Volvo S80 to S60 D5 Daily Hack
Discussion
Having sold my Porsche 924S last March and bought a Corvette I was in need of a daily. I remembered how decent my Volvo S60 2.4T was and so when I found this Volvo S80 2.4 I bought it.
The car was an early T reg model with 3 previous owners and full Volvo service history. I bought it off an elderly chap for the sum of £430 with 12 months MOT. It was supremely comfortable and never let me down in a year. For the MOT in February it only required a CV boot and a set of ARB links (a consumable with these cars) However a week later, the driveshaft was grumbling, I guess the CV boot was torn for awhile. I purchased a new set of driveshafts and had those fitted, but decided at £430 purchase price, I wouldn't spend more. A few ago the ignition switch almost jammed. Reading up, it sounds like a piece of the casting in the barrel had broken loose and the repair/replacement would be fiddly. I managed to persuade mine back into operation, but it wouldn't spring back from cranking, you had to twist it back. Then suddenly, it would take a few cranks to start and the fuel pressure would bleed down. There was a strong smell of fuel from the rear of the car and an obvious leak coming down from the top of the petrol tank. It seemed likely the petrol pump housing had cracked but I wasn't inclined to find another at a breakers yard and attempt to fit it. Meanwhile a new pump was £150+. With a set of tyres required in the near future, I decided it was time to move on...
In our 18 months together we covered around 15k miles, with some fun road trips with friends. All in perfect comfort!
For the replacement I decided I would budget £1500 and opt for a diesel, reasoning that 50mpg and cheaper tax would save me £100 a month and the car would be free if I could run it for a year. I thought about a Saab 9-3 1.9TID but came back to the idea of another Volvo pretty quickly. Having moved from a residential area in the Marina to Cardiff city centre, the S80 was a bit of a pain to find a parking space large enough, so I thought another S60 would do. I definitely wanted the earlier Euro III engine, which doesn't have DPF or a few other liabilities. Trawling the usual places obsessively for a few days I found a potential car. A 2005 S60 D5. The early 2005 cars are the best in my opinion, having the face lift, nicer interior, better electrics but not quite the Ford cost cutting and retaining the all important Euro III engine.
The car was at a trader in Luton and my questions were met with “it's a cheap car, it's not new”. I decided to chance the journey, since there were a few other ones for sale within a 30 minute radius. The car was advertised as one previous owner and full service history with 100k on the clock, so I hoped one careful owner had ran it to 100k and then bought something else.
Having driven for hours to make it to the dealer premises in Luton, an Indian chap emerged, speaking little English. The car was nowhere to be seen and it wasn't on Autotrader either. I raced to the conclusion that, despite me phoning in the morning saying I was on my way, someone had beaten me to it. Thankfully a few moments later, presumably the boss emerged and told me it was at their other location. I told him I wanted to trade in my car too for £300. After starting it he agreed this would be okay.
Navigating 15 minutes across Luton I came to a car park next to a casino. Willing to bet my ailing S80 and some cash, I entered the car park and spotted the S60. The tyres were 15psi at best and the discs rusty. The salesman appeared from his office, a Hyundai Elentra. The car started up and the paperwork was in order. I'd previously checked the MOT history too, and this suggested a sympathetic owner, rather than scraping through every year with different advisories. I noticed it had nearly new Falken tyres all round and had been serviced a few hundred miles ago. Promising I thought to myself. A quick 1 mile test drive and no malfunctions, I thought I'd risk it!
The car wasn't perfect, it had some scrapes down the side and the drivers side wing mirror glass was de-laminated along with a missing headlight washer cover. Up for a keen £1495, we agreed I would pay £1400 and they'd give me £250 for the S80. We sat in the front of the Hyundai as I transferred the money, a quick call to the boss and it was confirmed. The car was mine. I rumbled out of Luton to the nearest petrol station to get some fuel. Having never owned a diesel, my internal monologue was screaming “DIESEL DIESEL DIESEL” as I lifted my hand to the pumps. Fine. Air in the tyres and I was ready to go. I planned to stop by in Didcot to catch up with an old friend, break up the drive and possibly stay the night if I had any drama.
Halfway there and the engine service light came on. Turd. Black smoke would billow from the exhaust under acceleration and it seemed there was little boost. Man maths into action, I felt the car was cheap enough that if I did have to immediately repair it, at least I would know it was done and besides, I could have spent double only for the turbo to blow a few weeks later. I limped to Didcot, averaging an impressive 54mpg. Remorse reinforced, I soldiered home to Cardiff. Once at home, diagnosing the engine service light online was much like diagnosing an illness online. Will I have to drag it back to Luton? Couldn't I have just fixed the trusty S80?
