Any Volvo nuts on here?

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Just getting the 6 month itch with the Panda, been having a look online at V50/S40 Volvos, namely the 2.5t. Anyone got any experience of them? Basically a Focus underneath? Any good? Anything to watch out for with them? 

 

Failing any info, anyone know a decent Volvo forum? Looked at 'Sweedspeed' but it's awful to navigate. 

 

Cheers

[Ootohere]

I love my 2003 S60 SE Volvo 2.0 T5. £290 VED.   Engine now in would be £490 a year VED.

Under 90,000 miles now, 2nd engine fitted, new automatic gearbox fitted, new steering lock /barrel. (very expensive, security bolts etc. special order, some need dash out.)

Dim Dip Headlights always on, and rear tail lights.  Perfecto..

 

Does 100 miles for 3 gallons of Super Unleaded, and does not get tail gated, if a BM or Audi or more commonly a Jag tries, no need to brake test them, 

the windscreen washers are brilliant, it sets off their Auto wipers.

 

Looking out for all Electrics working, and AC,  suspension parts, steering, brakes, the correct fluids etc etc.  Auto Boxes............

Be careful on chipped windscreens, you really notice through the tint in bright sunlight where one has lots of tiny chips..

 

They are cheap to buy, because so many went wrong, so you want a sorted one.

There was a recent thread in General chat, then the OP bought a diesel S60 and the thread is in Non Skoda Projects.

 

Have fun looking at cars.

Edited 2 April, 2016 by GoneOffSKi

[loskie]

volvoforums.org.uk

[Volvomeg]

*cough

[gullyg]

The old 5 cylinder turbo is a peach of an engine. I used to have a 854t5 and it was great - apart from the fuel consumption;)

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

*cough

 

:D

 

I couldn't think of your name on here!

 

Whats the verdict then? They seem solid enough, I've done a bit more reading, some issues with piston liners or something, seems to be an issue when going a bit ott tuning. I was thinking a exhaust and map, maybe 250bhp? Something like that, hopefully keeping on the right side of reliability. 

 

I'm not even decided on getting rid of the Panda tbh but a mate wants it and it left me looking about at cars. I could really do with something a little more comfortable tbh, I only get 30mpg from the Panda so it's nothing amazing on that side of things. I've always had a Volvo itch, my dad had one when I was a kid (360, proper retro), the V70s look a little large for me and if I can have the same engine in a smaller, lighter car it's win win for me lol. 

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

I love my 2003 S60 SE Volvo 2.0 T5. £290 VED.   Engine now in would be £490 a year VED.

Under 90,000 miles now, 2nd engine fitted, new automatic gearbox fitted, new steering lock /barrel. (very expensive, security bolts etc. special order, some need dash out.)

Dim Dip Headlights always on, and rear tail lights.  Perfecto..

 

Does 100 miles for 3 gallons of Super Unleaded, and does not get tail gated, if a BM or Audi or more commonly a Jag tries, no need to brake test them, 

the windscreen washers are brilliant, it sets off their Auto wipers.

 

Looking out for all Electrics working, and AC,  suspension parts, steering, brakes, the correct fluids etc etc.  Auto Boxes............

Be careful on chipped windscreens, you really notice through the tint in bright sunlight where one has lots of tiny chips..

 

They are cheap to buy, because so many went wrong, so you want a sorted one.

There was a recent thread in General chat, then the OP bought a diesel S60 and the thread is in Non Skoda Projects.

 

Have fun looking at cars.

 

I've looked at S60s, they seem to offer so much for the money, they seem to be the 'unloved' Volvo that no one wants so go for cheap but a few guys at work who drive back to eastern Europe 3 times a year have them and rave about them for long trips. 

Edited 6 April, 2016 by matt1chelski

[Chris]

My S60 2.0t 180bhp had catastrophic engine failure where it resulted in a bill of just over £3k from a main dealer.

I loved it though and still miss it now.

[mannyo]

I've got an S60 D5 commuter car, 2003 manual with 163K on it.

 

Been in the workshop for 2 weeks now, getting it back any day hopefully. Leaky fuel injector seals and now a faulty injector. Fantastic car, apart from the current issue.

 

Early S40 and V40 models are not made by Volvo, but are rebadged Mitsubishi Charisma's with engines from Renault for the Diesel, not sure on the petrol.

[Chris]

If it's the 2.5t s40/v50 then it will be the focus chassis based car. The engines seem to be OK but early electrical problems existed. My best mate had a 55 plate from new and it went in a number of times due to the nav/phone/on call system draining the battery and things. Also, the cream leather is beige..and the dashboard plastics are a horrid colour from memory too unless you get black leather with black dash.

[Ootohere]

Volvo do comfort and leather very well.

Black maybe stays looking better longer.

(with a S60 you might find the rear has not been used much. But then there is a Huge boot, but not lots of room in the rear seats if the front seat are need put back all the way for driver or front passenger.)

