Volvo estate appreciation

Anyone got a recent V60

I have. It’s a very good car. Mines a D4 8-speed auto, it’s quick and quiet, a bit dieselly around town. Deliberately specced the smaller wheels/higher profile tyres for comfort, but it still handles OK. I also had one of the previous V60s, which was about the smallest car in its class, but this one is about the largest. Infotainment system is good. My riding buddy has one too, with absolutely maxed out spec including the B&W stereo which is awesome, and the very scandi driftwood trim, but his has bigger wheels and is noticeably noisier and ride is less good.

Driftwood trim sounds good!

Plus used car prices are mental right now.

Even more reason to do that amount of work to keep the car going well into the future. Nice job!
Very taken with the red 245 estate ^^, well tasty that, and nicely stealthy, too.

My folks had 2-series estates all through my childhood, finally ditching the dreadful brown 1981 jobbie in about 1997.

The first on looked exactly like Kayla’s, although it had the extra seats in the boot, which were extremely exciting 🙂

Anyone got a recent V60

I got a V60 R-Design T6 Recharge as a company car last month. Brilliant. Streets above the 330e that it replaced. Eats motorway miles, comfiest seats I’ve ever sat in, acres of space in the boot and properly quick. Average about 45mpg when plugged in most days.

The first on looked exactly like Kayla’s, although it had the extra seats in the boot, which were extremely exciting

We have that 3rd seat but my OH took it out, it’s currently taking up room in the shed which is ironic given that it’s a space-saving seat 🤣

I’ve recently got a V60 T6 AWD Recharge as a company lease vehicle and it is lovely. Very quiet, comfortable, well-equipped and well built. Decent front and rear legroom too. Boot is OK for space, but not as much as I was used to with the 2011 E-class estate it has replaced. Oh, and no spare wheel due to rear electric motor. I’m only getting about 25miles on electric only mode but getting about 45 mpg in ICE mode on longer journeys. Had a V40 T4 previously and always regretted selling it 15 years ago – was a bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing, apart from the torque steer…

V60 t5 owner here in comfy inscription spec,more than fast enough for me.Love it,and so does the Mrs, looks really menacing in black/black (on rare occasions its clean)🤦🏼‍♂️

Yearly update. The V70 passed another MOT today @196k miles and 18 years old. It did initially fail on handbrake efficiency so I fitted the adjusters that Volvo penny pinched from this model range and all good again.

Brilliant, well engineered and built car.

Can’t go wrong with stroll adjustment on drums.

Rather have drums on the rear than discs..

No seized handbrake!

This was the photo I was trying to find earlier!
Volvo Vista’s – at the mother in laws on the French/Spanish border pre Covid, MrsRNP is there at the moment but we couldn’t drive out due to my work commitments. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump in it now though for another international roadtrip.

I miss my Volvo estate. 🙁

You can almost smell it….

Those Volvo “will it start” YouTube vids are a bit boring…..of course it’ll start, it’s a VOLVO!

Jobs to do on ours are;

Top up the Dinitrol / Dynax underneath ready for winter.
The driver’s seat bolster stitching has split so need to find a decent automotive upholstery repair place.
I noticed the rear tyre treads are puckering a bit so I think the rear alignment is drifting slightly – going to source a complete rear end (subframe, wishbones etc) and rebush & powdercoat it to swop over into mine at some point. It’s only held on with 6bolts.

Have 2 V70s here.

1. 2001 T5 185k in a nice shade of burgundy red. It’s the bike bus, emergency back up, tip run, do it all car. Refuses to die.

2. 2008 2.4D 5 pot. 130k. Nice drive. Bit lack lustre in performance but just does the job. Just don’t like the electric hand brake. Worst thing ever. 42mpg as well.

Parts are steep for major items but simple to work on.

2008 2.4D 5 pot. 130k. Nice drive. Bit lack lustre in performance but just does the job. Just don’t like the electric hand brake. Worst thing ever. 42mpg as well.

I had one of those, 163bhp, but a bit weighty.
Did a lot more than 42 mpg though!

2008 2.4D 5 pot. 130k. Nice drive. Bit lack lustre in performance but just does the job. Just don’t like the electric hand brake. Worst thing ever. 42mpg as well.

Had 2013 D3/136bhp manual. Easily did 42-44mpg around the doors and 50mpg on a run…that was measured over 4.5 years and 88k miles.