I decided to take it to a local Volvo Indy, where they plugged it in. A whole page of error codes were stored. Ruh-oh. Clearing them, I went for a drive for 15 minutes and on return just a few remained, boost control, MAF and similar. Popping the engine cover off, we found the jubilee clip on the boost pipe was sat half way down the pipe. Properly secured, I went for another drive. It was now the car I expected, strong boost, no black soot and nice and quiet. No codes reappeared and a little embarrassed I drove back home. Hopefully I can be reimbursed the one hour labour for the diagnostic, although when I discussed the 3 month warranty, the car had to come back to Luton and their in-house mechanic would fix it....
A couple of days of driving around and all seems fine. It's much taughter than my S80, the gear change is sharp and there's a fair bit of grunt past 3k rpm. Fuel economy is excellent. The car is a peculiar spec, 16” alloys (not quite as comfy as the 15” o the S80 but acceptable) and a boot spoiler? There's heated seats as part of the winter pack (a must have) but frustratingly no cruise. I have purchased a complete steering wheel with cruise buttons for £15. Annoyingly, it seems only a Volvo dealer can activate it. I might get the cam belt done and ask nicely if they can do it for me, or perhaps install the buttons and play dumb?
I cleaned it today and gave the headlights a quick polish and plan to keep everyone updated through the year, as I find these daily car threads quite interesting. Hopefully there's nothing to report!
Still a way to go!
The car was an early T reg model with 3 previous owners and full Volvo service history. I bought it off an elderly chap for the sum of £430 with 12 months MOT. It was supremely comfortable and never let me down in a year. For the MOT in February it only required a CV boot and a set of ARB links (a consumable with these cars) However a week later, the driveshaft was grumbling, I guess the CV boot was torn for awhile. I purchased a new set of driveshafts and had those fitted, but decided at £430 purchase price, I wouldn't spend more. A few ago the ignition switch almost jammed. Reading up, it sounds like a piece of the casting in the barrel had broken loose and the repair/replacement would be fiddly. I managed to persuade mine back into operation, but it wouldn't spring back from cranking, you had to twist it back. Then suddenly, it would take a few cranks to start and the fuel pressure would bleed down. There was a strong smell of fuel from the rear of the car and an obvious leak coming down from the top of the petrol tank. It seemed likely the petrol pump housing had cracked but I wasn't inclined to find another at a breakers yard and attempt to fit it. Meanwhile a new pump was £150+. With a set of tyres required in the near future, I decided it was time to move on...
In our 18 months together we covered around 15k miles, with some fun road trips with friends. All in perfect comfort!
For the replacement I decided I would budget £1500 and opt for a diesel, reasoning that 50mpg and cheaper tax would save me £100 a month and the car would be free if I could run it for a year. I thought about a Saab 9-3 1.9TID but came back to the idea of another Volvo pretty quickly. Having moved from a residential area in the Marina to Cardiff city centre, the S80 was a bit of a pain to find a parking space large enough, so I thought another S60 would do. I definitely wanted the earlier Euro III engine, which doesn't have DPF or a few other liabilities. Trawling the usual places obsessively for a few days I found a potential car. A 2005 S60 D5. The early 2005 cars are the best in my opinion, having the face lift, nicer interior, better electrics but not quite the Ford cost cutting and retaining the all important Euro III engine.
The car was at a trader in Luton and my questions were met with “it's a cheap car, it's not new”. I decided to chance the journey, since there were a few other ones for sale within a 30 minute radius. The car was advertised as one previous owner and full service history with 100k on the clock, so I hoped one careful owner had ran it to 100k and then bought something else.
Having driven for hours to make it to the dealer premises in Luton, an Indian chap emerged, speaking little English. The car was nowhere to be seen and it wasn't on Autotrader either. I raced to the conclusion that, despite me phoning in the morning saying I was on my way, someone had beaten me to it. Thankfully a few moments later, presumably the boss emerged and told me it was at their other location. I told him I wanted to trade in my car too for £300. After starting it he agreed this would be okay.
