'My 20-year-old Volvo has finally given up the ghost and I don't know what to do'

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AS THE FACE of DoneDeal Cars and with 25 years’ experience in the industry, Paddy Comyn is ‘the’ car guy to everyone in his life and is now widening out that role to you, The Journal readers.

In his Car Clinic series, he will answer all your motoring questions and queries. Have one? Send it to with the subject line CAR CLINIC to motoring@thejournal.ie – we will publish all answers on Mondays on The Journal. (Your questions will be anonymised.) Please let Paddy know what your budget is if you’re asking about your next big purchase.

Here’s this week’s question:

My 20-year-old Diesel Volvo xc70 has finally given up the ghost with 300,000 miles on the clock.

I’ve realised, however, that Volvo no longer does an estate, and the XC was really one of the best cars around. I hope to get a replacement around five years old. What on earth compares?

I could go for a second hand XC70, but there are very few, and I really want something with not too much mileage. SUVs don’t appeal to me for lots of reasons (I live in the city but do lots of long journeys) and I might consider a hybrid but won’t go fully electric. Safety is also a big consideration. What would you recommend?

Hi there. Firstly I am very jealous that you have an XC70, one of my all-time favourite cars and it is a real shame that it died. Is it beyond redemption?

As someone who is a big Volvo XC70 fan, I have searched on DoneDeal Cars and beyond a lot and searched for something similar.

You don’t mention a budget, but in terms of cars I think you should be considering – I would look at a Skoda Octavia RS (in either Diesel or PHEV), because if you have similar taste to me you will adore this car.

An obvious alternative to an XC70 is an Audi A6 Allroad, but finding one can be a little tricky.

We did find a 2016 example on DoneDeal Cars with 200,000km and a 3.0-litre diesel for €22,000. Obviously you would need to proceed with caution given the mileage.

But I do think that I have found the successor to the XC70 and it’s the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All Terrain and a 2019 model with 115,000 on DoneDeal Cars will set you back around €35,000 if you can stretch to this budget-wise. It is very much in the same vein as the Volvo but with a more modern twist.

Paddy Comyn is the head of automotive content and communications with DoneDeal Cars. He has been involved in the Irish motor industry for more than 25 years.

*Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with DoneDeal Ltd. *

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