Are Volvo's still built tough?
Discussion
Hi folks
Potentially looking for a new family slogger (and moving on my Disco4). Ideally an estate with an auto box and a decent tow capacity. Comfort being a priority. I'm not quite 40 yet, but then i did have an Escort estate aged 18 so i'm not one to care about stereotyping.
Usual suspects, A6, superb and 5 series are under consideration, however the v90 has also popped up in the searches.
I remember days of yore when my uncle had an 850 (Turbo nutter thing?!) that ran like clockwork and a friend ran a v70 D5 for to 300k without trouble and once suggested it was being unreliable as it had blown a lightbulb on 270k
Thing is, now they're under chinese ownership. Are they still built tough? Seats still the best on the market? Any weaknesses on a V90 in diesel auto guise?
Opinions much appreciated
Potentially looking for a new family slogger (and moving on my Disco4). Ideally an estate with an auto box and a decent tow capacity. Comfort being a priority. I'm not quite 40 yet, but then i did have an Escort estate aged 18 so i'm not one to care about stereotyping.
Usual suspects, A6, superb and 5 series are under consideration, however the v90 has also popped up in the searches.
I remember days of yore when my uncle had an 850 (Turbo nutter thing?!) that ran like clockwork and a friend ran a v70 D5 for to 300k without trouble and once suggested it was being unreliable as it had blown a lightbulb on 270k
Thing is, now they're under chinese ownership. Are they still built tough? Seats still the best on the market? Any weaknesses on a V90 in diesel auto guise?
Opinions much appreciated
Ran a leased V90 petrol Inscription for two years / 18k with zero issues.
Was well built (at least as good as Audi / BMW / Mercedes), comfortable and quiet, and very practical. It still looked like a new car on the day it was returned - despite having the ‘blonde’ interior.
Only real downside was disappointing fuel consumption, but the diesel should be better in that respect.
Was well built (at least as good as Audi / BMW / Mercedes), comfortable and quiet, and very practical. It still looked like a new car on the day it was returned - despite having the ‘blonde’ interior.
Only real downside was disappointing fuel consumption, but the diesel should be better in that respect.
I don't think 18k miles tells you much of anything, to be trouble free for what is less than 12 months use for many drivers is a very low bar that even VW can probably just about meet.
I don't think any of the FWD cars were quite as indestructible as the RWD ones, my P2 V70 and Mk2 C70 were tough and wore their miles (I took both from low miles up to 150k+) well, but did chuck up the odd expensive bill, usually for an ECU of some sort.
What Volvos don't seem to have ever done is completely s
t themselves mechanically like an Audi, or start leaking and burning oil (and coolant) like a BMW though, and the reliability figures I've seen for the new ones suggest they're still very good in that respect.
I don't think any of the FWD cars were quite as indestructible as the RWD ones, my P2 V70 and Mk2 C70 were tough and wore their miles (I took both from low miles up to 150k+) well, but did chuck up the odd expensive bill, usually for an ECU of some sort.
What Volvos don't seem to have ever done is completely s
t themselves mechanically like an Audi, or start leaking and burning oil (and coolant) like a BMW though, and the reliability figures I've seen for the new ones suggest they're still very good in that respect. I never liked the seats in a volvos Ive drive , found them suited to tall heavy people - of which I am neither
Parents had a couple of last generation Xc70s I drove lots
Reliable ish - but expensive to maintain, one of the twin turbos died in their later one @ 80k leading to a huge bill
I wouldnt - but I'm not a van of volvos so that's my opinion.
In fact I find estates a bit useless, I prefer vans and van based cars, at least they are REALLY practical instead of pretending to be. I find modern estates with their swooping rear limits boot size, so you end up with something quite practical but not that big
Thats my 10p... it goes against the grain of what most think though!
Parents had a couple of last generation Xc70s I drove lots
Reliable ish - but expensive to maintain, one of the twin turbos died in their later one @ 80k leading to a huge bill
I wouldnt - but I'm not a van of volvos so that's my opinion.
