08 Volvo V50 T5 SE Sport (Auto) - good dependent family car?
 

Sorry if this is not the right place to ask.

Im in the market for a new family estate. Been waiting a Volvo for years.

Found a 2008 Volvo V50 2.5 T5 SE Sport (Auto) with around 120k miles. No any advisories or major issues from the last MOT, cam belt has been done recently. It's going for around £6.7k.

Provided the car is up to date on its maintenance and service, any particular issues with these that should put me off from buying one? Is that price reasonable?

I am aware of a car this age is bound to have somethings that needs to be replaced. I just don't really want to deal with chronic issues that costs more than the car to fix.

My main use case for this car is just maybe weekend trips and possibly taking it on a trip across the country/Europe. I don't commute so fuel economy is not a huge concern for me.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Seems hellishly expensive to me although I know second hand car prices have gone up significantly in the last few years. In 2017 I sold a 2004 S40 T5 with 136k on it and struggled to get £1800 even though it was really well maintained. Took me three months to sell it.

The one you're looking at seems in good clean condition but given large petrol engine cars aren't the flavour of the month with most buyers I'd say it's overpriced.

According to Parkers, at that age, if it had 160k miles it would be £1400-£2450 private sale or £3220-£4480 from a dealer.

For comparison, if you select the same model but 4yrs newer (2012) on Parkers with the same mileage as the car you're looking at you get £3,085 - £4,165 private and dealer price is £4,760 - £6,110.

With that in mind I reckon it's about £2,000 over-priced even if it were a dealer sale and about £3,000 over for a private sale (which this looks to be). At the end of the day though, it's worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

Check for any sort of whistle on acceleration which would indicate the breather box has a hole in it and needs replacing. Common other items are fuel pressure regulator so just make sure it accelerates smoothly with no hesitation in the rev band, broken springs and wheel bearings which you should easily spot by the noise. Other than that it's a solid engine built to last.

Iain

Expensive to buy and expensive to run are your two issues, I'd say. Most people run D5 Volvos for preference (sweeping generalisation, but it has a lot of the real-world performance, even more longevity, and lower consumptive urges than a T5)

These 2.5T petrol engines are genuinely bad on fuel.

Be warned. Expect low 20mpg or worse everywhere you go.

The 2.4 D5 diesel would be much better bet if fuel consumption is even slightly a concern. They are 180bhp, and 340Nm torque and they feel plenty grunty and powerful.

D5 is also a 5 cylinder engine like the T5, so its a much nicer diesel engine than the typical bland 2.0-litre 4 cylinder units.

While I don't disagree that compared to a D5 a T5 could be called bad on fuel my experience of MPG was nowhere near as bad as that. If all you ever did was drive to the end of the road and back in a 30mph zone, maybe.

I averaged 30mpg when I had an S40 T5 with a fair mix of road types. Best it ever did was 40mpg up the A9 where average speed cameras mean you're doing 50-60mph all the way. Worst it did was 25mpg to France and back with a full boot, roofbox and 3 people.

Hope that helps.

Iain

Had mine for 6 years + now, I can easily get over 30mpg without any problems at all ... with a push I could get close to the 40mpg.

So yes a V50 T5 will make a great dependable family car ... but if looked after properly, like most cars anyway. 120k is on the higher side but thats no problem at all really, you will most likely be coming round to a change of clutch and dmf ... although I did mine at 125k and there was still loads of life left!

I have owned mine from 45k and its now on 168k and I have to say its been absolutely brilliant. The only main problems I have had with the car are the ones I have given it which are modding problems. Apart from that the only problems the car has given me to date (not caused by my meddling) is the alternator failed, which then lead to a dead battery. Also condenser a/c issues with leak in condenser and then a failing compressor clutch which I sorted myself (But these issues are common on all the models and not specific to the T5's)

I would say that price you popped up is leaning more towards the higher side. Mine is an S40 so would probably be cheaper than the V50 but mine was £6.2k with 45k.

But its absolutely worth it, most power out of all the other P1 platform engines and its also easy to mod if you decide to go down that route :tongwink:

OP said Auto.

Yes and? T5 is a T5. The auto's arent far off manuals really.

Know plenty P1 T5 auto owners and they are pretty good as well, more relaxing to drive. The only problem with the auto's is they will struggle if you are modding much past the 300bhp mark.

with the day to day driving an auto makes sense over a manual. I cant comment on an auto T5 box but I have an auto T6 and its much more day to day friendly .... so yes, still a great choice

There's really no need for 'yes and'. You seemed to have missed the fact the OP was considering an auto, that's all.

In my hands - and I give my cars a very gentle time, generally delivering very good mpg, I found my T5 auto alarmingly consumptive. Shockingly so considering the relative lack of bhp (2007 220 bhp) On a long motorway/dual route I could exceed 30 comfortably, but in any driving that involved start/stop, or any significant urban it was sub 25. That was what drove my earlier comments, especially as the OP's looking at a family car. I and others think the D5 is the better option.

No I just don't have an auto T5, but I have a manual T5 and considering the only real difference is the gearbox, I thought I would share my 2cents on T5 ownership considering that some of the things I brought up on my first post with issues, do not matter if its a manual or auto and more the issues on general P1 platform.

I do know quite a few auto T5 owners who have had similar mpg's to mine but I cannot claim that, so I can only claim what I have done with mine. I do know others that have had awful mpg's to then find out the car was not running properly (who ended up selling the car, new owner services it and had a remap put on it and it was running much better and better mpg) ... but then again I only want to share my T5 experience.

Im not going to go down the path of this D5 is better than T5 but considering that the T5 is actually the chosen engine within the the ST / RS community as well, seems like a great choice. So its great having further help / support (cheaper parts etc) from that community as well. The D5 is a great engine, I was looking at one myself when I was looking to change from my 2.0D S40 ... but after a few test drives the T5 was just much much better in my opinion and more fun and still delivered that mpg range I needed.


as the OP states "I don't commute so fuel economy is not a huge concern for me." & "weekend trips and possibly taking it on a trip across the country/Europe" ... I mean, this sounds like the T5 would be a lovely fit!


I used to daily my T5 doing just under 100 miles a day. mpg was great not far off the diesel equivalents (I previously had a 2.0D S40 to compare) but the T5 just has the added power which was the big plus and easy to mod, so it was a great choice for me. I also do long drives in mine to europe, particularly to the ring in germany and used to drive up to the czech republic frequently ... again the T5 delivered great mpg and when it was needed, the power was brilliant to have. Yes I have a manual, but to have an auto in these trips would of been much better.

I do agree the standard power the T5 did leave you wanting more (but all the other engines had less), but a simple map would see you getting closer to the 300 area which is a massive change.

... so sorry but no I didnt feel I missed the OP question at all, I feel I shared my points on T5 ownership to try and give a more balanced view

"Expensive to buy and expensive to run are your two issues, I'd say. Most people run D5 Volvos for preference (sweeping generalisation, but it has a lot of the real-world performance, even more longevity, and lower consumptive urges than a T5)"

for me T5 ownership has been completely opposite to the above comment and as stated, the only issues and costs that the car has incurred are from me causing the problems.

So to sum up, yes I still think an auto V50 T5 if it has been well looked after would be a great choice! and definitely for what the OP needs it for!