RE: SOTW: Volvo C70 T5 Coupe
Discussion
Well the thing is though is that it isn't actually all that heavy. Under 1500kg which considering the size isn't too bad. My P2 T5 V70 is about the same power/weight and its not slow.
The suspension will be completely shot if its not been changed - volvo dampers don't last. If you look at it as a wafty cruiser then its happy days, if you want a proper sports car then be prepared to completely refresh the suspension and add thicker anti rollbars, stiffer springs etc.
Even for £500 i'd be pushed to buy that with the known problems. Could be very expensive to fix. There are loads of other volvo-type options.
The suspension will be completely shot if its not been changed - volvo dampers don't last. If you look at it as a wafty cruiser then its happy days, if you want a proper sports car then be prepared to completely refresh the suspension and add thicker anti rollbars, stiffer springs etc.
Even for £500 i'd be pushed to buy that with the known problems. Could be very expensive to fix. There are loads of other volvo-type options.
There is a quite a bit you ca do to make them fun, they really are only let down on actually steering feel. It doesn't give any feed back and there isn't much happening around the straight ahead. BUT they with tinkering, 305bhp from a standard turbo-YES PLEASE. I'll put up a few videos of how my car sounds in a second. I bet a lot of you will want one then 
These are nice cars. A golden era Volvo, which I like so much I bought one myself, albeit an S60. Mind you, the ETM issue on these is fairly serious and could easily double the price of the car to fix. When I bought my S60 it ended up in limp modewithin three days, without warning. I was just warming the car up for a run and as I put my foot down in third the dreaded 'performance reduced' message lit up in the screen, and I limped to work at 40mph...
Luckily, the dealer didn't flap his jaw about fixing it, but due to the complexity of the job (putting the new ETM in and coding it to the engine), he had to go to a Volvo specialist to get it done. It cost me nothing, but he got a bill of £350. I got a receipt and an old ETM to play with, but mainly I was just pleased my car was fixed. It had the potential to be worse though, as if the new unit hadn't fixed the problem with co0uld have been a MAF failure or something else...!
That said, I still love these cars, thought the C70 isn't my pick of the range. Having had prior exeperience of a Volvo of this era which suffered from problems I'd be inclined to give this one a miss and buy one that works. The amazing comfort and continent crushing ability isn't worth the headache of a broken one.
Luckily, the dealer didn't flap his jaw about fixing it, but due to the complexity of the job (putting the new ETM in and coding it to the engine), he had to go to a Volvo specialist to get it done. It cost me nothing, but he got a bill of £350. I got a receipt and an old ETM to play with, but mainly I was just pleased my car was fixed. It had the potential to be worse though, as if the new unit hadn't fixed the problem with co0uld have been a MAF failure or something else...!
That said, I still love these cars, thought the C70 isn't my pick of the range. Having had prior exeperience of a Volvo of this era which suffered from problems I'd be inclined to give this one a miss and buy one that works. The amazing comfort and continent crushing ability isn't worth the headache of a broken one.
richard300 said:
I'd say it's a better car (not this example) than it's equivalent and contemporary W208 Mercedes CLK..... Which let's face it, at whatever price range should be classed as a shed!!!
I've had both, at different times, i brought the clk320 nearly new for £14k at the time the C70 was about the same price, so for me it was Merc or Volvo, no brainer at the time.Many years later i was looking for a CLK320 again and ended up with a C70 T5 GT.
The merc is a much nicer place to sit in that the interior design is better, but other than that the volvo is a much better car, seats are more comfy, performance is amazing, fuel consumption is shocking though.
...surely this one is just the smallest pigeon step from the scrap heap...with the dash lit up like a Christmas tree of with warning lights, even the car itself is trying to tell you not to buy...plug a speaker into the ecu and it would sound like kit with his cajoles in a genital cuff...
Engine lights are Piss to sort on these - it's likely to be either a coil pack or a loose connection on the vvt wiring connector - common as muck either way it would be an easy fix - just read the fault code and fix - I'd be more worried about the seized rear brakes that seemingly all c70s have
St John Smythe said:
I've always wondered in this situation what would happen if you refused to pay? I imagine they'd try and keep hold of the car.
They could try but threaten them with trading standards provided you know what your talking about and they haven't got a leg to stand I know a few girls been ripped off by garages who didn't clear the work, cue taking a mechanic down there to tell them whats what and what do you know all the unnecessary work is done for free plus cash our wayGeorge7 said:
I've always fancied one of these. A bit scared of the reliability though.
Why? They are superbly reliable if you treat them right - not mega bucks to fix either - remember it is basically a Volvo 850 underneath - which I personally think is the best car Volvo has ever made morgrp said:
George7 said:
I've always fancied one of these. A bit scared of the reliability though.
Why? They are superbly reliable if you treat them right - not mega bucks to fix either - remember it is basically a Volvo 850 underneath - which I personally think is the best car Volvo has ever made George7 said:
I've always fancied one of these. A bit scared of the reliability though.
And so you should be!!!!I decided to sell my 1989 mk1 mx5 to buy a c70 t5 in may this year, when i brought the car was well chuffed until the problems started...
In 4 months of ownership i had to replace...
Air con compressor
2 x wheel bearings,
2 x top mounts,
exhaust blow,
main engine anchor
starter motor
and the grand total for this lot over the course of 4 months was circa £1500 on a car i paid £2k for
now it is sat on my drive being slowly broken (so if anyone needs any parts contact me) and i have now returned to an mx5
but im £3.5k down dont get me wrong when the t5 worked it was greatt for A roads, had a sat nav indicated (private road) 154mph. Other downside was over 3000miles i averged 17mpg!!!
Matt
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