I am struggling with getting a good deal on a 2018 or stepping up to the 2019 for a little more? They are telling me that they are pretty much the same car, is this true? What would you do? Here is my configuration and I could buy it as soon as tomorrow if they can find one with the features I am looking for but I could wait and don't really need the car until the end of the next month.

Link: https://www.volvocars.com/us/build/s...ummary?s=9IBo7

 

This place is dead?

 

In an instant, both are used cars and depreciate rapidly. It just depends upon what you want to do. There is no right or wrong answer here.

 

you asked a somewhat non-technical question so no surprise the board didn't weigh in. To start, what is your expectations for owning this car? Are you looking to hold onto the car for 10 years or trade in at 100K miles? Is there a feature from the 2019 that you want that isn't available on the 2018? Are you asking about the financials for resale? Assuming the cars are similarly equipped then the financial question is based on how long you will own the car. Getting an end of model year 2018 will get you a substantially better discount off list for what is effectly the same car. The 2019 will cost more but will have one year newer when you you go to sell. After 5-10 years this one year difference is lost to the other intangibles of a used car (condition, mileage, market). If you are going to sell after 3 years, then you can use a service like kbb.com to see the typical resale value of a 2015 XC90 vs a 2016 to see the relative difference. Truth is, new cars immediately depreciate the most the day you drive out of the showroom. A recent report cited that the best financials are actually buying a certified pre-owned with 25K or less miles then selling when it reaches 100K (comparing purchase price, trade in, maintenance). If you are planning to hold the car for 10 years, then consider buying an extended warranty with the money you save for the 2018 vs the 2019. If you need to have the newest model year due to a feature, and can afford a $60K car, then price is not part of the equation.

 

Was in a similar situation. XC90 T6AWD was what I wanted and at the top of my budget. There was not a significant change from 2018 to 2019 and for me I was able to get a fully loaded Momentum demo with 2600 miles for about $11K below sticker. Very happy since I would not be able to get all the same features on a 2019 within my budget.

 

I am not certain whether you are looking at a hybrid or not - I just noticed that the 2019 hybrid models now also have a 70 liter gasoline tank. Before it was 50 liters or so.