two. It is a FWD car which will handle better in bad weather. Newer, with more safety features and less miles. Definitely the 850.