What to look for in a Volvo C30
 

I have a rather substantial XC90 which I intend to keep. I am however thinking that I would like a second safe frugal, and above all interesting second car that economical, a bit of fun and possible interesting in the future.

The C30 seems to fit the bill really well however there is so little written about them…. The search engine here also does not return a great deal.

I generally walk less than 1 mile, cycle less than 10 and then use the car, accordingly a diesel seems the way forward.

The drive e and 1.6D2 seem to fit the bill well as they are ‘0’ to tax and do 75on the combined cycle. Fuel efficiency is the driver here…

However, it appears to be a Ford unit and reliability seems slightly patchy (I will service and maintain it on the button etc).

Accordingly the 2.0D in Manual spec may be a better idea, £30 a year to tax and near 60MPG seem possible with the manual (I like the geartronic but seems to suffer with fuel, not sure it would suite the car either).

2.0D I understand is a Volvo 5 pot unit and the R-Design seems a good spec to have.

I would be really grateful for any advice and information that anyone has.

Incidentally I am 6foot 2 and heavy (not fat), I assume there would be no issue??

Thanks all!

Are you sure you want a second diesel? We have a petrol C30 and diesel V60 in the household and it is great having the flexibility.

The front of the C30 seems the same size as much larger cars, so you should fit :)

Check the windscreen is still bonded to the roofline, that was causing a major leak when we got our C30.

That’s a really good question but I think unfortunatly yes… I use the XC90 around half the time for large groups (family) including push chairs etc and there is not really anything else around that will take 7 and push chairs.

Then I use it around half the time for either commuting to work or for going out all of which are generally journeys of over 30miles.

The thinking is….. if I keep the xc and the C30 then 30,000 miles of 60MPG in the C30 will save me around £4000 compared to the 32mpg of the xc.

If the cost is £0 for tax, and I service the XC once a year rather than twice (saving money as C30 will invariably be cheaper), then I will almost be able to buy and own the C30 outright.

That’s the theory with the C30 anyway, and it appears 60MPG is very achievable even with the 2.0D (average journey length I do is well over 30MPG and often xxx miles.

If I choose the Petrol I won’t use it locally (I shop and do everything locally with bike or walk) however in the runs I expect in reality to very often hit 75mpg in a diesel and to also hit over 60 on average. I will get nothing like that with a petrol from what I see and then it becomes uneconomical to run 2 cars.

Thanks for the advice regarding the windscreen, I will look out for that!

You will not be having much fun with the "2.0d" FOUR cylinder engine. A very bland Ford/Peugeot engine which isnt as economical as you'd think, and has a habbit of going into limp home mode.

If you must have a diesel engine, make sure it's one of the Volvo 5 cylinder diesels badged as follows:

"D3" - 150bhp
"D4" - 177bhp
"D5" -180bhp

D3 and D4 engine are the same 2.0-litre 5 cylinder engine, just with different software mapping.

D5 is an older itteration and is 2.4-litres. It has more turbo lag at low RPM, but is also more tunable.

In my opinion, THE best all round engine in the C30 is the 2.0i PETROL engine (no turbo). It has the best combination of power (145bhp), MPG and fun factor, in that it needs to be revved out to get that power, wjhich provides the fun element to an otherwise dull car.

The C30 is a very numb car to drive as standard... so having a revvy engine helps liven the car up in a way that all of the turbo charged vehicles arent as good at, even if they have more power.

Why not just get a Ford or Peugeot with the same engine, and pocket the change? You'll get the same ownership experience in terms of having your spanners out a lot.

A slight fault with your mathematics - you need to subtract the cost of actually buying the car from your £4000 saving, and probably another grand at least for inevitable injector, DMF and possibly turbo problems. The most economical is, overall, not likely to be the most economical to own.

Top marks for not using a car for frivolous short journeys. I'm of much the same mind - a 22 mile round trip to town tomorrow will have me riding my bike. I manage it and im nearly 64, so I do chuckle at some of the excuses folk trot out to justify driving a car 2 miles.

Thanks for the ace advice! Hadn’t realised the difference between 2.0D and 2.0D3. Yes Volvo 5 culinder all the way for me!

It is absolute madness isn’t it! I walk my kids to school and the other families start their car at the same time I leave and arrive the same time I get back, I can’t believe it!

To be honest I have had a 1.6tdci focus which I racked up over 100,000 miles in without incident and it did over 60MPG. I see the C30 as a lot of fun although as the previous poster points out the D3 is the 5 cylinder Volvo version.

Having owned a Mk1, 2 and 3 focus I fancy a bit of a change (incidentally all focuses ran to over 100k - one 145k and I never had a break down).

I tend to service my cars very well and find they never break down and never fail MOTs so unlike many I tend not to worry too much about issues.

That said I would steer clear of the east 1.6 diese with the 16V engine.

Well done on the cycling! I have friends approaching your age, generally those that keep active so really well and maintain massive fitness!

Thanks for the responses above!

I wonder if anyone has any advice or input regarding running 2 cars?

Thought is 70,000 miles is 2,000 gallons in the XC90 which is £16,000.

35,000 miles in the XC is 8,000 and 35,000 in the C30 is 4,000. Accordingly I save £4,000 over the next 70k. Tax is nothing £30.00 a year (1.6 D2 R-Design), servicing is less (I service my XC twice whereas now would be 1 for XC and 1 for C30).