Navigating 15 minutes across Luton I came to a car park next to a casino. Willing to bet my ailing S80 and some cash, I entered the car park and spotted the S60. The tyres were 15psi at best and the discs rusty. The salesman appeared from his office, a Hyundai Elentra. The car started up and the paperwork was in order. I'd previously checked the MOT history too, and this suggested a sympathetic owner, rather than scraping through every year with different advisories. I noticed it had nearly new Falken tyres all round and had been serviced a few hundred miles ago. Promising I thought to myself. A quick 1 mile test drive and no malfunctions, I thought I'd risk it!
The car wasn't perfect, it had some scrapes down the side and the drivers side wing mirror glass was de-laminated along with a missing headlight washer cover. Up for a keen £1495, we agreed I would pay £1400 and they'd give me £250 for the S80. We sat in the front of the Hyundai as I transferred the money, a quick call to the boss and it was confirmed. The car was mine. I rumbled out of Luton to the nearest petrol station to get some fuel. Having never owned a diesel, my internal monologue was screaming “DIESEL DIESEL DIESEL” as I lifted my hand to the pumps. Fine. Air in the tyres and I was ready to go. I planned to stop by in Didcot to catch up with an old friend, break up the drive and possibly stay the night if I had any drama.
Halfway there and the engine service light came on. Turd. Black smoke would billow from the exhaust under acceleration and it seemed there was little boost. Man maths into action, I felt the car was cheap enough that if I did have to immediately repair it, at least I would know it was done and besides, I could have spent double only for the turbo to blow a few weeks later. I limped to Didcot, averaging an impressive 54mpg. Remorse reinforced, I soldiered home to Cardiff. Once at home, diagnosing the engine service light online was much like diagnosing an illness online. Will I have to drag it back to Luton? Couldn't I have just fixed the trusty S80?
I decided to take it to a local Volvo Indy, where they plugged it in. A whole page of error codes were stored. Ruh-oh. Clearing them, I went for a drive for 15 minutes and on return just a few remained, boost control, MAF and similar. Popping the engine cover off, we found the jubilee clip on the boost pipe was sat half way down the pipe. Properly secured, I went for another drive. It was now the car I expected, strong boost, no black soot and nice and quiet. No codes reappeared and a little embarrassed I drove back home. Hopefully I can be reimbursed the one hour labour for the diagnostic, although when I discussed the 3 month warranty, the car had to come back to Luton and their in-house mechanic would fix it....
A couple of days of driving around and all seems fine. It's much taughter than my S80, the gear change is sharp and there's a fair bit of grunt past 3k rpm. Fuel economy is excellent. The car is a peculiar spec, 16” alloys (not quite as comfy as the 15” o the S80 but acceptable) and a boot spoiler? There's heated seats as part of the winter pack (a must have) but frustratingly no cruise. I have purchased a complete steering wheel with cruise buttons for £15. Annoyingly, it seems only a Volvo dealer can activate it. I might get the cam belt done and ask nicely if they can do it for me, or perhaps install the buttons and play dumb?
I cleaned it today and gave the headlights a quick polish and plan to keep everyone updated through the year, as I find these daily car threads quite interesting. Hopefully there's nothing to report!
Still a way to go!
Well my gamble seems to have paid off!
I've covered just shy of 3,000 miles in the car now including a tour around Belgium. It returned 870 miles on a tank of diesel! One of the headlight bulbs blew a few weeks ago which was a nightmare to change. I also treated it to a timing belt kit, which was £130 fitted at my local Indy. A worthwhile expense having saved approx £100 on fuel each month so far. The belt is due every 10 years/100k miles so that'll probably be the last one! Coming from the S80, I do miss the extra space at times but likewise, it's nicer to have a smaller car around town. I wish it had cruise control though!
I've covered just shy of 3,000 miles in the car now including a tour around Belgium. It returned 870 miles on a tank of diesel! One of the headlight bulbs blew a few weeks ago which was a nightmare to change. I also treated it to a timing belt kit, which was £130 fitted at my local Indy. A worthwhile expense having saved approx £100 on fuel each month so far. The belt is due every 10 years/100k miles so that'll probably be the last one! Coming from the S80, I do miss the extra space at times but likewise, it's nicer to have a smaller car around town. I wish it had cruise control though!
Very nice purchase. My mum had a V70 D5 2004, put 190k on it from new. We had the same issue with the key insert collapsing, but aside from that it ran like a dream and we were sad to see it go. It had a great turn of speed also and sounded amazing for a diesel. She now has a V40 D4 and while on paper it's quicker with 190 bhp 295 lb ft (V70 had 163 bhp 251 lb ft), it lacks the D5's charm.
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