My old Citroen C5 though while running well is looking shaky around the hydraulic pipes. MOT of doom is just around the corner. Their replacement would mean removing the tank and a whole world of pain.

So I’ve been idly looking for a replacement. A 1.9tdi Passat is the obvious contender. Easy enough to work on with cheap and plentiful parts and knowledge to keep running on a shoestring.

Then I stumbled across these V70 D5 Volvos. They look like a hell of a lot of car for the money. Does anyone have any real life experience of them. I see a few Police forces used them and that is generally a good indication of durability and performance.

I’ve seen a couple around a couple of grand with top spec and FSH, they seem well worth a punt. My annual mileage isn’t huge but I do do a few longish trips a year so cruising comfort is a plus.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331546507710?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

My parents had one, a 4×4 D5 (not the XC) they kept it for 10 years towing a horsebox and sold it with 120,000 on it for about £3k. It shat an auto gearbox at about 90,000 miles- standard transmission between several brands of cars but still an expensive fix.

Grim to drive because of the sheer size of the thing and economy wasn’t all that- 30s to 40s.

Hmm, that is the second one I’ve heard of that lunched its auto box. Are the manuals more durable and economical?

Everytime I’ve looked into buying a V70 I’ve been told/or discovered you’ll be spending 500-700 a year on consumables and/at the service (indie or wherever).

would love to be proven wrong but I can easily get any car through a year (touch wood) on just oil/filters and occasional tyres or pads/discs.

I also read about the issues with the gearbox – some of the stories made me run away.

I wasn’t blown away- felt well nailed together but the 2.4’s not as strong as I’d expected and the car’s heavy, and running costs were reported as being pretty damn high on consumables, wear items etc. Didn’t think it was very competitive compared to a 2.2 mondeo tbh, slower, less economic, not sure if it was bigger but it felt bigger. And much less bang for buck.

That said, maybe at higher miles it’s more reliable than a mondeo? Though, going by the prices I saw and that ebay auction you’d get a much lower mile mondeo for the price.

I may be wrong with this but I am sure they eat tyres for fun. Mate had one and it was a beast but expensive to run.

A friend had one whose auto box suddenly died whist overtaking a truck on the A9. Thankfully nothing was coming the other way. 😯

I’m not a driving god, I just need something rugged, economical and DIY repairable.

Och well, I shall resume the search for a Passat estate.

Sounds like there’s more heart than head in the V70 than the passat, which is not always a bad thing… If you asked on pistonheads they’d prob say go for the V70.

Something Japanese ?

Someone was/is selling one in the classifieds, looked nice if not a tad high on mileage. Not far off the ebay example price.

Running one at the moment , on the back of 2 Passat B5.5 which covered 125k between them.

Unsure what people mean by ‘consumables’ . So far , in 15k .
1 air filter
2 oil changes ( 6.5L so annoying volume )

A few bulbs , and a HID ballast £40 Ebay

Way over engineered . Everything has 4 bolts where 2 would do. Solid, safe . heavy. bad turning circle 16 1/2ft ish. I have got 57mpg over a complete tank of fuel ( 16g tank ). Mine is chipped though.

Silly low profile tyres, lots of owners go up a profile for more comfort.

D5 engine strong and refined compared to a PD lump, all ally with liners , 5 cyl, 20V , CR with a double pump system.

Mines a manual 5 speed, the newer ones are 6 speed , geartronics problematic

Clutch is important as its £800 + to swap all the gubbins .

Fuel flap is motorised and can fail

Cruise clutch switch fail and throw a dash error code.

Front wishbones lowers do not last , 2years is normal £90 ea ish.

Long cambelt intervals , think its 90K .

Apart from that , elecy seats ( heated ) are a bonus, HIDS work a treat , cruise good, auto wipers , reversing sensors. Front seats fold against dashboard for fitting in coffins.

GSF for spare parts, or ECP just as good.

4k for 180k miles? Its got a 2.0 Ford diesel for an engine?

Fix the Citroen pipes better the devil you know.
V70 is Ok but can consume – tyres – suspension wishbones
and some electrical issues – auto gearboxes “sealed for life” = destroyed
every other car manufacturer specifies oil changes for the same Aisin Warner boxes.(Lexus , Saab) Read the German and Swedish catalog to see what bits fail and hence are stocked/sold beyond service/consumables.
As with most cars that were expensive new a good one will be good a bad one expensive.

OP if your binning a C5 I’d be interested.

