RE: Shed Of The Week: Volvo S80
Discussion
nct001 said:
vixen1700 said:
Bought a £1k S40 in October that's done 14000 faultless comfortable miles since with a healthy 51.4 diesel mpg average.
Think I'll always have a reliable old Volvo of some description.
A reliable old Volvo!Think I'll always have a reliable old Volvo of some description.
You do realise it has a Renault dci 1.9 engine - open the bonnet French stuff everywhere - this model is not really a Volvo.
And the s40 was a Jv with Mitsubishi so I suppose the seats are Swedish.
Still with 126k on the clock and without a single rattle or squeak, it feels like a Volvo to me.
CliveM said:
£850
For something that comfortable and capable on long journeys - bloody great at what it's there to do.
Yes it's not a sports car but it's a SHED, that's not always the point.
Can you imagine how depressing it must be to be reading PH from another country where this cornucopia of shedness is three or four times the cost to buy/run?
Hello, PH's token Yank, here. Yes, it is depressing.For something that comfortable and capable on long journeys - bloody great at what it's there to do.
Yes it's not a sports car but it's a SHED, that's not always the point.
Can you imagine how depressing it must be to be reading PH from another country where this cornucopia of shedness is three or four times the cost to buy/run?
Just to show you exactly how depressing, I decided to search for a 2002-03 Volvo S80 and here's what I found.
http://listingallcars.com/details/2002-Volvo-S80-U...
This is the nearest one to me here at the beautiful and palatial Casa del Madman. It's a 2002 S80 2.9 automatic, white with cream leather, sunroof, and the highly desireable 17 inch Arrakis wheels. 161,000 miles on the clock and it appears to be in very good condition. How much, you ask? That'll be $4,499 or, at current exchange rates, about £3,484. That's roughly FOUR TIMES the asking price of the SOTW Volvo S80.
I can only dream of living on an island where nearly new Audis and the like all go for a fiver each! Anyone want to sponsor me through the immigration process?
PomBstard said:
Never understand the love for big old Volvos on PH. They're reasonably comfortable in a straight line and that's about it, and so many other cars can do that too. Even the seats aren't that good. Many other cars more capable and interesting, IME.
I have to disagree with this - the seats in our 06 S60 are superb , like big leather armchairs with heaters in, they are stupidly comfy.As for the car....engine exploded last year , last week the ABS lights all came on and the huge list of fault codes say that almost every electrical item relating to the ABS is now broken (codes cleared and its happy again at the moment, phew) , electric windows have freak-outs sometimes and won't close , had to replace a headlight bulb which felt like it required removal of the entire bodyshell , and somehow I managed to break the headlight squirters so now the car wets itself every time the washers are used.... not sold on Swedish cars (and working on them) or their reliability so far.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 1st May 10:11
JimSuperSix said:
I have to disagree with this - the seats in our 06 S60 are superb , like big leather armchairs with heaters in, they are stupidly comfy.
As for the car....engine exploded last year , last week the ABS lights all came on and the huge list of fault codes say that almost every electrical item relating to the ABS is now broken (codes cleared and its happy again at the moment, phew) , electric windows have freak-outs sometimes and won't close , had to replace a headlight bulb which felt like it required removal of the entire bodyshell , and somehow I managed to break the headlight squirters so now the car wets itself every time the washers are used.... not sold on Swedish cars (and working on them) or their reliability so far.
Funnily enough the middle aged P2 platform cars are the best ones to have. After the early issues were sorted but before the big facelift where I personally think a lot of cost was taken out of them and Fords "who gives a sAs for the car....engine exploded last year , last week the ABS lights all came on and the huge list of fault codes say that almost every electrical item relating to the ABS is now broken (codes cleared and its happy again at the moment, phew) , electric windows have freak-outs sometimes and won't close , had to replace a headlight bulb which felt like it required removal of the entire bodyshell , and somehow I managed to break the headlight squirters so now the car wets itself every time the washers are used.... not sold on Swedish cars (and working on them) or their reliability so far.
Edited by JimSuperSix on Monday 1st May 10:11
t about long term ownership" engineering influence began to creep in. The headlamp bulbs was an easy job on the early cars, for example. Basically the further into the Ford era your car was made the more likely it is to have small irritating problems. They never really gave the S80 a big update so they might not suffer from this.My '08 C70 is a good example, with a Volvo engine and gearbox but plenty of Ford bits in it's Ford Focus platform. Every single time a component fails or wears out a bit sooner than I'd expect, and I do mean every single time, I take it out and it has the FoMoCo stamp on it. It's certainly needed more work to get to 120k than my 2004 V70 needed to get to 150k, and has been treated much more kindly too. The 2004 car was a pleasure to work on, logically assembled using very high quality fixings that all came apart and went back together again smoothly. After years of Jaguar tat it was a revelation.
I am hoping that the new post Ford designed cars will show a return to form in terms of robustness and quality of engineering.
PomBstard said:
Never understand the love for big old Volvos on PH. They're reasonably comfortable in a straight line and that's about it, and so many other cars can do that too. Even the seats aren't that good. Many other cars more capable and interesting, IME.
Honestly, you have to drive a few cars in their class in order to understand the Volvo. They just feel "right" to drive.
The design team clearly decided, that this is not going to be a car that is driven at the limits of traction and grip, let us instead concentrate on making it feel good at 7/10s and less.
The steering has just the right amount of feedback and weight, its a very easy car to drive smoothly and quickly.
The suspension is properly compliant without lots of body roll.
The driving position, seats, controls and ergonomics are near perfect.
Its got a great stereo .
