Volvo V70 T6 | High Mile Club
Fast Volvo estates always look like police cars - this one actually was...
We all still dream of being traffic cops, don’t we? The reality probably isn’t anything like we dream it (or as Channel 5 depicts it), but a life clearing the fast lane, catching crooks and blaring the sirens still sounds pretty cool. Especially if there’s a great car to do it in as well.
While police fleets have diversified in recent years, there’s nothing quite like a big Volvo wagon for maximum law enforcer vibes. Especially a white one just like this, complete with the most powerful engine (the 300hp T6), fairly modest wheels and no tints. It’s exactly how you’d imagine a police car to look once it had been de-battenburged, because - you’ve guessed it - this was a police car. You can even see where the lights once lived in the grille.
As a result, it’s pretty high mileage even for a Volvo estate, at 254,301 miles. And a police car will have seen all sorts of use over the years. But on the other hand, they will have been maintained to a good standard as well, so they’re fit for whatever the job throws at them, and this one comes with service history from both its time with the service and its sole private keeper. The MOT advisories that have emerged haven’t been significant, and in the past couple of years it’s been doing more than 15,000 miles annually with nothing to report.
It even looks pretty smart, or at least as smart as a 15-year-old white Volvo estate can. While the interior has a couple of weird additional fixtures and fittings, the leather is intact and there aren’t any awful stains to be seen. The wheels haven’t been bashed into dozens of kerbs and your dog will have travelled in many worse boots. It’s all more than good enough, really.
Especially for four grand. A Volvo V70 T6 for £3,999 is a heck of a lot of fast estate for anyone; if another T6 can be found, they’re more than £10,000. With much lower mileage, sure, but if something like this is required as a workhorse then you don’t want the nicest one anyway. The mileage means there’s nothing else like it, really, with anything else comparable much pricier. This C-Class deserves an honourable mention, offering 3.5-litres for three grand, though it won’t be as capacious. As a tow car for next season, a cheap and cheerful family holdall or a comfy motorway mile muncher, there’s surely a lot to be said for an ex-police T6. Probably still quite good at moving people out of the middle lane, too.
The police don’t get rid of cars if they’ve got plenty of life left in them, there is probably major maintenance /replacement due. It will have been thrashed from cold apart from the galactic mileage.
I ended up spending pretty much the same as if I had bought a lower-mileage more expensive example - new short engine, new carb (one of those awful automatic choke things) and front end paint. Buyer beware.
The police don t get rid of cars if they ve got plenty of life left in them, there is probably major maintenance /replacement due. It will have been thrashed from cold apart from the galactic mileage.
I ended up spending pretty much the same as if I had bought a lower-mileage more expensive example - new short engine, new carb (one of those awful automatic choke things) and front end paint. Buyer beware.
They were 150k+ miles, which didn't bother me.
The issue for me is they are usually a base spec car, with either cloth or half-leather and minimal upgrades (understandably so).
However, they do represent good value for money. And, whilst being thrashed from cold, will still be maintained regularly, especially to successfully get to that sort of mileage.
If anyone is looking at a leggy Volvo of this generation the gearboxes need to properly warmed up to start with the iffy shifts that give away their impending death, a 30 minute test drive often won't show it up.
FWIW I have found the "fast" Volvos rarely work as well as the more ordinary ones, they neither relish or reward fast driving, a late twin turbo D5 is arguably a better car than this.
They were 150k+ miles, which didn't bother me.
The issue for me is they are usually a base spec car, with either cloth or half-leather and minimal upgrades (understandably so).
However, they do represent good value for money. And, whilst being thrashed from cold, will still be maintained regularly, especially to successfully get to that sort of mileage.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-6403...
BMW stopped selling them to police and advised them to avoid high speed stuff/chases in the existing ones.
Volvos could take the abuse better - no dpf etc crap on the petrols, more conservative tune etc on the diesels plus Volvo has more history of supplying police.
Personally I wouldn't mind an ex police Octavia VRS
I don't think it's for them!!A quarter of a million of miles 15yrs old for £4K.....do me a favour at best this is a Shed of the Week.
Having 'sampled' numerous such vehicles in many guises; I wouldn't go near an ex Fed car....ever.
Yes, like a lot of cars it needs looking after properly.
But you only need to look across the pond and they were sold in there thousands. Many with very high milage and original gear box. It is recommended the gearbox oil is change regularly, approximately around every 100k or so. Any jerkyness means it needs an oil change and adaptations reset or possibly a solenoid needs replaced.
I may be slightly biased, I purchased a jap import XC70 with..... a T6 with the polestar tune.
Currently on 80k miles and drive like new.
I was looking for a comfy petrol car with a big boot for the dog and was looking for something different to an E-class or 5 series. This fit the bill and once rolling is fairly nippy, certainly suprises. And it does like a drink!
They were 150k+ miles, which didn't bother me.
The issue for me is they are usually a base spec car, with either cloth or half-leather and minimal upgrades (understandably so).
However, they do represent good value for money. And, whilst being thrashed from cold, will still be maintained regularly, especially to successfully get to that sort of mileage.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-6403...
A Volvo would likely be a better start.
A dam waste in my eyes as some may be good for repairs etc, but it's all about liabilities.
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