After my Xsara Picasso experience Im a Citreon fan.

…3months into your new/old purchase could shat a gearbox…

Better the devil you know

Fix the Citroen pipes better the devil you know.

They are the hydraulic suspension pipes. I’m not even sure if you can buy the tools to make the flares on them. It looks like a bit of a faff to get the tank out. But as you say its Le Devil I know. I’ve just driven 2500 miles to France and back without any hassles from it. I will see what the MOT tester says first.

Have run a 2.4 petrol 54 plate V70 for 5 years and is abused for my wife business. 140k miles.

Do my own spannering so know exactly whats going on with it.

Cons.

Firstly ‘sealed for life’ gearbox. They will die – but check fluid colour/smell before buying (small yellow dipstick behind the rad) black/burnt smell -walk away. However only usually found on tow cars that havnt had the extended gearbox oil cooler fitted (non genuine Volvo towbars fitment).

Fluid is £10 per litre and can be changed with a suction pump – dead easy.

Our original front wishbone bushes went at 120k. As above £90-£100 for genuine wishbones or fit polybush to the removed wishbones.

Silencer rear bracket corrodes – fit £10 ebay bracket (3 years so far).

Rear calipers seize when the rubber boots fail (100k miles), replaced with OEM.

Handbrake mechanism becomes tired around 100k – rebuild kit is £20 (IIRC), shoes £30 (all genuine Volvo).

Tyres last well (running BFG Goodridge) – but it is a big heavy car.

Alarm remote battery (so sounds if main battery removed) fails around 120k. £150 for genuine repair kit, or remove and solder in replacement battery or pull fuse #11.

Great continent crossing car but dont expect B road rallying fun – its a big heavy barge.
Our petrol is doing mid 20’s- to high 30’s depending on load and journey type
As above manuals have DMF to contend with so better sticking with an auto.

Some garish colour/interior combos.

Pro’s
Dirt cheap
Galvanised body shells – dont rust.
Bomb proof huge interior – wifes is used for business use and often has stuff literally rammed in it, scraping the roof lining, scraping along seats. interior still looks like new.
Good forum support
Genuine Volvo parts are ok priced.
Fault codes can be ‘read’ without code reader. Volvo VIDA/DICE dealer level diagnostic readers are £80-100 for chinese clones

Really well built, wife crashed hers into a wall so I rebuilt the front end- seriously bigger underneath and behind the bumpers/panelwork than my Defender. Very impressed.

Most have been bought by old giffers, never abused and FDSH (ours was).

If ours was written off – I would buy another straight away without a 2nd thought. Brilliant cars.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10889173/Second-hand-Volvo-clocks-up-a-million-kilometres-with-no-break-downs.html

Christ Almighty! Why hasn’t someone mentioned the Skoda Octavia yet? I thought everyone on here drives one, or a Berlingo.

Boy what a let down you guys are! The OP wants an honest opinion on a car, and you all know the answer!

OCTAVIA! Whatever the budget, the answer is always OCTAVIA!

I’ve got a V70. Nice car.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/honda-accord-2-2-ictdi-diesel-estate-/111660905380?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19ff8233a4

Vast inside, comfortable, can be remapped.

Or if you don’t mind petrol find the 2.4 version, quick and comfortable, makes about 180bhp if I remember right.

boot is tiny on the Honda and the lowered roofline makes it more of a sportwagon than a true estate.

And avoid first generation diesels as the oil pump slowly fails and starves the engine of oil; making it scrap.

3 lease cars at work went the same way; someone got a ‘bargain’ at auction.

RustyNissanPrairie – Member
Tyres last well (running BFG Goodridge) – but it is a big heavy car.

Not sure I’d want him doing my tyres with sentiments like “Two rights don’t equal a left” 😉

My wife’s got a V70 D5 and it’s been a bit of a money pit.. 🙁 Alternator, various turbo system pipes have split, various chassis sensors, steering rack, remote key fob thing – as well as the normal consumables discs, pads…

It’s one of the first of the current shape V70s (07 plate) – newer ones may be better but we’ve not been overly impressed with reliability. Also doing well to get over 30mpg.

If it’s working, it’s a nice enough place to be on a long drive and reassuringly solid. It hustles around the various A/B roads just fine – suprisingly well given its bulk.

4k for 180k miles? Its got a 2.0 Ford diesel for an engine?

