D2 running report.
 

Now I know there are people out there that don't have much time for the Mongrel D2 - 'not a proper Volvo blah! blah!' but I cant say just how impressed I've been by the reliability & durability of my car. (Fate tempted)

It's a '13 plate purchased at 10 months old with 24k on the clock - it was one of the Volvo supplied Tristar card - so lots of airport duties. It now has £141k on the clock and to date - apart from routine servicing the only additional parts its needed are 1 replacement sidelight bulb, 1 battery and one drop link. and that's it. Never failed to start and feels as strong today as when it was first purchased. And just as an aside - the powershift gear box is behaving beautifully with changes now that are as good if not better than when I bought it. I can't tell you how impressed I am by this poverty spec, unloved model.

I have had the 1.6D2 Powershift for 9 months now and very happy with nearly doing double the MPG with the 1.6 turbo diesel compared to the 2.4 petrol. Performance wise it is ideal for me as I don't need to drive at high speed, even if you can these days with the amount of traffic and speed cameras everywhere. I have the SE Nav but wish I had the extra gadgets of the SE Lux. Fitted a tailgate closer which is a time saver when dropping off people who pick up their stuff from the back off the car and run off, forgetting to close it. I've just done the oil and filter and the next big one is the gearbox oil at 50K miles, which I am mentally preparing for already. There's some good write-ups for this online and good info on the engine but you will have to search for the Ford and Peugeot versions for this.

...I forgot to mention, as well as the drop in running fuel costs, the insurarance dropped on it (I'm guessing due to the City Safety function) and the road tax also dropped from £310 to £30 a year.

Just a confirmation, 2015 V70 D2 SE nav, it is very well specced for the money. A very useful tool as it takes loads of stuff, low insurance and road tax, quite economical and plenty of go for tootling about, although I need to remember to switch the stop/go off every time as it is a real pain at junctions.

Out of our two XC70 cars, only one of them has automatic engine stop. I still fail to understand why it's a nuisance? Why do you have to turn it off?
I see no point in the engine idling while you wait for two minutes for a train to pass, or even while yielding for half a minute for other traffic. In the cases I see a stop sign, and can monitor the upcoming road in all valid directions Before actually reaching the stop sign, I may conclude that it will just be a very brief regulatory stop. No cars to yield for. In such a case, I prevent the stop function just at that instance of stopping. That's easy enough to do, without having to disable the function all together.

I find stop/start to be an annoyance. Having driven for most of my life without it I sometimes forget that it's there until the engine stops at a time when I still need it to be running.

In the car we have, with start/stop, it only stops when I keep the foot on the brake pedal and the car is at standstill. In these situations I've not found it necessary to keep the engine running, as the car is brought to a halt.
Now I usually drive the other car, which has no start/stop, so I'm interested in knowing beforehand which these situations are, where you need the engine running in spite of not moving?

Have you seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzxJnNt5uA

or

+ YouTube Video

That's what I use, I switch it off before I set off. When you stop briefly at a junction not only does the engine stop, but so does the power steering, which means as you try to pull away quickly the steering goes heavy and the engine has to fire up. This can lead to heart stopping moments if you are trying to get into a gap in the traffic.

...it also uses obviously uses and wears the starter motor a lot more not to mention and starter ring teeth on the flywheel.