Parts are steep for major items but simple to work on.

Try Caffyns Volvo – they are a proper dealership but have an ebay shop. I email Chris in the parts department directly and he has always done good prices.

Also Jamie @ Partsforvolvos can source genuine stuff as well as what they sell online.
https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/

that was measured over 4.5 years and 88k miles.

Think i had mine just over 3 years and about 160000km.
Did a lot of driving round the country, and other countries.

Saw a rather cool convoy of three P1800es es pulling into the Gretna Green Blacksmiths today. Sorry no pics as I was driving the opposite way.

Edit: at least one was on NL plates.

Clicked over at 200k miles tonight so gave it a wash!
Still an awesome car.

Just test drive a V90 and a 320. Looking to buy something like a V60 petrol but they are hard to source at the moment. Great seats, nice ergonomics. Is the heater control on the screen an issue like VAG cars? – We hated a Leon for that reason. Oh, and Mrs TiRed found it hard to hold the BMW steering wheel as it’s too fat! Both cars drove nicely, much better than a CLA and C class. Boot is dog perfect too. The CRV is pushing 200k and time to downsize to a car.

Is the heater control on the screen an issue like VAG cars?

I’ve never found it a problem on my V60, but then I just set it at 19 and leave it. It’s designed to be pretty easy to use – big numbers, easy to hit.

Seats, cabin and steering wheel heater plus fan via the telly screen so you do need to use it, sadly. Not ideal but not impossible as it’s presented with quite big soft controls. If I had a choice, I’d have knobs and buttons. Hopefully the industry will go full circle when they realise the error of their ways a la threaded bottom brackets…

You can set the heated seats to automatically turn on when you get into the car if it is less than 10degC outside. As a result, I rarely touch the heated seat controls. There is a separate button for front and rear screen heating, so it’s only really the ambient temperature you need to use the screen for day to day. Buttons would be better, but I think the Volvo interface is a lot better than some other manufacturers

Just read back through this thread and is confused

@boblo

I had an XC90 T8 last year for a bit whilst mine was in. It had a 2L diesel of 180 ish BHP and approx another 220 BHP of electricery; ~410 in all. It was fast enough, electric only up to about 30 mph then banzai dependant on foot/accelerator interface.

The only diesel full hybrid we’ve done was the EUCD V60, that went out of production in 2017/18.
A T8 of that age would *probably* be the twin charged 4 cylinder petrol (VEA Gen2) with ISG and the 70bhp ERAD out back. ~410bhp total, depending on market (some countries/versions have more, some less…)

Most of the time I was plodding about on a 4 pot 2L diesel which is a bit shit in a vehicle of that type

But you weren’t, and if you thought it was diesel it was probably broken, or you’d put diesel in it. Even the old T6 4 pot (non-hybrid) was spritely enough in the XC90. Not to mention that the electric drive is active almost all the time.

which was one of my reservations on the v90 as they’ve stopped doing the ‘nice’ engines…

Yeah, i miss the 5 pot, but the V90 never had the 5 pot, in fact none of the SPA1 platform cars have had it.
And the 4 cylinders that replaced them generally have better torque, power and fuel economy.

@mert it sounds like you work for Volvo… any recommendations for diagnostics tools for a 2020 V90?

@mert. I had the XC90 as a courtesy car for a few days and never put fuel in it. I’m sure they told me it was diesel or mebbies I just assumed it was. Either way, in my view, a w@nky little 4 pot 2L has no place in a car like that…

As for the V90. I know they never did it in a 5 pot. I moved from a 5 pot v70 (hence ‘they’ve stopped doing the ‘nice’ engines’ comment) and did 2 things I said I wouldn’t – ever. Bought 4 wheel drive and a 4 pot 2l engine. I’m a bit old fashioned and prefer more cylinders/bigger displacement rather than the current crop and I’ve no need to drag 4wd gubbins about all the time.

Having said that, I moved away from this premise with the v70 as before I’d had v6’s and v8’s of 3l and above so I already compromised with the D5. Quite liked it though and I now wished I’d fixed it rather than traded it. It had a gearbox fault that was quoted at ~£3k on a car with a residual of £8k. I traded it/bought the v90 the week before lockdown 1 and it did 500 miles in 10 months. It’s still only got 11k on it as I’ve since retired and hardly use it. Ho hum.

