Older diesels - bad buy?

[gman88667733]

I had decided to keep my 2002 CRV petrol auto for a bit longer, but looking underneath it and seeing a lot more rust starting, the mind bogglingly bad fuel consumption etc, I think it may be a better bet to MOT it and sell it now.

I went to see a 2008 Volvo V50 yesterday, it was a decent car, but it has no record of cambelt change (lots of services though, all at Volvo themselves) and the air con didn't work (seller said they would regas it).

Personally, I liked the car, so I offered a good chunk below the asking price to allow for repairs + them getting the air con sorted and am waiting to hear back from them with a decision.

I did a bit of digging online and it seems V50's with the 2.0d engine can have various issues, being mostly a Ford. But I am not sure if I would find this with any old diesel I look up online? The car in question is on 126k and drove really well actually, no untoward noises either.

I've offered the chap £1700 with the view of spending about £500 to get it up to scratch if I did get it. At this price, am I looking too much into the potential issues?

I'd like diesel and manual for the fuel economy as my driving would suit this as well, but I don't want a money pit..!

Does anyone have any advice on this? It'd be much appreciated.

Edited by gman88667733 on Monday 14th June 14:01

[halo34]

I think from memory those engines were ford units - something in back of mind about the DPFs but you would need to google!

[PurpleTurtle]

Generally speaking I would be thinking any diesel of that age/mileage could have a DPF, DMF or turbo issue just stored up just waiting to pounce, but I'd happily be proved wrong.

Ironically we are probably looking for a (manual) petrol CR-V as our next family runabout, but likely to go for the 2012 on model which is a bit more economical (and we would be doing <8k miles pa in it).

[gman88667733]

halo34 said:

I think from memory those engines were ford units - something in back of mind about the DPFs but you would need to google!

They are ford/PSA units. I had seen somewhere that they don't have a DPF being Euro 4?

[gman88667733]

PurpleTurtle said:

Generally speaking I would be thinking any diesel of that age/mileage could have a DPF, DMF or turbo issue just stored up just waiting to pounce, but I'd happily be proved wrong.

Ironically we are probably looking for a (manual) petrol CR-V as our next family runabout, but likely to go for the 2012 on model which is a bit more economical (and we would be doing <8k miles pa in it).

This is my worry. I can't stand the fuel consumption of my CRV and it will need welding again and again, but mechanically, nothing has gone wrong in the past year, before that it was really just brake calipers that were an issue.

I'm not too sure what to do really.

I've had DMF and turbo issues on a 2005 1.9pd Octavia and that was a right pain in the ass. Sold it on with a noisy DMF as I didn't want to risk it

Just to add - the CRV is a lovely car, all generations of them are really good cars. The petrol engine in mine is quiet and smooth, but has not a lot of power, mostly due to being auto. I'd imagine one of the 4th gen models would be a really good car.

Edited by gman88667733 on Monday 14th June 14:12

[GreatGranny]

It was the 1.6d Drive engine that had the problems.

I had one in my S40 and had DMF failure and DPF issues which eventually forced me to trade it in.

It was doing 500 miles a week and was on 120k miles so actually it did well.

I had the 2.0d engine in a V60 and sold it with 145k miles after zero issues in 4 years aside from the usual tyres/pads etc..

IMO the D5 engine in the S60/V70 would be a good bet for less than £2k.

I think the 163bhp version doesn't have DPF but hard to find with decent mileage and manual.

S60
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102229...

V70 with decent spec
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103180...

[gman88667733]

GreatGranny said:

It was the 1.6d Drive engine that had the problems.

I had one in my S40 and had DMF failure and DPF issues which eventually forced me to trade it in.

It was doing 500 miles a week and was on 120k miles so actually it did well.

I had the 2.0d engine in a V60 and sold it with 145k miles after zero issues in 4 years aside from the usual tyres/pads etc..

IMO the D5 engine in the S60/V70 would be a good bet for less than £2k.

I think the 163bhp version doesn't have DPF but hard to find with decent mileage and manual.

S60
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102229...

V70 with decent spec
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103180...

My car of choice would be an older V70 as I am really fond of them. There are a couple not too far from me, both with about 165k on them, but records of cambelt etc. Would that mileage be too high? One of them was only about £1300 IIRC

[Jamescrs]

I would run away from the Volvo while you still can. Older Volvo's of that era can be plagued with electrical issues and Volvo parts prices are generally pretty high compared to the cost you are paying to buy that car.
For example I had issues with door lock mechanisms failing on my Volvo V60 so I could not lock the doors, the price for each door for a new mechanism supplied and fitted was circa £250, the boot hatch mechanism was nearer £400 so you can see how prices quickly stack up on them. Your £500 repair budget may not go very far.

Regards the Air Con not working, on older cars I have rarely found a simple regas being the long term to fix faulty aircon but you may be lucky there

[gman88667733]

Jamescrs said:

I would run away from the Volvo while you still can. Older Volvo's of that era can be plagued with electrical issues and Volvo parts prices are generally pretty high compared to the cost you are paying to buy that car.
For example I had issues with door lock mechanisms failing on my Volvo V60 so I could not lock the doors, the price for each door for a new mechanism supplied and fitted was circa £250, the boot hatch mechanism was nearer £400 so you can see how prices quickly stack up on them. Your £500 repair budget may not go very far.

Regards the Air Con not working, on older cars I have rarely found a simple regas being the long term to fix faulty aircon but you may be lucky there

I am not committed to it in any way yet, I doubt the seller will agree to my terms anyway!
Just leaves me with the question of, what then?

