v70 D5 auto v's manual - driving impressions ?

[Kev0607]

Interesting. I know some P3 Volvo's have the underpinnings of a Ford Mondeo, C-Max and S-Max. So does the Land Rover Freelander. It wouldn't surprise me if the V40 had a Ford relation.

I guess this is happening a lot more than we think nowadays. New Nissan's have Renault engines and underpinnings, some Mercedes models also have Renault engines for example.

[apersson850]

We had a Mitsubishi Spacestar here for a while. I needed a link rod for the rear stabilizer. One for Volvo S40 was identical and 1/5 the cost for the same thing from Mitsubishi.

[simboc2004]

The V40 is Ford Focus based - as were the previous C30/S40/V50s. I thought the V40 was post-Ford influence, but clearly it wasn't. having just renewed all the suspension, it's almost identical to C30s i have owned.

I wonder if that Ford link had some bearing on its being killed off in 2019. Were the chassis/body pressings actually produced by Ford? hence the FoMoCo markings. Seems unlikely to have been stamped that way if Volvo made the pressings. Or perhaps Ford made the press tools.

[apersson850]

The linkage with Mitsubishi was that they were produced in the same factory in the Netherlands. The factory was in Born, where originally DAF cars produced their vehicles.

When Volvo assembled the S40/V40 in the same factory as Mitsubishi Carisma it made sense to use the same parts under the car. Things not visible could just as well be the same components.

[simboc2004]

The Born plant was sold to Mitsubishi in 2001. Some Volvos were still assembled there until 2004 - presumably S40/V40.

There are now 4 factories in China (mostly for Chinese market, but some worldwide supply), one in Malaysia (Asian market only plus Taiwan), one in Belgium (worldwide XC40, V60, C40, EX30), one in India (Indian market only), one in the USA (S60 only). Polestars are all built in China. Production of S90s has recently moved entirely to China - currently all other "big" Volvos (XC60, V60, V60XC, V90, V90XC, XC90) are still made for the whole world at Torslanda, however this likely change, I fear. They have started to transport S90s (made in China) to Europe by rail and, I suspect, some other models made in China are being sent to Europe as well to meet demand...

[Kev0607]

I know High Peak Auto's was mentioned earlier in this thread. It looks like he's fallen out with Volvo.

I quote from his video, for those that can't be bothered to watch ;

"There are several brands which exist, which are still trading on their name for reliability and I don't think that's deserved. Volvo, in my experience, is one of those brands. People always think of them being a really tough, dependable workhorse. Well, in my opinion, they don't really deserve that reputation. They're quite fragile and are very costly to fix."

+ YouTube Video

His Range Rover is also very expensive to fix...

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

I know High Peak Auto's was mentioned earlier in this thread. It looks like he's fallen out with Volvo.

I quote from his video, for those that can't be bothered to watch ;

"There are several brands which exist, which are still trading on their name for reliability and I don't think that's deserved. Volvo, in my experience, is one of those brands. People always think of them being a really tough, dependable workhorse. Well, in my opinion, they don't really deserve that reputation. They're quite fragile and are very costly to fix."



His Range Rover is also very expensive to fix...

Any really old car will incur some big bills, so I suspect that he's overreacting a bit. Would he even look at a Ford Mondeo of similar mileage?

Having said that, and to my understanding, the P3 platform has a greater tendency to rust on the underside than its predecessor.

Also, in my experience, Volvo definitely took a turn for the worse with the VEA engine, even if it was just poor execution (EGR, EGR cooler, piston rings, balance shaft, cam covers etc.). Furthermore, a V90 and former P3 owner that I spoke to recently talked about a reduction in quality from the P3.

So Matt is probably right about Volvo, but their problem is in relation to newer cars where, for instance, the cost of fixing the oil consumption issue can easily exceed the market value of the affected car.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

Any really old car will incur some big bills, so I suspect that he's overreacting a bit. Would he even look at a Ford Mondeo of similar mileage?

Having said that, and to my understanding, the P3 platform has a greater tendency to rust on the underside than its predecessor.

Also, in my experience, Volvo definitely took a turn for the worse with the VEA engine, even if it was just poor execution (EGR, EGR cooler, piston rings, balance shaft, cam covers etc.). Furthermore, a V90 and former P3 owner that I spoke to recently talked about a reduction in quality from the P3.

So Matt is probably right about Volvo, but their problem is in relation to newer cars where, for instance, the cost of fixing the oil consumption issue can easily exceed the market value of the affected car.