In fact I find estates a bit useless, I prefer vans and van based cars, at least they are REALLY practical instead of pretending to be. I find modern estates with their swooping rear limits boot size, so you end up with something quite practical but not that big
Thats my 10p... it goes against the grain of what most think though!
TwistingMyMelon said:
In fact I find estates a bit useless, I prefer vans and van based cars, at least they are REALLY practical instead of pretending to be.
I know what you mean. You can fit one washing machine in a small hatchback, and one washing machine in an estate car. You can't fit a dinner table in either of them.They are pretty good at tip runs and holidays though.
honest answer as someone in the trade with Volvo experience.
Volvo used to be bullet proof if a little expensive to maintain with a heavy service around 70K.
Since they are now Chinese owned they are much different - although aimed at the premium market they are a long way off a premium product in my opinion - the build quality is good but they are far too complicated than they can handle. Its almost like they get the customer to test the product and rectify through the warranty system.
Ive known vehicles to be off the road for months whilst waiting repair - would I buy one myself - No!! would I recommend a relative or a friend buy one from me - No!
Luckily I supply other makes that I would recommend
Volvo used to be bullet proof if a little expensive to maintain with a heavy service around 70K.
Since they are now Chinese owned they are much different - although aimed at the premium market they are a long way off a premium product in my opinion - the build quality is good but they are far too complicated than they can handle. Its almost like they get the customer to test the product and rectify through the warranty system.
Ive known vehicles to be off the road for months whilst waiting repair - would I buy one myself - No!! would I recommend a relative or a friend buy one from me - No!
Luckily I supply other makes that I would recommend
Baldchap said:
NS66 said:
although aimed at the premium market they are a long way off a premium product in my opinion - the build quality is good but they are far too complicated than they can handle.
Problem is, the same is true of most 'premium' manufacturers. Had three Volvo’s in recent years.
A 2018 V40 T5, which felt solid, but i didn’t gel with and so traded in for a brand new 2020 V60 in the sporty R-Design spec.
Had that for two years and was generally very satisfied with it, but two observations - driver seat squeaked regularly, which is a known problem, and then the servicing which was every 12 months seemed expensive if you didn’t take out the service plan when first bought (think it was £599 for three years, when actually the second service was over £500).
So I traded that in before it’s second service was due, and got a brand new XC40 hybrid. Within weeks noticed an oil leak, which turned out to be the gearbox seal. The supplying dealer was denying it was there from new, because they do a ‘thorough’ PDI and would have noticed…and it had been recovered to my most local dealer who took weeks to fix it and so I got rid as I just didn’t trust the car any longer, and didn’t have any confidence in my two most local dealers.
So in summary, of the new cars there were issues and the dealers were terrible, and the costs can be unexpectedly high for things like servicing which is much more frequent than some other manufacturers. I think I’m done with Volvo now…
A 2018 V40 T5, which felt solid, but i didn’t gel with and so traded in for a brand new 2020 V60 in the sporty R-Design spec.
Had that for two years and was generally very satisfied with it, but two observations - driver seat squeaked regularly, which is a known problem, and then the servicing which was every 12 months seemed expensive if you didn’t take out the service plan when first bought (think it was £599 for three years, when actually the second service was over £500).
So I traded that in before it’s second service was due, and got a brand new XC40 hybrid. Within weeks noticed an oil leak, which turned out to be the gearbox seal. The supplying dealer was denying it was there from new, because they do a ‘thorough’ PDI and would have noticed…and it had been recovered to my most local dealer who took weeks to fix it and so I got rid as I just didn’t trust the car any longer, and didn’t have any confidence in my two most local dealers.
So in summary, of the new cars there were issues and the dealers were terrible, and the costs can be unexpectedly high for things like servicing which is much more frequent than some other manufacturers. I think I’m done with Volvo now…
The big issue with modern Volvos is their electrics.
I ran a 2016 xc90 for 40k miles over 2 years and had:
2x failed ECUs
Failed infotainment system
Both rear door actuators failed, meaning you couldn’t open the doors.
Major oil leak, which could only be repaired by removing the cam belt.
