Hi all,

I am new here and reaching out to all Volvo experts and enthusiasts! I have recently caught the Volvo bug and decided to register so I can discuss all things Volvo and learn a thing or two along the way!

Just a quick bit about me: I am now starting a family and have taken to the Volvo's safety aspects and its looks. as I want a safe It might be turning into a cliche mum , but meh *shrug*
I have been on the market for a Volvo and the price range for me is 11,000 max so cars between 2009 and earlier are in my price range. I love the SUV and wagons and I recently went for a test drive in the V40 and it was heaven. I have never contemplated a European car before as my previous cars were all British classic cars ( I love classic cars), my first drive being an Austin Kimberley and I then grabbed a lovely Triumph Stag in my 20's. These days, reality dictated to get a bog standard Japanese car as the days of lots of time and effort to maintain my 40 plus year cars were over *sob*
I keep being told to keep my Suzuki Swift or go for an alternate Japanese brand car because the service and parts for Volvos are too expensive. I am also new to the field and wondered how I can learn more about the models and years (i.e. which models and years to avoid and which to look out for)

So I really want to know your thoughts on the following;
1.what exactly is the yearly cost of servicing and maintaining a volvo (any ball park comps is fine)
2.How many years can I get out of a 2006-8 model
3.Which models and years are reliable
4.Where can I read up on Volvos
5.DId the Chinese takeover change anything significant to the quality of the car...

Your thoughts will be very much appreciated.

Look forward to hearing from you all meeting you all!





Auto transmission is troublesome in that age range.
@jonbot tells us that an update can keep that under control though, is that correct Jon?

Also avoid anything T6.
lov4volvo wrote
So I really want to know your thoughts on the following;
1.what exactly is the yearly cost of servicing and maintaining a volvo (any ball park comps is fine)
2.How many years can I get out of a 2006-8 model
3.Which models and years are reliable
4.Where can I read up on Volvos
5.DId the Chinese takeover change anything significant to the quality of the car...

Your thoughts will be very much appreciated.

Look forward to hearing from you all meeting you all!
1. dealer servicing youre looking at $350- 400 for a 15k service (oil and pollen filters)

2. as long as you want to keep it, look for perfect dealer service history, my 03 S60 has 290k on it and runs perfectly fine, gets redline regularly

3. the P2 chassis cars are better than the P80 stuff for the most part, the P2 T6 models had trans issues early on, more or less fixed now with software updates

4. here, swedespeed, volvo forums, others that i cant think of right now

5. the chinese arent allowed to mess with the design/ engineering of the cars, there is a plant in china for the chinese market only, rest of world sees swedish cars
Hi Rob. Thanks for that. SInce posting, I was trolling online for used volvos and I actually don't mind earlier models from 1995 onwards too. Worth exploring perhaps....
Rob;24235 wroteAuto transmission is troublesome in that age range.
@jonbot tells us that an update can keep that under control though, is that correct Jon?

Also avoid anything T6.
P2 T6's hammer fuel and the autos fail unless theyve got the latest software
I pay that much on servicing the suzuki yearly, so I cant see a huge discrepancy between the cost of servicing a volvo and a bog standard volvo. So what are these other costs people warn me of. Is it parts and if so it is normal to change parts on Volvos often..
the T6 info is great to know. Thanks for the heads up on that one.
ANy models to look out for and recommended would be great to know too!
Buy
D5 XC90
v8 XC90 if you can afford the fuel
2.4i S40/V50 with Manual or Auto - Most reliable just gets on with life Volvo since the 240

For the V8's just make sure the engine bay looks dirty and confirm it was never washed unless it had the recall done to drill the valley

Don't Buy
Any T6 ever (to many bad ones to counter the good ones)
90% of the NA6's in the FWD are vastly underpowered and sucks fuel
Welcome! This is the best place for info as overseas forums are not applicable to our marker versions or full of peeps she pretend to know stuff.. .
As for parts , gee , all cars have the same parts these days so I don't know how peeps say they cost more , that probably means they are getting ripped off by their Holden dealer too ( not unusual...)
I second the ones Mike ( @Philia_Bear ) mentioned , esp an XC90 D5 if you can afford one! Fantastic vehicle. V50 are great and reasonably priced now.
If you can find a really good V70 1997/8 with amazing service history for around $3000 then older models OK. Or a later V40 but consider price compared to V50....
Good luck , ask away , plenty of help here!
A used car dealer on here as well if you are in Vic or want to travel for a tested car from a great Volvo workshop, Pom ( @Iceton1975 )

Thank you Snoopy & Philia Bear - thats exactly the type of info I need now, just to know which models to look out for.

I am not on Vic unfortunately but do have relos that end, so they might be kind enough to check out a car or two on my behalf. I would love a D5 XC90 but they are quite expensive. Does the year matter on those cars btw or any model D5 OK....
Philia_Bear;24245 wroteDon't Buy
Any T6 ever (to many bad ones to counter the good ones)
90% of the NA6's in the FWD are vastly underpowered and sucks fuel
Ah that makes so much sense! I wondered why the T6's are so cheap!
lov4volvo;24396 wrote
Philia_Bear;24245 wroteDon't Buy
Any T6 ever (to many bad ones to counter the good ones)
90% of the NA6's in the FWD are vastly underpowered and sucks fuel
Ah that makes so much sense! I wondered why the T6's are so cheap!

