Which Volvo - V70 T5 or V40 T4?

[Mr Pies]

For my brother, loves to go fishing so needs an estate. His budget is upto 2k. He's been looking at Volvo's as they seem good vfm and are (normally) reliable.

What do you think to these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330598991720?ssPageName=...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3191814.htm

What sort of mpg and servicing costs can you expect from these cars?

Thanks in advance.

[chrisispringles]

Neither are going to be particularly economical, although the T4 just edges it. My dad had an 850 T5 and it would average aroung 25mpg and get up to 35mpg on a long run if he was gentle; my mate's dad had a T4 for a while and he didn't get much better. The T5 unit is very reliable, but don't expect the turbo to last more than 80k and the clutch release bearing will often start sounding a little rough at around 100-120k. They also chew front tyres at an astonishing rate, my dad general got 8-10k a year out of a good set of pirellis. Other than that they are good as gold and will happily rack up 200k+. I don't know much about the reliability of the V40, there were some little electrical issues with some but they are otherwise very good.

Personally I'd go for the V70 because it is bigger, a lot more comfortable, is a cracking steer and has that 5 cylinder engine