I would have got a V60 last year if I could have found one with the correct spec. We got a XC60 instead and it does have deeply comfortable seats and its like driving sedated, super relaxing and about as far from “exciting as you can get”.

T6/T8 recharge are petrol hybrid in the UK. 250-350bhp petrols + electric motor.

Either way, in my view, a w@nky little 4 pot 2L has no place in a car like that…

Spoken like a true dinosaur 😉
(the 4 pots have wider, flatter torque curves, more power and better fuel economy than their respective outgoing 5, 6 or 8 cylinder engines, exhaust noise and firing order vibration characteristics are a different matter altogether)

@mert it sounds like you work for Volvo… any recommendations for diagnostics tools for a 2020 V90?

Not really, i generally use the Dev version of Vida or something like CANalyzer…

Spoken like a true dinosaur

Guilty as charged 😁

Interesting about fool economy. I was getting low 40’s from my v70 but only high 30’s from the v90. Yes it’s more powerful but not more economical or smoother and doesn’t sound as nice (for a diesel). Same driver/driving style/journey types etc.

I bought a 2016 XC60 D4 last year. It really is lovely to sit in. Had a few teething issues (blown turbo pipe) but all sorted under warranty as it was a selekt car.
Put 12k on it in 10 months too.
issues – the alloy wheels are starting to corrode, and the Volvo recovery is next to useless. Getting 45 MPG which is acceptable for a big lump of a car.
its black too so i put a coating of ceramic on the paintwork which looks nice

Interesting about fool economy. I was getting low 40’s from my v70 but only high 30’s from the v90.

A diesel V90 could be up to a third of a tonne heavier for starters, depending on spec. It is a bigger car with more toys after all! Pretty sure the CdA is (very) slightly worse as well.

or smoother and doesn’t sound as nice (for a diesel).

Yes, AFAIK the I5/72 degree firing order thing made for a very nice engine sound. Cost a bloody fortune to make though, and expensive to get it to meet emission standards.
The new 48V version of the engine is an improvement though.

Is the heater control on the screen an issue like VAG cars?

I just use the voice command button to set the temp and control the Climate as using the TV screen while driving is not ideal.

T6/T8 recharge are petrol hybrid in the UK. 250-350bhp petrols + electric motor.

My T6 pushes out a combined 345 bhp. For a big heavy car with very little BIK its pretty quick.

I just use the voice command button to set the temp and control the Climate as using the TV screen while driving is not ideal.

I’ve got google assistant set up, don’t even need to press the button.

I just use the voice command button to set the temp and control the Climate as using the TV screen while driving is not ideal.

Y’know something, I didn’t know you could do this (assuming ‘this’ relates to the v90). I’ve had some form of voice command in cars since they first came out – and were useless so I’ve largely ignored them since:

‘Call wife’ says I…
‘Navigate to Birmingham?’ says shit voice system…

I’ll give this a go because if it works properly/reliably, problem solved.

<edit> Google Assistant in a v90? How’s that work then please? Don’t forget, I’m just emerging blinking from the jurassic era… 🙃

I’ve just become a new owner – OK mine is a Focus in a frock V50 petrol FWD but after a couple of weeks I’m warming to it. It’s replacing a newer c-class (got run into and written off) so it’s slower, less toys and not as big but I think it will do alright for a few years.

Just about to hit 110k miles and it has a few dings and the alloys have seen a fair amount of kerb abuse but it still looks good for a 17 year old car. Bit of rust on the rear subframe and rear suspension components but nothing flaky.

I think I’ve got a thermostat or coolant temp sensor issue though as temp gauge only goes up to the middle when sat ticking over after a drive and then drops as soon as you get a bit of speed up again. I get heat in the cabin pretty quickly though so might not be the stat hence thinking the sensor might be dicky. Both are tucked up behind the inlet manifold and a sod to get to just to make life interesting. Getting about 25mpg around town as it’s not warming up properly.

Google Assistant in a v90? How’s that work then please? Don’t forget, I’m just emerging blinking from the jurassic era… 🙃

The latest cars are fully integrated with android auto, started about 4 years ago and is now pretty much across the board in europe. V90 was launched in the middle of 2021 IIRC, i’m in a V60, which got it a bit later. If it’s earlier than that, you have to use Volvos built in voice commands, which aren’t so good.

Ahhh, OK. Mine’s a 2019 model which predates native Google – I think. 👍