That's true. There's bound to be repair bills, its not new.

In saying that, I've always heard that the old P2 Volvo's were the "true" ones. The downside with P2's now is those cars are getting old. Time creates problems, rubber starts to perish for example and rust can set in. I know the body on the older cars was probably better than P3's, but I don't think a P2 will be problem free either (with age).

The real let down for me with the P2's, as nice as they are, is the rear space. Take an S60 or S80 for example, you'd struggle to fit a kid in the back, never mind an adult!

I've spoken to a few Volvo specialists fairly recently and they all say the same.. the new Volvo's with the VEA engines simply aren't as good as the older ones. There's too many issues like you say with oil consumption, egr's, egr coolers and so on... these are all expensive fixes. The only real way around it is buy a newer model around 2017 when they redesigned things, but those cars are still big money.

The sad thing is for those that like Volvo, there's no option only buy a euro 6 VEA engine if ULEZ comes into things. You could buy a 5 cylinder euro 6, but those are rare. The other option is go petrol, so it doesn't have to be euro 6 (it can be euro 4), but prices are high for those too. You could buy an older petrol, but still, that car could be heading for 20 years old.

[GrahamBrown1]

High peak is like any other car dealer, wants it cheap, spend nowt on it and sell for top Wack. You can’t buy these cars especially an auto XC70 and not expect a bill when it’s over 10 year old and 100k miles.

Nothing is as good as it was, that’s the world we live in. People want cheap new stuff all the time.

I visited the Volvo factory in Sweden before Christmas, one thing that strongly came across from the guys there was they still want to manufacture a quality product and Chinese ownership hasn’t changed that, P3 and P2 cars still had plenty of faults. I’ve had and have many of them! Rose tinted glasses and all that.

That said I was maybe one day thinking of swapping my S80 for an S90, but it’s in such good condition with only 50k miles I’m not entirely sure what more I’d be getting other than the more modern style. The costings certainly don’t add up.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by GrahamBrown1

High peak is like any other car dealer, wants it cheap, spend nowt on it and sell for top Wack. You can’t buy these cars especially an auto XC70 and not expect a bill when it’s over 10 year old and 100k miles.

Nothing is as good as it was, that’s the world we live in. People want cheap new stuff all the time.

I visited the Volvo factory in Sweden before Christmas, one thing that strongly came across from the guys there was they still want to manufacture a quality product and Chinese ownership hasn’t changed that, P3 and P2 cars still had plenty of faults. I’ve had and have many of them! Rose tinted glasses and all that.

That said I was maybe one day thinking of swapping my S80 for an S90, but it’s in such good condition with only 50k miles I’m not entirely sure what more I’d be getting other than the more modern style. The costings certainly don’t add up.

Its only this last few months that High Peak has become somewhat sensible with his spending. Pre the “new him”, he’d buy old cars and spend a fortune doing them up. Some things needed to be fixed, but do you really need professional wheel refurbishment on a car that’s heading for 20 years old? Some of the wheels weren’t even that bad, it was normal wear and tear.

That’s not the only thing he did, he’d get seats reupholstered, wings sprayed and dents fixed. Although it was nice to see the final look of these cars, it was ridiculous what he was spending.

Looks like a lot of his stock isn’t shifting. Most, it not all, is massively overpriced. Then he questions why they don’t sell.

With regards to swapping cars, I don’t think the newer Volvo’s are as good as the old personally. Especially the early 4 cylinder diesel VEA engines anyway… I wouldn’t buy one of them. I don’t think Volvo’s are built to last like the older models were, but they aren’t alone in that boat… other manufacturer’s are the same.

I suspect emissions zones will spread across the country in time to come. That will wipe the old non-compliant petrol & diesel’s off the road. So from a Volvo perspective, that leaves very little option… buy a 4 cylinder VEA engine that meets euro 6 emissions standards… but the early ones are plagued with issues and the newer ones when they made improvements (2017) are too expensive.

The alternative would be buy a petrol Volvo to meet the euro 4 standards. These plenty of old ones out there, but that can be a headache due to car age. I want a newer car, not an older one and I like the size of the S80. Downsizing could be an option, but I don’t particularly want a small car either. Big petrol saloons are thirsty. Its a catch 22.

I’m looking for a change, but sadly, I don’t think its looking like it’ll be another Volvo. There just isn’t a Volvo that fits the criteria. They’re too dear, or the ones that aren’t too badly priced have bad engines, or they’re too old…