Advice for a noob soon to be commuting 120ish miles a day...

[Mikey2312]

tonyvid said:

Very nice, I keep looking at those as they are nicely oddball. I imagine as a D5 they go like hell as well!

Im not normally a fan of silver cars at all but something about this one just stood out to me... I didnt get to properly play with the car as the roads were quite busy but I got the odd second gear launch and it quite happily lights the tyres up haha

[Mikey2312]

PartOfTheProblem said:

A manual D5 C30? Its a unicorn car! Nice one.

Yea it was the garage owners personal car that he has owned since 2009 so I think he knew the worth of it to be honest... I'm actually in 2 minds whether to keep it as my personal car and keep the fiesta to rack the miles up on

[Mikey2312]

Bonefish Blues said:

But the Fiesta's not suitable for the miles, that's where you came in.

Best get an S60 to rack the miles up on, I'd suggest

Haha back to square one... i'll see how the C30 behaves but I am tempted to keep it on the drive

[Mikey2312]

Bonefish Blues said:

Mikey2312 said:

Bonefish Blues said:

But the Fiesta's not suitable for the miles, that's where you came in.

Best get an S60 to rack the miles up on, I'd suggest

Haha back to square one... i'll see how the C30 behaves but I am tempted to keep it on the drive

I was being reasonably serious - despite its lack of a floating console , it's the mile-muncher you need.

Wait for the "bought a unicorn.. do i ride it or leave it in the garage" post haha but yea i'll see how it goes :-)

[Mikey2312]

PartOfTheProblem said:

Mikey2312 said:

Wait for the "bought a unicorn.. do i ride it or leave it in the garage" post haha but yea i'll see how it goes :-)

It's not a 'special occassion' car, its a diesel Volvo. Use it for your commute FFS

Chill bud it was a joke... I'm sure I'll be driving it for years to come or until a newer S80 falls within budget

[Mikey2312]

Soooo... picked up the C30 and have connected my phone via bluetooth for calls, etc but cannot play music, had many cars thats are normally capable of playing music from a phone as well as calls.. the centre dash has am/fm and CD but not Mode.

If I am unable to play music via the bluetooth connection then what is the easiest retrofit to get it to work?

   

[Mikey2312]

Bonefish Blues said:

There isn't an aux in in the centre cubby under the lid, is there? I know they started being fitted in about 2007 on HU850 - equipped cars.

I'll have a look shortly... just seems weird that calls go through fine but unable to play music when surely, if they both work on bluetooth, then it should work

[Mikey2312]

No aux port under the arm rest...

[Mikey2312]

Im under the impression that if it has a CD button instead of Mode then it is likely it doesnt have the capability...99% of the list ticked except music not a huge loss but dont think I've made my own mix CD since 2006

[Mikey2312]

Putting a little life back into this thread... 4 months into C30 ownership and I have seen the pro's and con's of ownership already...

Pro's
Awesome engine note for a diesel
Goes well for a 2.4 lump, never short on torque
Comfort is night and day compared to the fiesta
MPG... started at low 40s and after a few driving adjustments (tyre PSI, etc) I've managed a stable 50-54 depending on traffic and that's mixed driving.
Awesome spec list.. I only found the bottle holder in the rear a few days ago.. I'm finding new things all the time

Con's (This is where I'm unfortunately starting to fall out of love for the C30...)
Available space.. above all else this is becoming a bane of my life, the boot is seriously compact.. granted I knew this when I bought it but living with it day in day out is a bit different.
Volvo premium prices!!... In the short time I've owned it the car has been back for a full parking sensor replacement due to water ingress, front wheel bearings replacement and is now booked in for a service and cambelt replacement.. thankfully the first two items were covered under the warranty that came with the car but they would have set me back in excess of £1000.. parts in general for these just do not seem to be cheap at all
Crashy ride.. Being on 18" alloys and being the R-Design spec it is quite a stiff ride especially going over the recent pot holes, for anyone reading this forum in the future, go for smaller alloys!!!!

The available space for me is becoming a bit of a deal breaker, I'm finding that I'm needing more room and it's a pain when I have to decide whether to leave the in laws at home or the boot stuff for a day out.. I do really like the C30, the performance and comfort has been brilliant but ultimately I think 'impulse' may have had a part to play in buying it and I'm finding myself drawn more and more to an estate car just for the practicality of it as we're talking about a family in the near future...

I've narrowed it down to a Volvo V50 (really like the look of them), VW Passat Highline estate or Audi A6 Avant..

Anyone got any other suggestions of real life experiences with the above to help decide which way to go??

p.s. there is a good chance there will be a Volvo C30 D5 Manual up for sale in the near future if anybody knows someone who is looking

[Mikey2312]

Bonefish Blues said:

Prices aren't as expensive as that if you use an Indy and/or buy the parts. IIRC a wheel bearing (SKF again IIRC, so OE) was about £65 or so.

Keep the C30 if you don't want to do your brains in depreciation and buy an S60 for about £1500 or so to do the miles in. Sorry to keep coming back to them, but it's a tool you need, and you've found the flaw in buying "lifestyle" for a big commute.

The S60 is an option, I had one I was looking at before I bought the C30 and probably should have taken it in hindsight.. I'm hoping to part with the C30 for about £4250 ono but it is only worth what someone will pay for it.. an S60 would certainly free up some cash if I could find a manual cheap enough!

[Mikey2312]

Bonefish Blues said:

I know, we were discussing it before your head got turned, but it's hard to listen to it until you've experienced it yourself - even down to counselling against 18s yada yada yada

Euro 3 engine facelift's where you should ideally be (well it's where I got to in an identical scenario to yours, and I still have it)

haha yea sometimes you have to learn the hard way, it does look nice with 18s though!! I'll add the S60 to my list as, for some reason, I do really fancy an estate.. I was behind an A6 estate tonight and just thought "that's a bit of me, quite like that"

Do you know what the auto boxes are like on an S60 as there are an awful lot of them about

[Mikey2312]

So I was re-reading the thread and someone previously mentioned a SEAT Exeo... is it me or are they an audi A4 in drag? For the price, they seem like quite a bargain!

[Mikey2312]

Shiv_P said:

Yup, I think a few years after the B7 A4 was introduced SEAT took it, stuck a few new lights on it, ctrl c + ctrl v the rest including the interior and sold it for cheaper!

Yea I was just watching some reviews for it, supposedly when SEAT did the emission remap it killed a lot of them but there are still quite a few going. I found a 59 plate with 76k on the clock 2.0 TDI with quite a few bells and whistles for £3495.. that's mental!