I agree about the air con. V50's are notorious for bad condensers.

[PurpleTurtle]

gman88667733 said:

GreatGranny said:

It was the 1.6d Drive engine that had the problems.

I had one in my S40 and had DMF failure and DPF issues which eventually forced me to trade it in.

It was doing 500 miles a week and was on 120k miles so actually it did well.

I had the 2.0d engine in a V60 and sold it with 145k miles after zero issues in 4 years aside from the usual tyres/pads etc..

IMO the D5 engine in the S60/V70 would be a good bet for less than £2k.

I think the 163bhp version doesn't have DPF but hard to find with decent mileage and manual.

S60
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102229...

V70 with decent spec
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103180...

My car of choice would be an older V70 as I am really fond of them. There are a couple not too far from me, both with about 165k on them, but records of cambelt etc. Would that mileage be too high? One of them was only about £1300 IIRC

We have very similar tastes OP! Before deciding on a CRV I was looking at older V70s, mainly because we go camping a lot, need a big boot, tow a small caravan. V70 seems ideal. However, a lot of them are autos, and at the mileages you speak of the the auto box can be troublesome.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/123607/vol...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=11...

Thanks to a fellow PHer mate who pointed this out to me.

[gman88667733]

PurpleTurtle said:

We have very similar tastes OP! Before deciding on a CRV I was looking at older V70s, mainly because we go camping a lot, need a big boot, tow a small caravan. V70 seems ideal. However, a lot of them are autos, and at the mileages you speak of the the auto box can be troublesome.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/123607/vol...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=11...

Thanks to a fellow PHer mate who pointed this out to me.

I am well aware of the potential auto issues. So I would definitely only go for a manual!
Is an older, manual V70 a reasonable bet? Many in my ideal price range seem to be at 150-165k miles...
I am not expecting a problem free car completely. All older cars need work, doesn't really matter what it is. I just don't want constant problems really.

I've contacted the owner of this V70 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194200865151?hash=item2...
It looks very well spec'd and looked after. For the price, seems like a decent car.

Edited by gman88667733 on Monday 14th June 14:54

Edited by gman88667733 on Monday 14th June 15:03

[gman88667733]

The real problem I am having is that any car I search, there seem to be vast amounts of people telling others to avoid at all costs.
Whenever I look into the older D5 V70's that are all at high mileage, people seem to say they are money pits and always break, not worth buying etc... I'm not sure quite what to believe, or whether to ignore owner's sites completely and buy based on the condition of the particular car?

[Jag_NE]

What sort of mileage are you doing OP? Unless it’s high I’d stick with what you know, given it’s a very reliable car. Saving a few quid a week on fuel will be immediately wiped out if the Volvo hits you with some unexpected bills.

[halo34]

I had a number of v70s/S60s and a 850 tdi - personally I wouldn't again. The d5 is a great unit, but I had endless problems with both the s60 and the v70 (manual/auto) and I moved away from Volvo at that point.

[GreatGranny]

gman88667733 said:

My car of choice would be an older V70 as I am really fond of them. There are a couple not too far from me, both with about 165k on them, but records of cambelt etc. Would that mileage be too high? One of them was only about £1300 IIRC

If they've had belts etc then they should be ok.

They are heavy on front suspension so check MOT records and receipts.

We've had 2 x XC90s, V60, S40 and a S1 V70 and 240 before that and S40 was the only one that threw up large bills but it did get some hammer.
We were probably lucky with the XC90s, they towed a big caravan and were autos.
My cousins manual XC90 had gearbox and transfer box issues twice costing him £3-4k over 2 years.

Alternatively go for Japanese, Avensis, Auris, Accord, Civic etc..
Do you need an estate?

[Jaguar99]

While mine was a petrol, I had a V50 for a year or so. I loved the car and it was so comfortable but it did keep having electrical “moments”. It was about six years old and had done 50k-ish.

It never let me down but little things like the stereo just didn’t work for a morning. After a little “rest” it was ok again. The central locking sometime needed a couple of presses and sometimes got messages in the cluster to check things that were actually fine.

I traded it for a diesel Audi before anything got serious but I still see it about locally and the MOT history says it’s done over 120k so maybe I needn’t have worried. That said, the mpg on it wasn’t doing me any favours at the time.

In general the older the diesel the less additional bits and bobs to go wrong as you start to lose DMFs, DPFs, etc but other bits are more likely to be worn out so if you really need a diesel you are always going to be playing a bit of a trade off between potential issues.

Edited by Jaguar99 on Monday 14th June 17:40

[samoht]

If you like petrol/auto/Japanese but want better fuel economy, you could consider something like a Lexus RX at £3.5k or so
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105062...

[stevemcs]

It won't be as simple as a regas, its always the condenser.
Wheel bearings and suspension - front arm rear bushes mainly

[gman88667733]

samoht said:

If you like petrol/auto/Japanese but want better fuel economy, you could consider something like a Lexus RX at £3.5k or so
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105062...

That is a thing of beauty... What is a realistic fuel consumption figure for one of these?

[gman88667733]

stevemcs said:

It won't be as simple as a regas, its always the condenser.
Wheel bearings and suspension - front arm rear bushes mainly

I think you are right there. I've discounted that car now.
After lots of looking, I am now back to possibly just sticking with my CRV until it either A) Goes wrong in a big way, or B) something really ideal comes up that is a good reason to change.