Edited 7 April, 2016 by GoneOffSKi

[Volvomeg]

As you say the later s40/v50's are focus based and use the 2.5 T5 engine,

 

They are slightly differant to the T5 lumps in the bigger cars as they had to be slimmed down to be shoe horned into the smaller platform cars,

 

There was a few early T5's that suffered from loosing compression but think 99% of them will either be sorted or dead by now,

 

As you say there seems to be a well known issue with them cracking blocks due to the way they are designed, tbh i carn't say ive ever seen one fail but there does seem to be a preventative fix available,

 

They also suffer from breather boxes howling, unsure why but done a few in past,

 

Service history is a must with volvo engines as they block up strainers like the 1.8t VAG engines if not looked after and belts are due at 108k or 10 years,

 

The clutchs and gearbox's are quiet robust infact volvo's M66 gearbox is about bomb proof, only thing that fails is slave cylinders,

 

Suspension wise they are ok, odd ball joint and front lower arm rear bushs go weak but that tends to more diesels that happens on, slam on and they bang from under your feet when you drive them,

 

Brakes they use same from setup as bigger cars and they really do work, rears are fords and not bad apart from slider rubbers slew and caliper corrodes round rubbers and seizes rear brake on, easy fix with new slider rubbers and wire brush hole it sits in out and grease before refitting

 

Electrical wise there not bad but they do benefit from CEM under glovebox removing and giving a good blast of electrical cleaner as they get quiet dirty over time and been removed to fit pollen filter every year they end up with crap in connectors which can cause issues,

 

If you can find one with xenon lights then i would recommend as the earlier shape pre08 headlights are rubbish altho they are projectors so xenons can be retrofitted to halogen light units,

 

If your looking for an s40 they also break tailgate wiring harness with age, new harness about 40quid and quiet simple to fit onces you have climbed into boot from rear seats to get boot lid open,

 

If you have never driven a 5 pot volvo either petrol or diesel i would go drive one and listen to the 5 pot growl, you don't say what your budget is but have you also considered a 5 pot diesel (D3,D4,D5) as there no slouch either

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

As you say the later s40/v50's are focus based and use the 2.5 T5 engine,

 

They are slightly differant to the T5 lumps in the bigger cars as they had to be slimmed down to be shoe horned into the smaller platform cars,

 

There was a few early T5's that suffered from loosing compression but think 99% of them will either be sorted or dead by now,

 

As you say there seems to be a well known issue with them cracking blocks due to the way they are designed, tbh i carn't say ive ever seen one fail but there does seem to be a preventative fix available,

 

They also suffer from breather boxes howling, unsure why but done a few in past,

 

Service history is a must with volvo engines as they block up strainers like the 1.8t VAG engines if not looked after and belts are due at 108k or 10 years,

 

The clutchs and gearbox's are quiet robust infact volvo's M66 gearbox is about bomb proof, only thing that fails is slave cylinders,

 

Suspension wise they are ok, odd ball joint and front lower arm rear bushs go weak but that tends to more diesels that happens on, slam on and they bang from under your feet when you drive them,

 

Brakes they use same from setup as bigger cars and they really do work, rears are fords and not bad apart from slider rubbers slew and caliper corrodes round rubbers and seizes rear brake on, easy fix with new slider rubbers and wire brush hole it sits in out and grease before refitting

 

Electrical wise there not bad but they do benefit from CEM under glovebox removing and giving a good blast of electrical cleaner as they get quiet dirty over time and been removed to fit pollen filter every year they end up with crap in connectors which can cause issues,

 

If you can find one with xenon lights then i would recommend as the earlier shape pre08 headlights are rubbish altho they are projectors so xenons can be retrofitted to halogen light units,

 

If your looking for an s40 they also break tailgate wiring harness with age, new harness about 40quid and quiet simple to fit onces you have climbed into boot from rear seats to get boot lid open,

 

If you have never driven a 5 pot volvo either petrol or diesel i would go drive one and listen to the 5 pot growl, you don't say what your budget is but have you also considered a 5 pot diesel (D3,D4,D5) as there no slouch either

 

What a fount of knowledge, thanks for taking the time to reply! 

 

Budget wise I'm looking at the lower end of the scale, maybe £4000, if I start looking past that price I end up thinking about something BMW. I have noticed later ones (I'm assuming facelifted ones) have nicer wheels/bumpers compared to the earlier ones but then I like the subtle look anyway. 

 

Two other questions, what are the auto boxes like? There are quite a few knocking about and tbh I'd not mind one if they're half decent. I've read you can map with a limit on the torque to protect them. 

 

Second, are the diesels fitted with a DPF? I'm not doing massive miles so dont really need a diesel but I'm not ruling them out totally. I'll have to have a little look at them and see what they're like and if they're in budget.

 

Thanks again! 

Edited 8 April, 2016 by matt1chelski

[mannyo]

Autobox's must have a history of oil changes, its a must otherwise reliability is a problem. Unlike the bomb proof manual, the auto is less so.

 

My 2003 S60 D5 diesel has no DPF, they were introduced at the facelift a year later.

[Volvomeg]

All the 5 pot diesels from 2005 had dpf's, basically silver engine cover cars have DPF's,

 

So all the s40/v50 d3/d4/d5's have dpf's

 

Carn't say am a big fan of the auto boxes altho my xc90 is auto and not had any issues,

 

As mannyo says oil changes are do them the world of good, i did mine at 90k on xc, more preventative maintanance than anything else as it spends half its life with a trailer on its back

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Fantastic, I'd most likely swerve the auto tbh. I'm weary of a DPF equipped car tbh, I dont do many long trips so can see me running into issues along the line, plus tbh I fancy a petrol again. 

 

I guess I need to decide if I really want to get rid of my Panda first, might go have a look at a Volvo if one turns up locally. I'm still tempted by a MK2 Octy vRS as well although I've had a MK1 so I'm tempted to try something different. 

 

Thanks again! 

[FUBAR]

Ovlov FTW!