V70 Geartronic
 

I used to have a 2004 V70 D5. It was a shed, abused and tatty, but worked well.

A geartronic D5 from the same era, are their gearboxes okay or should I be cautious?

It’s done just shy of 70k and 2005.

Thanks

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You'll want to have the transmission fully warmed up (warms up much slower than the engine), and feel for any not smooth changes in auto mode. But in winter time it's hard to get the fluid warm enough to test it. Also, only 70k from 2005 is a little suspect, may still be true but worth looking at the maintenance papers

they generally don't "blow up" but fail steadily and predictably over time, which preventative maint can nip in the bud.

But yes they all fail eventually.

as above you need a minimum of 15 minutes driving to get gearbox to 70 degrees

Thanks for these. Long term do you reckon it would be better off having a manual? I’m always a bit suspect if automatics, even though I seem to keep buying them!

Thanks everyone.

Case by case.
A bad owner of an '05 has had plenty of time to trash a clutch.
Are these the ones which include the Dual Mass Flywheel?
Those don't last forever either.

You say you "keep buying them..."; so how long is the "long term" you specify in your question?

These are durable units. Good ones are better than abused ones.

Indeed. Also, an auto can be tested when fully warmed, gives a decent idea of its health - even tiny kicks when changing gears may not be that bad. A manual on the other side cannot be tested to know if it will soon fail and it fails at the slave cylinder sooner or later - it's an engine out job + expensive clutch and flywheel + special tools. Sometimes the brake fluid res will be low+ leaks under the transmission but anyone can hide this. Of course, you may find a manual with 130k miles on the original clutch if driven mostly motorway, but otherwise I would look for one that had the clutch replaced in the past 30k miles or so

I personally wouldnt buy an auto with a tow bar, otherwise pretty solid.

in my experience if you are a gentle driver it wont be a problem. If you are performance oriented your more likely to have a problem - IE putting more heat into the fluid, more torque etc.

also same for towing

Wish i'd known about the 15min minimum run, mine is a tad notchy once warm..