I am close to making a dealer trade. My 2000 S70 with 24,000 miles for a 1999 S80 T-6 with 31,000 miles. The S70 has the winter package, sunroof and leather. My car plus 5K. What do you think? Go for it, or maybe keep my S70, since I have been reading a lot of negative reviews on the S80. Any help on the matter would be appreciated...P.S. The S80 has been dealer maintained, with all records available.

Keep the S70 if it's been treating you well, or buy something other than an S80. The S80, especially the 1999 model, is full of problems. Check out Edmunds Townhall, under "S80 reliability", or "S80 part 5". Also check out the latest JD Powers survey, as well as the May 2000 issue of Car and Driver. I haven't seen the latest Consumer Reports Auto Buying Guide, but this would be worth checking as well. Good luck.

Actually Dave, the S80 earned average marks in latest results from JD Powers. Additionally, saying that 1999 models are full of problems is a generalization. It would be more accurate to state that the 99s had more problems as a whole than later models. There are many 99 owners, including myself, who haven't had any major problems with their cars (yet).

Thanks.

-rdo

Sorry, but for my money, I don't feel that an "average" rating from JD Powers, which is well-below the rating of several luxury cars in the same price range, is acceptable for a car that costs as much as an S80. "Average" might be OK for a car that is portrayed as being average. But the S80 is not marketed as an "average" car. For you, "average" might be good enough if you pay over 40K for a car- for me it's not. It's my personal opinion. As for the "full of problems" comment related to the 1999 S80s, you know very well what I mean. Also, you say that you have had no "major" problems with your car, but you have had problems, and some might consider them a major inconvenience at a minimum, especially if they are not handled appropriately by the dealer. If someone is considering trading a well-running S70 for an S80 (especially a 1999), they need to go into this eyes wide open. There's nothing unreasonable about that.

Dave - You're not alone in your thinking. However, some people on this board seem to take exception to anyone with a comment that is less than praiseworthy of the S80. Frankly, it's not an exceptional automobile and it's not worthy of the price tag... in my opinion. It's "average", that's all. If I had wanted "average" I would have bought a Honda... two of 'em at these prices!

Here goes the comment from the "BMW Peanut Gallery"!

Yannis

Not a bad deal at all. A 1999 S80 T6 (I assume it is just a "basic" model w/ Cold Weather, Sunroof, Leather and 17" Arrakis wheels) w/ that mileage should retail at about $28,500. That means they are taking your S70 A SR for $23,000, which is not bad if you take into account that your car has 24,000 miles. That is just about right; you know what you paid for the S70 when it was new...

Yannis