S60 D5 Auto

[anonymous-user]

Doing 130 miles a day in a Skoda Citigo is not doing me any favours, so I’m looking for a change. The default choice for comfy, cheap, reliable and fairly economical cruising is of course the S60.

I’ve pretty much decided on one now, insurance is reasonable and I think they’re a lot of car for the money.

However, the dilemma: I want an auto. I have read that the Geartronic boxes on these are no bueno when it comes to longevity. Ideally I’d rather have the Euro 3 163 bhp engine, but I understand they changed the gearbox around 2005 which is also when they did the facelift and introduced the Euro 4 engine.

My question to you is, is it possible to have the revised gearbox in a Euro 3 car (not fussed about whether it’s a facelift)? Or do you think it’s worth just going for a Euro 4 model and losing a few mpgs (DPF shouldn’t be an issue as I spend most of my time on the M5)?

Budget is around £2k if that helps.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

Haggle & a C270 can be yours these are truly bulletproof so i'd say consider one of these as well:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I’ve heard how good that engine is, but I’ve got my heart set on an S60! It’s an itch I’ve wanted to scratch for a while...

ZX10R NIN said:

With regards to the S60 go for the later one with the slightly better box.

I think this is the way forward, I’ve seen a few good examples of post 2005 ones comfortably within budget.

Anything particular to look out for when viewing one?

[anonymous-user]

valiant said:

Detailed and useful stuff

Cheers for that, just what I was after. I’m going to look at a mega mile V70 on Sunday (the day after my stag do no less, because cheap volvos are more important than hangovers). It’s a facelift 185 bhp auto with, er, 206k. It’s got FSH up to a point but after that nothing, I’m assuming it was self serviced.

Ordinarily it’s the kind of thing I’d run a mile from however I have a really good feeling about it, and assuming it drives ok and passes the usual inspections I’ll get the belts done (seller has agreed to knock a chunk off to cover this - anyone got a rough cost?) and do the engine and gearbox oil, and we should be laughing. The MOT history is a glistening sea of green too, with only 2 failures - both for blown bulbs.

I’ve always wanted a moon mileage car, and there’s hope for it yet!

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for your help chaps, after discussion with my insurance company I decided I was better off with a 163, and due to the potential for ruinious auto gearbox replacements I went for a manual after all.

I’ve just picked up a 2004 V70 D5 manual, which appears to have most of the expensive things replaced. Cosmetically it’s very poor, and needs a few small things doing (passenger side mirror glass is smashed, and the rear wiper arm is missing) but as cheap, comfy transport I think I’ve made the right call.

Will do a readers cars thread eventually, thanks again for your help.