Friday 29th April 2016

Shed of the Week: ex-Police Volvo V70 T5

No, you can't put the blue lights and Battenburg livery back on it...

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Shed has had his fair share of pulls by the police, mostly in his younger days when people like him thought they could drive at 79mph on derestricted roads without penalty, or safely negotiate a 5mph turn while accidentally holding a mobile phone. His more recent busts have tended to reflect the creeping mental rot brought on by advancing years. Last month he wound down the window to be advised by a smiling constable that Mrs Shed had fallen out of the family vehicle two miles back. This came as a sweet relief to Shed, as he thought he'd gone deaf.

The connection of this to anything? This week's Shed is another old police-friendly beast, a hulking Volvo T5 Estate in destickered Overnight Cell White.

Urban legend says that all police cars are tuned way beyond standard and maintained to within an inch of their lives. The people who pass on this special info in snug bars will often go on to bore any listener to death with nose-tapping references to Hereford boatyards and Andy McNab's little known penchant for flower-arranging.

In the harsh light of a 2:30pm pub pavement the reality is that, even in standard trim, a 250hp T5 will hit 155mph and return a potential six-second 0-60 time. More than sufficient for most, especially with the nice bonus here of the tough manual 'box rather than the sometimes troublesome Volvo auto. But why stop there when the potential exists to take the warbletastic 2.3-litre five-pot all the way to 500hp and beyond? Take a 'ring spin with these nervously chortling Dutch fools in their 550hp T5 or check the stupidly quick, wheelspinning top end lunge of this 700hp piece of craziness.

The nearly transparent steering wheel of our humble SOTW bears the hallmarks of much ROSPA/Police-approved hand-shuffling, allied to the sweaty death grip required when pursuing miscreants around inner-city racetracks, or sink estates as they are sometimes known.

When apprehended, those tasty lads will recognise the all-doors-open pics in the ad. To give 2003 Volvo quality its due, the cloth interior has stood up remarkably well to the rubbings of many a steaming police butt up front and to the static electricity generated by countless Primark shell suits in the back.

Talking of steering, you'll never feel all that connected to the road, but given the state of our roads you might not think that is a bad thing. Tramlining is never far away on standard T5s, but the police used to fit solid bushes to their front suspension arms so you might be lucky there.

Anything else to watch out for? 2003 is not that bad a year for one of these. The failing ETMs (electronic throttle modules) that blighted 99-02 cars shouldn't crop up here. The PCV (Positive Crankshaft Ventilation) breather system in all the five-pot turbo Volvos is known for sludging up on poorly maintained cars, or suffering from torn vacuum pipes. If you believe Snug Bar Boy, this sort of thing shouldn't be an issue on a cop car, but if it is there's no shortage of fixing kits or advice online.

Door locks are temperamental, and you should check how easily it goes into first or reverse. If it seems grumpy that could be clutch drag and that might be a trans-out job. Keep on top of the belts too, 4yrs/60k being a decent recommendation.

Shed ran a V70 of about this vintage and encountered quite severe problems getting the alloys off to mend punctures, and not just because the wheel brace was ridiculously tiny. In the end one of them had to be machined off the car.

Editor Dan put in a shift with the Northants Police traffic lads a while back. They'd all been switched out of their Volvos and into BMWs. To a man they wished they hadn't, citing the Swede's plusher ride, ability to keep moving in the snow and seat comfort for those all-night stints staking out dangerous 24-hour doughnut shops.

Management disclaimer: our BIBs are of course the salt of the earth, and all that stuff about Mrs Shed is bang out of order. Shed does have a soft spot for her. It's in the back garden, just by the compost heap.

Here's the statement, sorry, ad.

For Sale, one Volvo V70 T5 in good condition throughout. The car drives well, pulls well in each gear and goes, steers and stops fine. Engine is nice and quiet, smooth and doesn't smoke at idle or under load or use water. Gearbox/clutch are fine.

There is a valid MOT with no advisories until 28/09/2016, just over 5 months left. The car has done less than 3k miles since the last MOT. There is some recent history with the vehicle, including a recent replacement battery, tyres, brake pads and front ball joints amongst others. This is not a comprehensive service history however. I bought this from a mature gent who'd owned the car for the last 4 years and had done about 30k miles in it, carrying out repairs as and when they arose (mostly in line the with the MOTs). I think he was expecting the car to outlive him in all honesty, and he'd only put it up for sale after being offered another, newer ex-police V70, it was his confidence in the car that encouraged me to buy it.

