2011 S60 D5 AWD, what to look for?

gt1979

Hi everyone,
I'm considered getting my first Volvo. I like the look of the S60, D5 in AWD. I have AWD now and I like it for the rural-ish locations I tend to drive to. My current Alfa 159 drinks fuel, so I might like to try out a diesel.

In my budget it looks like I can get a 2011 model with maybe 70,000 kms on the clock. Are there any gotchas to be aware of on this car?

I must say I like the blue badge, but I can't find a confirmed price how much the Polestar upgrade would be on this car, are there any deals to be done on that? Is it even worth it?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers

Garry

Philia_Bear

For something like this
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-S60-2011/OAG-AD-13974392/?Cr=1

In general very reliable and no real gotcha's on the car
Theres nothing special on them that is highly unreliable or stupidly expensive
The EGR will likely clog at about the 7year/120k point... but its easily cleaned out with some carb cleaner and re-fitted and good to go for another 7years/120ks

Volvo for various reasons says you dont need to do half the service you really need to do so budget for

-TIming belt is every 8 years 140k (volvo says more but mehh)
-Oil = Penrite HPR10 10w50 oil

-Change of haldex unit fluid and filter every 5 years or 100k (would be due now)
-Change of angle gear fluid every 5 years or 100k (would be due now)
-Change of rear diff fluid every 5 years or 100k (would be due now)
-Flush trans every 5 years or 100k (would be due now)
-Change fuel filter every 1 year or 20k (would be due now)
The above which would be due now is about $1k in work and parts so just factor it in to any purchasing thoughts

As the car is out of warrenty, a number of (much better than polestar) tuning options are available
That said... the factory output is within 10% of the max torque rating of the Transmission so there is very very little to be gained without considerable risk

gt1979

Cool, thanks for the really detailed response, and I guess maybe Polestar is best avoided.

The car you linked to is the exact one I've been looking at, maybe I'll go give it a test drive.

Thanks a lot

Garry

Philia_Bear

To note...

I also saw this guy
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-S60-2010/OAG-AD-12454868/?Cr=5
which has radar cruise which is a pretty nice option if your doing lots of country/highway driving

gt1979

Looks cool, but I probably don't do enough highway driving to make it a priority, probably good fun to play with though.

sucksqueezebangblow

I would run a dedicated diesel oil in a diesel motor

Vee_Que

Yes. Id run the diesel penrite 10w myself, no more but dpf friendly.

How is the 159? My wife likes the look of them and if the motor is pretty reliable would be viable as her next car in the next year.

gt1979

The 159 has been a great car to drive, fun, all the rest of it, but needed valve body repair at about 140,000 kms, that was $4000. Other than that, been pretty good, but recently dropped all the coolant out the bottom in a car park and needed to be towed, that was only a few hundred to sort out though.

It drinks fuel, but I could probably change the way I drive to improve that a bit.

Very pretty car to look at, and basically pretty solid, other than the valve body.