That’s not mentioning how many times it had to go into the garage to try and diagnose some of those problems. I got rid of it after spending over £5k fixing most of the above in one year.
Lovely cars otherwise. Maybe I just got unlucky with a Friday afternoon car.
I ran a 2016 xc90 for 40k miles over 2 years and had:
2x failed ECUs
Failed infotainment system
Both rear door actuators failed, meaning you couldn’t open the doors.
Major oil leak, which could only be repaired by removing the cam belt.
That’s not mentioning how many times it had to go into the garage to try and diagnose some of those problems. I got rid of it after spending over £5k fixing most of the above in one year.
Lovely cars otherwise. Maybe I just got unlucky with a Friday afternoon car.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 27th June 20:22
Slow said:
Coming from a Land Rover have you considered a Range Rover? Will fit 2 chest freezers, king size mattress etc. Tows 3.5 ton. Automatic and 30 mpg on a run.
Yes I have. And i'm a close follower of all your RR threads. I've got a D4, SDV6 with 8sp auto. I'd potentially be interested in an L405 SDV6, however every time i get in my D4 and press the start button i wonder if this is the day the crank snaps or yet another 4-figure bill is heading my way.
And yes, whilst i have budgeted for and do expect a running cost, it's starting to grate a little bit that in these times of stupid inflation and costs going up for everything, should i really be spending this on the "luxury" of a LR product when ic ould potentially go back to something more sensisble for a while.
If i were to stay with a LR product, then i'd just keep the devil i know, i think!
We have V60 Cross Country T5 with 60tkm. So like 40+t miles. We are living in finnish countryside and car has been reliable and durable. Our conditions are quite bad and harsh. So yeah, they are quite tough. Toyota and Lexus are better but Volvo is good too. Big difference to our ex-bmw.
I've been impressed with our 2014 XC70 so far - going on 50k miles (from 60k to just under 110k now), in almost 3 years without any real trouble and no sign of it on the horizon. The only non-routine thing has been some bust rear springs that were probably my own fault for massively overloading it with rubble then driving down rough farm tracks to dump it, and they were covered under warranty without any quibble whatsoever which I was pleasantly surprised with. In fact it's just been through it's MOT; I was expecting that it would need some suspension bits since we do clatter it about off-road quite a bit but nope, nothing.
It might be worth noting that by 2014 Volvo had been making essentially the same car for 15-odd years, and it originated in a time when lots of people would be buying them as workhorses to keep for a long time. While reviews of XC70s from around 2014 on were (justifiably) saying that they were quite long in the tooth compared to stuff like A6 Allroads, the flipside of that is that it's a well-sorted car with most major issues ironed out. It might just be possible that the newer XCs are designed and built more with PCP-toting suburb dwellers in mind, which would be fair enough as that's good business.
It might be worth noting that by 2014 Volvo had been making essentially the same car for 15-odd years, and it originated in a time when lots of people would be buying them as workhorses to keep for a long time. While reviews of XC70s from around 2014 on were (justifiably) saying that they were quite long in the tooth compared to stuff like A6 Allroads, the flipside of that is that it's a well-sorted car with most major issues ironed out. It might just be possible that the newer XCs are designed and built more with PCP-toting suburb dwellers in mind, which would be fair enough as that's good business.
Owned one of the last V50's since new (2012), a 1.6D2 R-Design, just coming up to its 10th birthday, nearly on 237K miles - its been pretty faultless, still returns 57-60mpg and doesn't rattle/creak
We've also got two newer Volvo's in the household a 2019 V40 and a 2021 XC60, so I'm a serial Volvo user!! BUt these are too new to have long term reviews. We are likely to drop to 2 cars shortly and assuming the V50 passes its MOT, it will be the V40 that we will be selling.
We've also got two newer Volvo's in the household a 2019 V40 and a 2021 XC60, so I'm a serial Volvo user!! BUt these are too new to have long term reviews. We are likely to drop to 2 cars shortly and assuming the V50 passes its MOT, it will be the V40 that we will be selling.
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