A bit Rubbish really

[Philip Fisher]

Now, before I start, lets get this straight. I am a Volvo kinda guy. My last car was a 97 V70 T5. My brother had a 340 GLE, a XC70 Classic and has an XC90 on order. My other brother had an 850 and then an XC70. My Mum has, had from new, a mint 1988 740 GL. I travelled all around Europe as a child in the rear facing seats of an A and then a B reg 240 DL. You get my drift......

So, I currently run a (leased) V50 2.0D and am pained to admit that it is a bit rubbish really.

OK, so it handles well, has good pull from the engine, is relatively quiet and looks OK inside and out, but the reliability is absolutely shocking. It is less than 12 months old and so far (and I am sure to have missed a few probs here), has had the following problems:

- Glovebox broken, unable to access until main dealer crowbared open.
- Water sprayed out of A piller when washing rear window
- Radio keeps going off tune and skips CD tracks - fixed at 3 months old, now doing it again.
- Central screen displaying just blocks of yellow
- Broken catches on rear load blind
- Broken lashing eyes
- Lumpy and bunny hopping running (rectified with the oh so easy to lie about "software download")
- Car completely fails to unlock or lock or do anything - had to "break in" with emergency key

Not really great for a 20K car which, as it is a Volvo, should be more reliable than the crowd. All my colleagues take the mickey as my car is always back at the dealers.

So then, would I spend £20K on another V50 if it was my own money? No, I would spend £10K on a very very nearly new Mondeo Estate TDCI and save the 10K. I am sure I would spend as much time at the dealers, but hey I would be 10K richer.

If Volvo wants to continue being classed as a Premium Manufacturer then it needs to start building with premium quality, not just charging premium prices.....

[James_N]

or save £19,500 and buy a proper volvo :D (200/700 series)

/gets coat

[the great one]

or buy a s60 v70 d5

[tj101c70]

Sorry Philip,, but you have a Ford,, not a Volvo, like the rest of the proper cars in you list !!





coat on , and out the door !!!

[alsner]

As already stated you indeed have a ford, ever since Ford bought out volvo the quality has gone down the ****ter.

The accountants now run the show not the engineers..

2,7 or 9 series are the true volvos'

The same has happened to Jag, Merc and SAAB the build quality of modern cars are pants as they're made like white goods...

Buy a old one and you'll be hooked once more... + money saved will put a big smile on your face

[CTCNetwork]

HI,
Not really great for a 20K car which, as it is a Volvo, should be more reliable than the crowd. It isn't, its a focus (or is that fucus?)...

So then, would I spend £20K on another V50 if it was my own money? No, I would spend £10K on a very very nearly new Mondeo Estate TDCI and save the 10K. I am sure I would spend as much time at the dealers, but hey I would be 10K richer.Well as it is a focus, no, I wouldn't either.
If you want a ford, buy a ford.
Most people here want a Volvo and so buy the older pre fud cars.

If Volvo wants to continue being classed as a Premium Manufacturer then it needs to start building with premium quality,
Volvo would be a "premium car manufacturer" given half the chance. It is just that fud won't let them.

Des. . . ;)

[Philip Fisher]

or buy a s60 v70 d5

Which are, erhum, also based on Fords...

[tj101c70]

Not quite,, XC70/90, V70, S60/80 etc, are still proper Volvo,s all Ford did was give Volvo the budget to build them, by buying the company, same as Aston/Jag/Landrover etc


New S40/V50 all focus based, even the new freelander shares the same platform !!

[the great one]

Which are, erhum, also based on Fords...

i'll think your find there not

[7050man]

Just thought I'd add my twopenneth. Yes It is a Focus derivitive, but built in my opinion to a higher quality than its cheaper brother. I suppose we pay for that privilage with Volvo prices and not Ford's.
What we do get I'd suggest, is probably better treatment from the dealers which is what you'd expect given the prices that we pay for service etc.

However, it's a machine and they all go wrong occasionally but most of the threads on this Forum do not involve major problems, which I don't think is bad for a car that has been around for two yrs now. If you check out the Saab forums, you can see that these kind of discussions (GM cheap influence) have been going on for ages now and there are more problems (serious engine ones) with newer Saabs in the last few years than with the V50.

If you want cheaper motoring, then buy the Ford version. It's a good car. Personally I want just that little bit more.

[Alec Dawe]

At risk of doing a murray walker, and giving the kiss of death to my S40 2.0D, I have to say that, so far (18 months old, 22,000miles) it has been a model of reliability, the only problem being a scratched bumper when the dealers fitted my towbar, to which they admitted when I collected the car (the scratch was in the bootlid shut area, caused by the bumper not having seated correctly when refitted, and the boot lid catching) and then asked when would be the most convenient time for me to return the car to them, with identical courtesy car, so that they could do a proper respray job on the bumper, making sure it matched properly.
Otherwise, my S40 models my wife's Focus C-max (23,000 miles) in reliability, but I would say the Volvo built quality is far better, trim materials nicer (The C-max is fine, but a little utilitarian, harder plactics etc), better equipt, better safety gear, and generally nicer to drive. Also about 3 to 4 mpg more economical (better aerodynamics?) and faster.
This opinion endorsed by my wife, who loves the C-max, but also loves to drive 'my' car!

[Marmoset]

Hmm, rubbish is somewhat harsh in my opinion - no major problems here in 32k, just a creaking drivers seat and a leaky rear washer jet.

If the car handled like an S60 I drove, I wouldn't have bought it, so I'm thankful that it's based on the same architecture as the focus. Also, having owned a couple of fords previously, I can tell that the Volvo is of a higher level of quality - just looking underneath makes it obvious.

In my opinion Volvo's are still Volvo's, you still get that tank like build quality (mine seems like it anyhow), the paintwork is great, the seats comfortable, tight turning circle and it still has the "swedishness" left intact.

[peteS40]

I currently run a (leased) V50 2.0D and am pained to admit that it is a bit rubbish really.

OK, so it handles well, has good pull from the engine, is relatively quiet and looks OK inside and out, but the reliability is absolutely shocking.

So basically it sounds like you think the car - as a model - is good, but your particular example is pants?

Which probably means you've got the inevitable "friday afternoon car" that is bound to be turned out by any large manufacturer these days. Unfortunately that's probably given you a false impression of the reliability of the modern volvo... just as yours always goes wrong, a lot of people prob. have one that never goes wrong, and the majority of people have one that goes wrong occasionally... there's bound to be a duffer of any car every now and then, I should know as it's usually me that ends up buying it :D ....

[Viking V40]

... think I'll just hang onto my VOLVO V40 and my old aircooled VW Beetle ... :)

[mortyst222]

Having owned a ford focus St-2 for 5 weeks now I can say its not a bad car.
The build quality is far better than my vauxhall vectra that im getting rid of plus the engine is a peach its smooth, fast and very refined, handles like a dream too. I did think about the V50 t5 sport when i was buying my new car but the ST won me over...

This is the first Ford Ive owned and in my opinion its very good. I did hear bad reports about Ford but im not regretting buying my focus and after spending over £20k on it of my own money im happy.

Darren