The d5 engine is torquey, smooth, and is geared so you are in your powerband at UK motorway speeds. Its economical, and unlike many other "economical" engines, it remains economical even when driven at fast UK motorway speeds, which means 85mph dropping down to 65mph and back up again frequently. It is not perfectly reliable, but the common problems are well known and usually under £ 500 to fix at a specialist, and it will do big mileages with ease.
For covering lots of miles of UK motorways and DC's its just perfect, and encourages a relaxed, smooth driving style that is perfectly suited for the realities of daily progress.
You really need to try driving a few other cars in its class and then get back into the Volvo and you will be pleasantly suprised every time at just how good it is at the fundamental basics of driving.
ExPat2B said:
Honestly, you have to drive a few cars in their class in order to understand the Volvo.
They just feel "right" to drive.
The design team clearly decided, that this is not going to be a car that is driven at the limits of traction and grip, let us instead concentrate on making it feel good at 7/10s and less.
The steering has just the right amount of feedback and weight, its a very easy car to drive smoothly and quickly.
The suspension is properly compliant without lots of body roll.
The driving position, seats, controls and ergonomics are near perfect.
Its got a great stereo .
The d5 engine is torquey, smooth, and is geared so you are in your powerband at UK motorway speeds. Its economical, and unlike many other "economical" engines, it remains economical even when driven at fast UK motorway speeds, which means 85mph dropping down to 65mph and back up again frequently. It is not perfectly reliable, but the common problems are well known and usually under £ 500 to fix at a specialist, and it will do big mileages with ease.
For covering lots of miles of UK motorways and DC's its just perfect, and encourages a relaxed, smooth driving style that is perfectly suited for the realities of daily progress.
You really need to try driving a few other cars in its class and then get back into the Volvo and you will be pleasantly suprised every time at just how good it is at the fundamental basics of driving.
This sums the whole 'Volvo thing' up perfectly. I think it applies to them all as well, not just the S80. Maybe I'm biased because it's my own car, but I drive a C30 every day and I don't actually think I would get a more 'nice place to be' car without going into the barge category. They just feel "right" to drive.
The design team clearly decided, that this is not going to be a car that is driven at the limits of traction and grip, let us instead concentrate on making it feel good at 7/10s and less.
The steering has just the right amount of feedback and weight, its a very easy car to drive smoothly and quickly.
The suspension is properly compliant without lots of body roll.
The driving position, seats, controls and ergonomics are near perfect.
Its got a great stereo .
The d5 engine is torquey, smooth, and is geared so you are in your powerband at UK motorway speeds. Its economical, and unlike many other "economical" engines, it remains economical even when driven at fast UK motorway speeds, which means 85mph dropping down to 65mph and back up again frequently. It is not perfectly reliable, but the common problems are well known and usually under £ 500 to fix at a specialist, and it will do big mileages with ease.
For covering lots of miles of UK motorways and DC's its just perfect, and encourages a relaxed, smooth driving style that is perfectly suited for the realities of daily progress.
You really need to try driving a few other cars in its class and then get back into the Volvo and you will be pleasantly suprised every time at just how good it is at the fundamental basics of driving.
Yes 2004-2005 was the sweet spot. Quality went down significantly later. The petrol 2.5T is lovely but rare because of the all the politically inspired "diesel love" that happened 10 years ago and although the petrol was listed up to the end of 2007 they just crept in to the £500 tax bracket post March 2006 so (apart from Motability!) there were just about none sold.
Geartronic is great when working but post 100K miles a punt - and the problems can be hidden for 20 miles from cold so you wont see on a test drive - changing the "sealed for life" fluid at around 80K miles is straightforward and helps.
Not as good a family car as family grows. Great at child seat age but rear legroom less than you'd think and much moaning when they get to teenage years.
Geartronic is great when working but post 100K miles a punt - and the problems can be hidden for 20 miles from cold so you wont see on a test drive - changing the "sealed for life" fluid at around 80K miles is straightforward and helps.
Not as good a family car as family grows. Great at child seat age but rear legroom less than you'd think and much moaning when they get to teenage years.
I tried to like a big Volvo, I really did...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
But ended up completely bored.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
But ended up completely bored.
Funny how many claim the 04 or 05 are the 'sweet' spot. I have a few of these and work on and MOT a lot of others and the early ones are the ones to go for if you don't want it welding every mot.
The early 2001's or so have the best bodies the later ones have failing strut tops etc.
My current volvo bangers are, s60 2.0t, s60 d5 2004 (worst of the lot) and a 2001 s80 t6
The early 2001's or so have the best bodies the later ones have failing strut tops etc.
My current volvo bangers are, s60 2.0t, s60 d5 2004 (worst of the lot) and a 2001 s80 t6
TheAngryDog said:
chammyman said:
My current volvo bangers are, s60 2.0t, s60 d5 2004 (worst of the lot) and a 2001 s80 t6
I'd like a T6, but have heard the gearbox is awful and only a 4 speed? MadmanO/T People said:
TheAngryDog said:
chammyman said:
My current volvo bangers are, s60 2.0t, s60 d5 2004 (worst of the lot) and a 2001 s80 t6
I'd like a T6, but have heard the gearbox is awful and only a 4 speed? 
I have a s60d5 poverty spec but the engine is a peach ,mine has 175,000 miles and can still crack on,motorways are where its happiest,seems to get 44mpg however I drive it,i recently did a ten hour drive with the only stop being for fuel ,Essex to wales, wales to Lincolnshire,lincolnshire to Essex,the pick up when you press your foot down is good if you need to overtake at motorway speeds,just be wary if your looking at one with a slight oil leak that cant be traced as it can be very expensive,if I had the spare money I would love to see what chipping it would do but my head says other things need sorting first lol
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff