First timer to Volvo. Any advice on the XC60?

[ATV]

As per my previous post, I'm looking for a replacement for the wife's Freelander which keeps going into the shop. Our budget is £10k

Looking at our requirements the XC60 seems to tick most of the boxes. We've never had a Volvo before and would be grateful for any advice on picking up a 2nd hand one. Any particular things to look out for?

We've seen one on Autotrader that we'd like to have a test drive on, anyone have any comments on it? Would you be happy to spend your hard-earned on it?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502088...

Thank you

[chrisch77]

The face lifted mk1 XC60s are nice cars, I had one from new in 2016 until trading up to a XC90 4.5 years later.

Worth noting that the one you linked is a D5 4WD and has the ‘old’ 5 cylinder Diesel engine and clunky 6 speed auto box. Only the front wheel drive models got the ‘new’ Volvo 2 litre engine and 8 speed auto, in both D4 and D5 variants. The infotainment system will probably feel a bit dated!

[niva441]

As I recall the 5 cylinder was the only option with AWD. The 5 cylinder is great and powerful, but does like a drink, especially if there is a headwind. I was getting about 35mpg, but if it was particularly windy it dropped to 28. No problem with the 6 speed auto. I'd have happily kept mine, but for the fuel consumption and width when fitting in the garage. Although the interior does not look as modern as later generation, I find it worked so much better. The touchscreen in the current V60 is a disappointment and so much harder to use than the buttons and scroll wheel on the steering wheel. The Sat Nav is actually better than the later SPA Sensus system, particularly if the real time traffic update has been applied.

Looking at the advert it might have the Driver Assist pack, the active main beams were brilliant (better than the later system) I was less of a fan of the active cruise control, which got spooked by lorries on gentle bends.

[Nigel_O]

My wife bought her 2012 XC60 seven years ago - our first Volvo. I’d read some good things, but still wasn’t sure….

Shouldn’t have worried - it has been spectacularly good - plenty big enough inside, comfortable, quick-ish (in a wafty sort of way), sounds half-decent for a diesel. It has done about 125,000 miles now.

Issues in our ownership;

Couple of broken front springs
Front suspension top mounts wore out and started clunking
Rear radius arm bushes failed recently
We use a local indy, owned and staffed by factory-trained mechanics left over when the local main dealer closed down. Very good work at reasonable prices.

Observations;

Not particularly refined. 5-pot noise is quite nice, but if you were coming from a six or eight cylinder car, you’d find it a bit agricultural
It has used no oil in 50,000 miles
Fuel consumption is mid-30s in SWMBO’s hands. I tend to get closer to 40, but probably only because I tend to borrow it for longer trips. My son has just got 48.5mpg on a trip to South Wales in his 2017 version.
Gearbox isn’t the sharpest, especially with miles. It’s “sealed for life” but we’ve had it serviced anyway
Interior is comfortable and durable. Rear seats fold very flat - great for bulky loads
ICE / satnav is dated in our 2012 car, but much better in my son’s 2017 lightly-facelifted version
5-pot engines come in three or four flavors. Ours is the 212bhp sequential twin turbo, and is about right for the bulk. I expect the 184 and 163bhp versions are a bit pedestrian
Don’t fit Michelin Cross-climates - WAY too soft and just get chewed up by the weight. Pirelli Scorpions lasted three times longer


In summary - great car if the spec is right. Strong and reliable if it has been looked after. I would (again)

[ozzuk]

Lovely colour! I had one earlier this year, bought in Jan, sold it to Motorway in April. I think mine was the D5 (SE LUX NAV) though and it was Polestar tuned. Our needs changed - originally bought it as a towing car but changed to a motorhome instead of caravan.

Surprisingly though we just didn't get on with it, but we did have issues with clutch (kept sticking, £1500 work estimate by local garage for slave cylinder, dealer sorted).

The pros - big car but very clever design, doesn't feel like a big car inside.
Great spec - mine had everything you could think of, corner lights, HUD warning, auto braking, auto handbrake, sign radar (speed warning), auto door unlock etc
Great performance (though mine was supposedly tuned and ex volvo employee car);
Crazy good turning circle for big car.
Quality...things like how the doors close, just a nice feel.

Negatives:
Ironically the spec. I turned most things off as it got very distracting, constant warnings (perhaps due to my driving!)
Wallows, not great handling for such a powerful car.

I should have loved it (had a D4 estate years ago, amazing), but can't really put finger on why I didn't. Still tempted by a newer shape one though so can't be that bad!

Something my research at the time said to look out for - you want a globe button on the console, shows its the updated version.

Edited by ozzuk on Tuesday 15th April 08:32

[mikeiow]

chrisch77 said:

The face lifted mk1 XC60s are nice cars, I had one from new in 2016 until trading up to a XC90 4.5 years later.

Worth noting that the one you linked is a D5 4WD and has the ‘old’ 5 cylinder Diesel engine and clunky 6 speed auto box. Only the front wheel drive models got the ‘new’ Volvo 2 litre engine and 8 speed auto, in both D4 and D5 variants. The infotainment system will probably feel a bit dated!

This is a very important point.

I bought a new 2014 D4 FWD with the 8sp auto, & over 100k miles later, still love it!

We took it once again to the Alps for skiing last month, a very smooth drive: get one with the adaptive cruise.
I test drive the 4WD one, & the auto felt very ‘agricultural’ - mine was ordered blind ‘cos they were only just coming out, but is night and day compared with that. I wouldn’t order the older 4WD model (unless you drive across ploughed fields for a living…)

Also have ‘active main beam’ headlights - they shade the car in front but keep either side on full, or shade oncoming cars but keep the verge on full - amazing at night.

We use Waze on phones, so don’t worry about any maps built in.

I should add that some on the Volvo forums did appear to have issues with the EGR valve on the D4 engine….ours has been faultless, but worth doing some digging, I guess….any 10+ year old car could have issues

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 15th April 08:34