V50 Reliability

[gman88667733]

I am looking to change my 2002 CRV to get better fuel economy + something less rusty.

I test drove a 2008 2.0d V50 with 126k on the clock. It drove nicely, loads of power and it was comfy. The issue with that car was that the air con didn't work (seems the condensers go on V50's commonly) and also it was due a cambelt change and a couple of other small bits. Because of this, I offered the guy £1700 + the air con to be fixed. Never came back to me, still has it up for £2195, so fair enough.

Fast forward a few weeks to now and I'm still looking... I've read more about V50's online and many say that they have various reliability issues, which has concerned me.

Am I better off looking for an older V70 that is a 'proper' Volvo, or would a V50 still be fine? i can cope with the odd issue, it is a cheap car at the end of the day. I just don't want something that is at the garage every other week as that'll cancel out any fuel savings.

Cheers

[ucb]

My V50 did 175k miles. For the last couple of months of my ownership it would suddenly go electrically dead on start-up, but giving the negative terminal on the battery a tap sorted it out. Must have happened about 5 times in total. I should have cleaned the wiring loom up a bit but I needed to change it anyway. Otherwise it was consummables (i include the condensor in that)

[Davie]

The issue with reading online is that the vast majority of content will be people asking for help with faults, complaining theirs has failed or generally listing the negatives as that's what we do. It's rare it's balanced out with tales of a more positive nature, more so as they'll quickly be quashed by somebody saying their's was crap.

I bought mine, an 07 V50 2.0D Sport just over three years ago with about 180k on the clock. It was a chap on a forum who'd gone to part ex it and had offered it at part exchange rates. So I bought it as we had a small human looming and the good lady's Astra hatch wasn't ideal. It's been mapped, no idea by who or to what levels but it makes a big difference (my sisters also has a standard 2.0D) and over the past three years I've taken up to it's current 235,000 miles.

Its been run with the shed ethos in mind and gets a hard life but in its time, aside for routine servicing (which is a must!)...

Lower suspension arms (ball joints worn)
Track rod ends
Discs and pads all round
A pair of rear upper shock mounts (one cracked)
OSF driveshaft inner CV boot
Oil pressure sensor (leaked oil)
Rear coil spring... seven 3x2 slabs was about five too many for it.

It also had the fairly common CEM issues which can cause all manner of electrical / power loss problems and can be due to water ingress from a leaky sunroof or windscreen but they can also just get a bit dry and flaky on the connections from the loom to the unit, unplugging and plugging back in with generally fix it for XXX amount of time. Mine was a faff for about 6 months until I finally cleaned the pins and it's been fine for the past two years.

I can't really fault it - it's a nice enough car to drive as far as fit and finish and handling. It's basically a Focus chassis with a PSA / HDi engine which the Volvo boys get all fussed over but both elements are actually very good in their own right and I've had less issues with this than I have with my previous V70's and it drives better and is easier to live with day to day I think.

But, they are but machines and machines can and will fail and you could get lucky and have no issues or have a catalogue of disasters from the word go but generally speaking they're pretty dependable and not expensive to put right, service and run. A V70 (P2) is bigger and more "Volvo" but if overall space isn't a huge concern, I'd still rather have the V50 for day to day usage. I've also got a P3 XC70 and can't fault it either, despite also being "Ford" derived and it too is proving fairly hassle free purchase.

[anonymous-user]

A friend of mines was still going strong at 196k miles before the cambelt went. If he had changed the cambelt sooner it would still be going now .

Good reliable cars.

[DavidY]

From your other thread

DavidY said:

I have a V50 D2 R-Design, bought new in 2012, its now on 226K miles and as another poster still on original clutch/exhaust, in fact most of the car is still original. I cover approx 25K a year, mainly on longer journeys so its a lot of a Motorway/A-road miles.

If its a diesel then a DPF eplacement could be an expensive issue (£500), mine went at 194K, but other than a few bushes and gaiters (and a couple of rear shocks), I've had no nasty surprises.

Edited by DavidY on Friday 2nd July 08:55

in 226K miles I have replaced

2 x Steering Gaiter
2 x Front Lower Arms/Bushes
1 x Battery
1 x DPF Filter (194K miles)
1 x Clutch Pedal Spring Mechanism (not Clutch)
1 x Indicator Stalk Switch
2 x Rear Shock Absorbers

other than that regular servicing including Cambelt at 150K

Tyres last 35K-40K miles though I did eek 47K out of one set, it returns an average of 57mpg according to the trip (only reset at service intervals, and is running with very few faults (slight bplit in drivers seat leather, and rear parking sensors have a mind of their own!)

Just gets on with the job of going A to B, I even bought a replacement 2 years ago (V40), which my wife used, but we have sinced sold that on as the V50 just keeps going.......

[gman88667733]

To update this, I bought a 63 plate Volvo V60 today with 152k miles! Full Volvo history. Flywheel was noisy and so was release bearing, so the seller dropped by half the price my garage quoted to fix. So a decent price for a fully sorted car. My garage inspected it before buying, so I am happy with the condition, everything is in order underneath, no leaks, knocks etc... Premium tyres, newish brakes, cambelt has been done and isn't due for a good while. It is a really lovely car. For the price we paid (£3500) plus £1200 to replace and clutch and flywheel, it seems like a good value car.

Hopefully it proves to be dependable! Looks and feels all new inside, little to no wear apart from driver seat and steering wheel is a bit shiny

Edited by gman88667733 on Saturday 3rd July 19:49

[FiF]

I had two V50s as company cars, both went to just over 100k before hitting the company mileage limit and were swapped out. One was 55plate 2.0D manual, second was 2.0D Powershift.

Other than routing servicing by the dealer only had two items which required attention other than standard servicing.

First one the seals on the headlight washers went, so washer fluid drained. Volvo argued this was due to using non standard washer additive. Though the guy did admit that their pricing was a pisstake. Was using the car between UK and Sweden mainly, and despite the additive used being that draught stuff they sell at Statoil stations and guaranteed down to minus 20, leaving it at the airport for over a week in below minus 25C everything froze solid.

The second one the aircon had a fault, had to change the condenser, complete dashboard out job, in dealer for several days, dread to think what that cost.