As regards mechanical condition - there are no known major issues. I can't confirm what has or hasn't been replaced/changed/serviced if it is not in the documentation I have with the car. As I will get questions about them - I do not know if the cambelt, turbo or clutch have been recently replaced. All of these (and all other major mechanical components for that matter) are working at present. The cambelt intervals are 96k miles on these so it's very likely to have been done during the police's ownership. The turbo does not whine or smoke and the clutch pedal bites in the middle with no slipping, juddering or grumbling when depressed. There are no warning lights on the dash, except for messages indicating a service is due. The only fault to note is that there is a knock from the suspension somewhere, I haven't isolated it yet, and would suspect it's a bush if anything (it might even be a loose piece of trim because it's intermittent) but it's there nevertheless.

Bodywork wise it's in above average condition considering the age and mileage - with it being an ex-police vehicle, there are marks from the removal of lighting bars, communication equipment etc. along with some other small marks/scratches and some painted areas have been touched up. However thanks to the thick paint Volvo use from the factory so there is no corrosion on sills/bottoms of doors. All the police decals have been professionally removed except for the markings inside the doors (as pictured). A removable towbar is included, the previous owner didn't use it for towing and he bought it with it already fitted.

The interior is reasonably tidy, there aren't big holes drilled in the dash and any police equipment has been removed carefully - an aftermarket CD player with aux-in facility is in place of the original Volvo unit. Seats as you can see from the photos are in good condition and very comfortable, as Volvo seats are famed for. The boot is absolutely cavernous, with the rear seats down, you've got a 6ft long loadspace (whole reason I bought the car to start with.) Interior equipment wise, everything works fine except the aircon, would suggest a re-gas is needed.

The alloys (including spare) are 18" genuine Volvo/BBS split rim in decent condition (some corrosion/lacquer peel but structurally fine) with 5 good tyres (235/40/18), front tyres have been recently replaced and have plenty of tread left the rears aren't far behind and have plenty of life left in them. The wheels were on the car when I bought it (the previous owner bought it with them on too) and although they are genuine Volvo alloys they make the ride a little firm. The good news is the alloys that are on it are highly sought after (being genuine split rim BBS Nebula, designed for Volvo, with genuine Volvo centre caps), so you could sell them, put on a genuine smaller Volvo set with tyres and make £200 or so back in the process (still going for anywhere between £200-350 on eBay). Alternatively - if you want to bring your own wheels and tyres to put on it, knock £150 off the asking price and I'll keep the ones that are on it.

Genuine reason for sale - originally bought the car to use as a load-lugger for use during a house renovation, this car fitted the bill perfectly. (I'd rather lose a bit of money on a car than line a van rental company's pockets, and satisfy an itch for a T5 at the same time.)

Ultimately it's an honest car, that with a little work, could be back in an excellent condition, however is very useable as is. I've had two family friends want to buy the car just to 'run in to the ground' as a workhorse, but I don't think is a dignified fate for this Volvo. You are very welcome to inspect/test drive before purchase for as long as you need but please no test pilots or boy racers. The V5 Logbook is present and is in my name and address.

The car has been priced taking into account the lack of a comprehensive service history. It is still a very useable vehicle and if I were keeping it I would have the cambelt changed and change the serviceable items as mentioned above. The next cheapest V70 T5 I can find online of comparable mileage, age mileage and condition is £1400.

Thanks for looking - please call Dave on 07766697703 for any further info

[X5TUU]

I would have a punt on that if I needed something else suitably massive for daily duties ... although I would have to replace the steering wheel ... possibly with something flat-bottomed to match the 'raciness' of the T5

[X5TUU]

littlebasher said:

I never understood why people feel the need to describe old second hand cars as being ex police, when clearly it's not been with the police for the last 13 odd years.

It makes no difference how 'well' it was maintained during police ownership. Who's to say it hasn't been ragged and neglected by a succession of different owners for the last decade?

shirley it depends when it left service ... it could have been used as a run about / transfer vehicle for years!