Buying a Relative's Car

[Dave80s]

Hi, I have been offered the mother in law's Volvo XC90 D5 SE (old 163bhp engine) auto, it is a 54 plate with 90k on it.

Met grey with black leather, well specced, sat nav, running boards. She services it on the dot etc. Cambelt done at 70k, just been MOT'd. In good nick.

Problem is, I don't know how much to pay for it! She wants to give it to us but I am having none of that.

Any ideas what a fair price would be? I have looked on Autotrader and ebay but prices seem all over the place. WBAC have offered £5850 online.

Don't wish to rip her off! Tempted to pay over the odds. (was thinking £8k). What would you do?

Anybody who has sold a similar model who can suggest a ballpark figure, please do.

[Beefmeister]

I think that as she wants to give it to you, let her!

Seriously though, I know it can be hard to accept these sorts of things of relatives for free, so I think the WBAC valuation is a fair price to give her.

Certainly don't pay over the odds, there's no sense in doing that. Pay the WBAC price and give her a weekend in a nice spa as a thankyou.

edited to add: Parkers seem to think it's worth around £7k. Personally I'd give her £6.5k and the spa break and walk away happy.

Edited by Beefmeister on Wednesday 21st November 13:02

[HustleRussell]

Dave80s said:

WBAC have offered £5850 online.

Don't wish to rip her off! Tempted to pay over the odds. (was thinking £8k)

Don't confuse the WBAC offer with 'the odds', and also don't assume they'll ever actually honour that offer. They'll bid lower when they've seen it and then charge you a sales fee. I don't know what it's worth but judging by your post, in reality the value will be somewhere between £5,850 and £8,000. Just give her roughly what it's worth as a private sale. You're saving here a massive headache entering into the used car sales melee, and you're getting a good, known car for honest money.
Don't, under any circumstances, let her give it to you!

[y2blade]

Dave80s said:

Hi, I have been offered the mother in law's Volvo XC90 D5 SE (old 163bhp engine) auto, it is a 54 plate with 90k on it.

Met grey with black leather, well specced, sat nav, running boards. She services it on the dot etc. Cambelt done at 70k, just been MOT'd. In good nick.

Problem is, I don't know how much to pay for it! She wants to give it to us but I am having none of that.

Any ideas what a fair price would be? I have looked on Autotrader and ebay but prices seem all over the place. WBAC have offered £5850 online.

Don't wish to rip her off! Tempted to pay over the odds. (was thinking £8k). What would you do?

Anybody who has sold a similar model who can suggest a ballpark figure, please do.

Why not just take it for free if she's offering it?


Edit: You are aware of the potential money-pit nature of these old XC90s aren't you?

[HustleRussell]

Beefmeister said:

give her a weekend in a nice spa as a thankyou.

What a nice idea. If she won't take proper money for it, buy her a nice gift

[Grenoble]

HustleRussell said:

What a nice idea. If she won't take proper money for it, buy her a nice gift

And a large donation to the charity of her choice?

[mnkiboy]

1 Shekel.

[GreatGranny]

Take it!

As above treat her to a weekend in a nice hotel.

Trust me it will cost enough to run never mind buy!

[treetops]

Its not what is costs to acquire its the back up cash you'll need to keep it going.

Do a quick internet search and you'll see what I mean.

Neighbour had one and it had a never ending list of issues as it got older.

[em177]

Let her give it to you. Sell it a week later for £6500. Buy a TVR. Job done.

[Dave80s]

Thanks for all the advice so far. She has owned it for 2 years/20k miles, I have done quite a few of those miles (we take it on holiday) so know what it is like to run. She has already paid for new control arms, 2 tyres and the cambelt change, amongst other things in the last 18 months.

I did a lot of research before buying this, seem to be a few bad ones out there.

Guess why she is selling it? To get a new XC90.

I like the TVR idea! I should be glad she ain't offering me her weekend car - Nissan Figaro!

[ajh38]

I'd quite like a Figaro, they look like the type of thing Mr. Bean might rent on holiday.

[julian64]

I think I'd feel a little insulted if I offered to give my offspring a car, and they refused because they wanted to pay me for it.

I like the gift idea, or make a fuss of her. She is family after all.

[GreatGranny]

I bought one in may this year and so far it's been faultless. We did get a warranty with it so its covered for the major faults such as the 4WD system and gearbox.

[rallycross]

treetops said:

Its not what is costs to acquire its the back up cash you'll need to keep it going.

Do a quick internet search and you'll see what I mean.

Neighbour had one and it had a never ending list of issues as it got older.

Sorry but above - what a load of rubbish .

[Arthur Daley]

Dave80s said:

Guess why she is selling it? To get a new XC90.

I like the TVR idea! I should be glad she ain't offering me her weekend car - N Figaro!

Any idea what volvo offered on a trade in?
If she want to give it to you and you know that financially she is able to then accept the gift, spend 3-4k on a family holiday and take her with you...
She may have decided that (assuming you have kids) her grandchildrens safety is worth more to her than a 90k XC90...

[DavidY]

Arthur Daley said:

Dave80s said:

Guess why she is selling it? To get a new XC90.

I like the TVR idea! I should be glad she ain't offering me her weekend car - N Figaro!

Any idea what volvo offered on a trade in?
If she want to give it to you and you know that financially she is able to then accept the gift, spend 3-4k on a family holiday and take her with you...
She may have decided that (assuming you have kids) her grandchildrens safety is worth more to her than a 90k XC90...

This....

[aka_kerrly]

In the past I have had a few cars from my relatives when they have upgraded. Usually they go to the dealer to get a PX price and then I end up paying that plus a bottle of wine & thank you card or similar but others have been free.

If you get it for free just be certain that a year down the line the relative won't ask for it back..... just after you have spent a load of money on tyres/suspension/brakes

[Dave80s]

I have asked her to get a trade in value from the dealer and take it from there.

I do have 2 kids, it is a great family car, had no problems with it, would recommend.