Get your facts right. The D5 is a Volvo engine. The PSA 2ltr is the Frenchie Ford………… Just run in at that mileage, although I wouldn’t buy a leggy Volvo, my mates petrol 5 cyl 2.3 is on 190 k miles and is fine

Thats me smacked-down 😀

Ok- I’d run a car that age but I wouldn’t spend 4k getting into a car with that mileage.

had v70 D5 for about 6 years, great spec, but just lots of stuff went wrong. Became very expensive. might just be that i had a bad one

V50 worth considering?
The other trouble with old diesels is the steep road tax. My pug 306 costs £250 p.a.

Er….I meant “car emissions excise duty tax”

…even the DVLA calls it as a vehicle tax…

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=car+tax&oq=car+tax&aqs=chrome..69i57.1151j0j1&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

I have a late 2008 2.0l Diesel R-Design for sale if you’re interested? Full service history, really does only need oil and filters in terms of maintenance.

Clicky

Drop me an email

Still no mention of the STW car of the century!

I’m not even sure if you can buy the tools to make the flares on them.

In the past I’ve done loads of these pipes on BXs and Zantias. Cheap enough from the dealers, so I never bothered investigating the cost of the tool.

Hth
Marko

Well, I found a two owner V70 D5 six speed manual estate with a full service history. Collecting it on Friday.

I spoke to my MOT tester who runs one, he pointed out much of what was mentioned above. He’s taken early retirement and loves working on them so I think that mitigates against the risk.

I dont think there is much to beat a phase 2 (ie previous shape) manual d5 for lugging bikes in comfort. Even the 5 speed isn’t short geared. Can’t really believe its being compared to a mondeo, the d5 engine is far and above better than a tdci lump, my 163 bhp eu3 model pulled like a train and returned decent economy. Cambelts are every 108k or 10 years. Expect to replace a few suspension bushes around 100k and like others have said the clutch can be expensive if combined with a dmf, but then this is an issue with all modern diesels. I had issues with the air bag on mine but i have two friends whose v70’s have been faultless (one a t5 one a d5) its a heavy car so front tyres may only last 12k but 225 45 17’s dont cost the earth. If you can find a decent one with full service history that looks tidy go for it! Dont expect it to handle like a BMW, but if its capable, brisk and comfortable bike carrying you need (with a cool alternative image) then you are looking in the right place. There is a reason they hold their money.

Dont expect it to handle like a BMW, but if its capable, brisk and comfortable bike carrying you need (with a cool alternative image) then you are looking in the right place.

My brother just bought an E270 estate, thought about one but it was just too bling. BMW 5 Tourings? I couldn’t live with a lifetime at junctions, the sloping roof of an A6 was too limiting and I’m never going to be comfortable in an Audi.

A couple of friends have V70s, I couldn’t imagine turning up at their doors in any of the above. I just need to find me a Lab and a Spaniel now.

What sort of mpg are you getting from your D5’s? Much worse than the d3?

Mpg?

No idea yet. I collect it from Colchester on Friday and will drive it back to Fife. I’m curious too.

fizik – Member

Can’t really believe its being compared to a mondeo, the d5 engine is far and above better than a tdci lump, my 163 bhp eu3 model pulled like a train and returned decent economy.

Comparing with a 2.0, sure, but that doesn’t make much sense. The volvo makes just a couple of bhp more than the old 2.2 tdci, but roughly half the torque, so it’s actually a bit slower, and certainly felt weaker on the road. And the claimed mpg is pretty bad too, IIRC it’s about £100 more tax per year as a result.

MPG on the D5 215bhp (auto) is around 38-42 IME. Front tyres; just replaced my OE ones at 30k. Servicing is quite expensive at the stealer as it’s every 18k or once per year at around £300. Previous cars were on variable which worked out at once every 2 years at around £200-£400 per.

My old Citroen C5 though while running well is looking shaky around the hydraulic pipes. MOT of doom is just around the corner.

Sorry to hear about the demise of the C5 – it’s a good few years since you trekked down here to MK to pick it up. Sounds like it’s done good service – hopefully you feel you got your money’s worth out of it 🙂

That’s good going on MPG! We’ve a D5 185bhp and struggle to get much above 33 for general running about.

Car’s been generally a bit iffy – intercooler pipe burst, alternator replaced, steering rack replaced, assorted sensors needed replaced and various other annoyances. Never left us stranded but that’s been as much by luck than good engineering I think.

It’s a pretty nice place to be comfort-wise, drives OK and feels like it’s pretty safe but overall, I’m a bit disappointed in it.