Awesome shots. I can see why you like mine Y2blade - it's almost exactly the same as yours!!

might seek some experience from you on remaping over the coming months as am keen to look into this however will drive as standard for a little while.

Speaker system is truly amazing isn't it! One of the specs I had to get in my S60 after reading some very good things

I have the same engine and get similar figures....I think the point is that the previous generation D5 with less emissions issues is a more economical.

I had a 2003 163bhp S60 for 60k plus miles and now have an 06 185bhp s60, I have done more than 60K miles in this as well. The earlier one had a sweeter engine which was definitley more economical. Sold it to a friend who tells me its still going strong at 130k. The only problem with them is what can you find to replace it with for similar money.
Very comfy cruiser and pretty swift when required as well. Have a coule of niggles with the current one. The plastic lever that adjusts something in the engine keeps breaking, cant remember what its called though, car keeps going anyway and the bit takes five minutes to replace and costs 2 quid!. Have an oil leak but not losing too much, car has 97k and should go on for many more miles at around 47 mpg at 75ish or slightly more. The stereos are better than any other standard fit in other cars, leather seats etc etc, all in all a jolly good car for work if not sporting pleasure.You could always buy a Mondeo for the same money but would not be anywhere near as good value. Use an independant for servicing and costs are pretty reasoanble. Later cars have 18k service intervals which is great for serious high mileage driving.

I have a 2004 S80 auto facelift model, it has now done 155k and is still[touch wood]superb, genuine 42/43 mpg, only car I have ever had that does not hurt my bad back, only problem I have is what to replace it with, as others have said, later ones not as economical

I'm seriously considering one of these as a daily runner. I was thinking about something fairly quick and petrol, but with the ever increasing fuel costs I think a diesel would be a good move.

I have up to £4.5k and want a well specced EuroIII model with good history. Facelift would be good if possible. Although I know mileage isn't a major issue if well maintained, I'm hoping I can get something below 100k for my budget.

There seem to be precious few about (at least in my area) at the moment, but I guess the dust hasn't settled after xmas for people to be thinking much about selling cars.

Is the wonderful Dolby Pro-Logic stereo standard in the SE model, or was it optional?

How do owners find the cost of servicing etc? I'm guessing a good local indy would be best, if I can locate one - any recommendations? (I'm in East Devon)

Funny enough you forgot www.vpcuk.org

you will be surprisingly impressed with the Performance, have you driven a D5 before?
I never thought I'd be enthusing about a Diesel engine but they really are that good
as a daily driver it really is superb, I'm over the moon with mine (considering I bought it as a "hack" and it has ended up firmly replacing my T5 as my main car speaks volumes)

the cabin layout is very good with a few nice touches and thought put into things, the seats are as you'd expect with a Volvo (very comfortable)
you will get a good EuroIII with your budget

I may be wrong but this is how I read it when I was researching ahead of buying mine = the Dolby Pro-logic was part of the SE spec BUT the 13 speaker upgrade was an option (7 speakers were the std Dolby pro-logic) so make sure it has all 13 speakers if it is advertised as a 13 speaker one

try and get one with parking sensors too

as for servicing costs
I have a good friend that does my servicing if/when I don't fancy getting the spanners out so can't really comment of the prices to "Joe public"



edit to add
I'll PM you with the low down on remapping, once you've driven a mapped D5 you will never look back

it really is the best of both worlds.

Prior to buying mine, I did plenty of reading. The most common of the expensive issues appeared to involve the D*Fs, i.e. the DMF and DPF.
The Dual Mass Flywheel only exists on the manual cars (as I understand it), so can be avoided by buying an auto. At the S60 makes a much better wafty car than sports car, IMO the auto suits it better. The Diesel Particulate Filter is only on the newer Euro IV cars. Get yourself a 2005 or earlier car with a black engine cover and you avoid the problem completely.