S80: General S80 for commuting - advice welcome

[Dom Demolder]

Hi all

I am about to start a 500 mile weekly commute to a new job and I think that a diesel S80 would do the job nicely.

Would I be ok going for a 57reg 81,000 £7,000 or a 55reg 94,000 miles £3,500. The 55reg was a lease car with cam belt changed recently. The 57 reg has mostly Volvo services.

I am struggling to tell the difference in terms of which is the better value

Any advice welcomed. Thanks

[I-S]

Are you planning on going manual or auto? What diesel are we talking about?

The 57 plate will be an early P3 model, while the 55 is a late P2. See this thread for various people's thoughts: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=199386

If they are D5 models you're talking about, it's the 185bhp Euro IV engine - It doesn't have the best reputation in terms of economy or reliability, in both cases due to DPF issues, but of course you only hear about it when it goes wrong...

I'm assuming economy and comfort are major points for you - it might be worth seeking out a P3 2.0D - this one is a good example of what I mean: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01402051576932

[berrymanuk]

I have a 07' S80 D5, which was bought for the same purpose as you... and to have a bit of fun with

If you want economy over performance, go for the older 55 model or the 2.0d as I-S mentions above.

I get between 38/40mpg over a mix of A-B roads on my daily 50 minute commute, travelling around 60mph a good 80% of the time. The tyres have lasted almost a year, with about 3mm of thread left on them at the front. I love the engine though, a lot of torque that often puts a smile on mine and the passengers face. It's also the first Volvo diesel I've owned.

[Dom Demolder]

Thanks for your thoughts. Both are D5 2.4 and auto

The P3 2.0d was sold last week but it looked interesting

Originally Posted by I-S

Are you planning on going manual or auto? What diesel are we talking about?

The 57 plate will be an early P3 model, while the 55 is a late P2. See this thread for various people's thoughts: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=199386

If they are D5 models you're talking about, it's the 185bhp Euro IV engine - It doesn't have the best reputation in terms of economy or reliability, in both cases due to DPF issues, but of course you only hear about it when it goes wrong...

I'm assuming economy and comfort are major points for you - it might be worth seeking out a P3 2.0D - this one is a good example of what I mean: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01402051576932

[Dom Demolder]

Thanks. The Autotrader details suggest that the newer car is more economical than the 55 model but 38/40mpg sounds reasonable

Originally Posted by berrymanuk

I have a 07' S80 D5, which was bought for the same purpose as you... and to have a bit of fun with

If you want economy over performance, go for the older 55 model or the 2.0d as I-S mentions above.

I get between 38/40mpg over a mix of A-B roads on my daily 50 minute commute, travelling around 60mph a good 80% of the time. The tyres have lasted almost a year, with about 3mm of thread left on them at the front. I love the engine though, a lot of torque that often puts a smile on mine and the passengers face. It's also the first Volvo diesel I've owned.

[tt82]

Originally Posted by I-S

If they are D5 models you're talking about, it's the 185bhp Euro IV engine - It doesn't have the best reputation in terms of economy or reliability, in both cases due to DPF issues, but of course you only hear about it when it goes wrong...

I'm not aware of any issues! Will have to have a look around later on.

As for the OP, I have a 09 V70 D5 Geartronic and it's currently on 112,000 miles. It passed the 100k mark while I was on Holiday in Italy. It did the near 4,000 mile trip with ease and returned 42.5mpg for the whole trip (according to the Info Centre, think the true economy was nearer 41mpg). Most of the time was spent at 65mph on motorways but it also included chasing a Porsche through Germany at 120mph and the hilly terrain of Tuscany, where our rental villa was.

So far its not had any DPF issues but I have had to clean the EGR valve. I've had a few suspension related problems done under warranty but that's to be expected on a 1,860kg car with that mileage. AFAIK the Volvo DPF is good for life but the Ford DPF's have to be changed be ause of tbe use of the Eolys fluid. I imagine on your commute you should get around 40mpg depending on the roads you use. The worst thing for economy on these cars that I've noticed is when the engine is cold. Once there warm they percorm a lot better.

[I-S]

Most of the issues seem to come from the p2 forum, so perhaps they were fixed by the time the p3 cars came along. Over there there's a large preference for the older 163bhp euro3 engine. Like I said, you only tend to hear about the problems on forums... and of course, the 2.0 Ford engine isn't without its issues either (see the c30/s40/v50 forum for those!).

The geartronic is worth paying attention to... Volvo say it's sealed for life (unless used as a taxi or towing, then they say 30k). I personally dislike this idea, and would have it changed.

Otherwise, there are few cars that can match the p3 for this sort of work. E38 bmw 7 and Lexus ls maybe...but both another league of running cost.

[tommyweaves]

Dom, some good comments already on this, can't add much but:

If you can accept a manual then that's likely to improve your economy - although assuming the gear ratio at 70mph is the same on both auto and manual I expect the mpg won't be that different if 90% of your mileage is cruising.

In cost terms, the difference in capital outlay between £3.5k and £7k is massive when you look at the overall costs. If you're happy with either car as a cruiser and with the spec. then purely on cost terms I'd go for the P2.

(If you can find a P3 D3 (163) within your budget then that would be my personal recommendation!)

[Rooster]

I have a friend with a P2 52 plate S80 and he does around 50k a year, last time i saw him it had done 212,000 miles and going strong,

Personally i prefer the older black top, silver rocker cover 163bhp D5 engine that all P2 S80's have fitted, only thing to make sure is belts and pullys are changed (that includes auxially ones aswell altho there not part of belt service items)

[I-S]

Originally Posted by Rooster

Personally i prefer the older black top, silver rocker cover 163bhp D5 engine that all P2 S80's have fitted, only thing to make sure is belts and pullys are changed (that includes auxially ones aswell altho there not part of belt service items)

Aha, I discover that I'm wrong!

Like Rooster says, the P2 S80 only had the 163 engine. I assumed that it would have had the same as the P2 V70, which transitioned to the 185 engine in 2005 (but the V70 didn't transition to P3 until sept 07, while the S80 P3 came out June 06)