What do you guys think of the Volvo, XC90 P28 MY06....
lov4volvo wroteHi all,
So I really want to know your thoughts on the following;
1.what exactly is the yearly cost of servicing and maintaining a volvo (any ball park comps is fine)
2.How many years can I get out of a 2006-8 model
3.Which models and years are reliable
4.Where can I read up on Volvos
5.DId the Chinese takeover change anything significant to the quality of the car...
Welcome!

Glad to see you're asking the sensible questions BEFORE buying...
I'm a bit late to the party, so here's my two cents.

These are the key questions...
A. What can you afford?
B. What do you want?
C. What do you NEED?

You’ve answered A)
Have a good think about C)
If you don’t really need a high-riding SUV, then you can avoid the extra expense in purchase price and running costs. I’m biased to wagons as there’s more useable cargo space and we don’t really need a SUV.

Few general things to watch out for…

Insurance
- can be marginally or significantly higher
- suggest you shop around as premiums can vary by several hundreds of dollars between underwriters for the same model

Models & years
That depends on your answers to B) & C)… :)
Small wagon or big wagon or XC wagon vs. SUV – what do you REALLY NEED?
If you need cargo space, you can’t go past the V70 (the V50 is snug).
If you want height, then the XC90 is the one - otherwise the XC70 may not be high enough.
Take a few for a test drive and you'll immediately narrow down what you like.

FWD vs AWD
AWD is great fun in the wet, but the added weight and complexity costs a bit extra in fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

Normally Aspirated vs turbo
3.2 = Avoid like the plague in the XC90
2.4i = adequate in the V50, but I found it a bit pedestrian in the V70
2.4T = low pressure turbo, good all-round performer
T5 = high pressure turbo – but thirsty around town when you gun it
D5 = very good turbo diesel engine in the XC90 (as others have said)
T6 and V8 = other performance options...

Yearly cost for servicing
Clearly depends on the model, how many km’s it’s traveled and the condition
At the age & vintage you’re looking at I would annually budget…
- $1.5k + if you’re getting Volvo dealer to do the work
- $800 - $1.4k if you’re getting a reputable Volvo specialist to do the work
- much less if you’re handy with the spanners
Why?
During your ownership there will be a few big ticket items that will come up
Brakes (pads+rotors), upper spring seats, control arm bushes, timing belt etc.
Yes, parts can be more expensive, but most of us know where to source the right parts for the right price…

Regarding your other questions:
2. As other’s have stated if you look after these cars - many years to come!
The 5 cyl white block engines are proven and very robust.

5. The Chinese took over Volvo in 2009/10
So the models and years you are looking at have no Chinese influence!

Sounds like you are leaning towards the XC90?
lov4volvo;24394 wrote I would love a D5 XC90 but they are quite expensive. Does the year matter on those cars btw or any model D5 OK....
Not sure if you got the early 163bhp D5 (badged as 2.4D later in life in the UK) here, if so avoid like the plague... it's nearly as slow as a NA Land Cruiser HJ60! The 185bhp D5 is the one you want, which IIRC is 2006MY onwards.

There is also a year where they changed the AWD system to a better version of the Haldex, but I can't remember when...

In terms of Geely and Volvo, as Jonbot has said the view is that it's not a bad thing, and if anything is better than Ford ownership.

Even though Ford took control in late 1999/2000, the XC90 was well on the way (the P2x platform was designed before Ford came in, underpinning the S80, S60, V70 and XC90, with all Volvo designed engines) so that was relatively unaffected by the change.

The V50/S40/C30/C70 are based on the Focus platform (or the Focus is based on their platform depending on how you think of the order of models), whilst the current V70, S80 and S60 are based on the EUCD platform under the Ford Mondeo and a load of USA market models. The XC60 IIRC is off of the Focus platform (sort of) more than it is off the EUCD, which is why you could get AWD D/T5 V50/S50's.

Shame you didn't get the P2 XC70 with the D5 here in Aus; that's a good combination for many people... even better as a manual :)
4 days later
Thank you so much for the terrific heads up on my first Volvo purchase. I have a lot to consider. I personally don't mind the SUVs (the XC70 isnt a bad size), but my husband will only go on the Volvo bandwagon if its a V70. He likes the wagons, in particular the ones with the black rubber looking bumper bars.

Tzantushka;24409 wrote
Sounds like you are leaning towards the XC90?[/quote wrote
Hi Trent! Firstly a huge thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. It really did burst a few myths I now don't have to wonder about anymore. I have been looking in this week and discussing it with my husband and he thinks I should purchase the wagon whereas I am leaning towards the xC 70. So we will be a couple of test drives because he thinks the SUVs might be too difficult to get in and out of ( i have a back issue and a new bub so its a major factor for me).
I like the SUVs because we do a lot of road trips and they just feel safer to me. Living in Sydney, I am assuming a stationwagon might be a little long for parking spots.

I do have another question if you dont mind answering and its to do with the badges and years. for instance a badge will have MY03 or MY06 or MY11 etc. What does that actually mean. And also I am being told to avoid 2006 or 2005 models because they are deemed too old. What are your thoughts on that. I would hope the car would last me for at least 7-10 years. Am I being optimistic....


thanks for the link! The auction went off this morning and was passed in. I was told it had too many kms and it was too old. Also the auction is in Melbourne so there is no way of knowing its condition..I love the car though! It is going up tomorrow again and they are hoping to get 5000. is that good..i wish i could check it out from NSW...
i am still looking everyday. Hopefully a good car and model turn up shortly! I will def keep you up with my progress.
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