Looking at an S60 T5 SE - any recommendations?

[Gopher]

Hi, newbie here - to Volvo's as well as the forums.
I'm off to look at an S60 T5 SE I've got my eye on in the morning, is there anything particular you would recommend keeping an eye out for on the test drive? Never dealt with turbo'd cars before!

Thanks in advance.

[Aeroresh]

Suspension clonks and wandering are the main things, bushes dont tend to last long in these cars.

Other than that, oil leaks, ETM and other electrical gremlins (warning lights and malfunctioning central locking are the favourites) and of course give the service history a good check over.

Turbo life is usually around 150k miles so should be ok till then if looked after.

[blues60]

If it's an early one make sure all the central locking is working. The door locks tend to malfunction and pop backup again. I don't think anything horrendous goes wrong with S60's as long as they have been maintained correctly, it's just annoying niggly things like suspension bushes, door locks, ETM failures etc. If you have a look through the old posts you will get a good feel for what goes wrong on them.

[John_C]

Other than what's already been said the only other frequent failure is the engine top mount bush. It's a minor thing but if you get a garage to fix it, it will run you anywhere from £50 upwards.

[TJMurphy]

Not sure what age you're looking at but I would suggest if you can you want at least the 2002 model year or newer. 2002 should have a different throttle module which is (a) not the one that's causing all the problems and (b) is quicker acting. Also, from 2002 they started putting in the DSTC (Electronic Stability Programme).

Second what everyone says about the suspension clonks and door locks. You may also want to have a look at the top engine mount as that tends to go on them. None of the mounts seem to be too expensive to fix - the door locks are however (unless it's still under warranty of course).

Check the brakes and disks too, just had mine serviced last week @ 72,000 miles and had 4 new disks and pads for just under £500. I'd not noticed any juddering on my old set so had been expecting new pads only - disks were a bit of a shock to the credit card!

[Gopher]

Wish me luck - I'm off to collect it in the morning! If anyone sees a silver S60 T5 SE driving around Bristol tomorrow it's only me trying to get to grips with the sat-nav!
I'lll let you know what I think of it and maybe get some pics up later!

[imac]

Originally Posted by TJMurphy

Check the brakes and disks too, just had mine serviced last week @ 72,000 miles and had 4 new disks and pads for just under £500. I'd not noticed any juddering on my old set so had been expecting new pads only - disks were a bit of a shock to the credit card!

Crikey. How much did they charge for labour?!

I've just purchased pads & discs all round for one of our 850's which ran to £160 for the ATE stuff (who make the parts for Volvo), the S60 stuff was marginally more expensive, but not much more.

That allows a whopping £340 for labour. Jeez.