Friday 17th June 2016

Shed Of The Week: Volvo S60 T 2.4

Why boring can also be cool, according to our man Shed

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You should never start a story with a long sentence containing lots of big words, but surely few would argue with the premise that the rehabilitation of Volvo from the post-nuclear family's safety brand of choice to its status today as a credible purveyor of sport/lux/premiumosity is one of the automotive industry's more interesting success stories.

Anybody left still reading? Good. That was a test of your persistence, which is what's needed for this week's Shed.

Fancy a little experiment? Look at the first page of the ad. We can probably all agree that the pic is rather boring. At this point, most of us would probably click off to somewhere else in the magical mystery land that is PH Classifieds. But hold your water a minute. Have a scroll through the rest of the pics.

Done that? Now, be honest. Did anything happen? Did you find yourself being drawn into the ad, maybe wondering exactly what this car is, perhaps even feeling a slight sense of desire?

Thought so. The lesson here for PH advertisers, or indeed any car vendor using the miracle of the internet to unload a vehicle, is to try and use the best image as the lead shot on your ad. Let's not be too hard on David, the advertiser in this specific case, as he has done a very decent job on the words. He certainly comes across as an honest Joe, but he's forgotten to mention a few salient facts about the S60 T that might ramp up his chances of selling it.

First, the bad news, and it really isn't that bad. This car did fail the MoT last month on an inadequately supported exhaust and an inoperative front winker, jobs which probably took all of 30 seconds to rectify before the pass cert was issued with just one advisory - a deteriorated offside front lower suspension bush not resulting in excessive movement. Amusingly, that's been on the advisory list for the last four years. All the other front suspension consumables were sorted out in 2012 and therefore (you'd like to think) they should still have a fair bit of life in them.

To Shed, this all sounds like at least 11 months of fast and luxurious motoring to enjoy. It will be both of those because the S 60 T is a fast and luxurious car, and a very useable one too. Our Shed is not the awesome 300hp 2.5-litre R version, which summarily dealt with the 0-60 dash in five and a bit seconds. Nor is it the 250hp T5. However, it is the 195hp 2.4 petrol believed by many to be the most user-friendly of all the performance-oriented S-series Volvos.

It's certainly a solid and chunky little fellow with an excellent reliability record (Geartronic auto boxes apart, of course). There was a big recall in the mid-2000s for an overheating rad fan that could set the whole engine compartment afire, but most of the S60 problems seemed to afflict the D5 diesels. There's not that much room in the back, but who cares about that? This one comes in a rather lovely combination of blue with cream leather and the sixth number on the odometer hasn't clicked over yet.

People would have paid up to £28K for one like this in the UK back in the day. Now you can have it for a piffling £750. This Volvo a bit of a sleeper in more ways than one.

Here's the ad.

Volvo S60 - Deep Metallic Blue for sale
The car has only covered 93000 miles and has a full service history.
I have owned it for five years
It has had almost no use in the past year as i have other vehicle to drive and subsequently i have decided to sell it. It has the following features :

1 years MOT
Full service history
Full leather interior
Heated front seats
Dual zone climate control
Cruise control
Electric glass sunroof
Trip computer
Original factory carpet mat set
Factory fitted car phone (you can use your own sim - cool in a retro way)
Remote central locking with 2 keys

The car is extremely well equipped and is very comfortable to drive. The engine is incredibly smooth and everything works. The exterior paint is in good condition with no rust but please remember it is 15 years old and therefore has a few scuffs and is not perfect - the interior is also in good condition but could do with a longer valet (i have given it a quick clean). The alloy wheels are ok but could honestly do with a refurb - all four tyres have loads of tread left 6mm or more all around

There are probably some things i have forgotten - please feel free to call for more information.
Please Call or Txt me as i dont regularly check my emails - many thanks David

 

 

[djbobbins]

Mmmm, was looking as these not long ago as an option for a cheap smoker - but the ones I'd seen for shed money had all been to the moon and back, had body damage or just looking knackered inside (in some cases, all three of these things).

Nearly 12 months' MOT, tidyish body, decent boots and FSH - at £750 I reckon this is a bargain.

Must convince myself I don't need another car...!