I think I've got a pretty good experience when it comes to keeping a high miler on the road, not a good experience though.
I purchased my neighbours 2003/03 S60 D5 a couple of years ago for the princely sum of £500. It had 319k miles on it and needed suspension parts, tyres and an intercooler in my time with it. I loved that car. It was everything to everyone, but most of all extremely dependable. That was till it reached 346,000 miles. Then the plug behind the flywheel blew and needing a dmf and clutch made it a £1200 job which I just couldn't justify spending on a car with that mileage.
Skip forward to today and I have replaced it with a 2005/55 S60 D5 (183bhp) with the geartronic gearbox, purchased from a fellow forum member. It has a paltry 178,000 miles, looks really smart, has every conceivable extra and is a complete pile of crap.
I hate it. I would rather drive my work Citroen Berlingo Van.
The gearbox valves are shot causing serious flaring. I always wonder if it's going to start as it can turn over for 10 seconds plus before firing. I've had to fix the intank fuel pump but now the cabin reeks of diesel. It creaks, it's rattles and the stereo is not as good as the one in my old S60 (I think because it has the sat nav).
It just 'feels' so inferior to my last one and if I could go back in time and repair my last one, I would without hesitation!!!
By the same token, if I could sell it without losing a serious amount of cash it would be gone straight away!!
That's my two penneth worth!!
Cheers all
Wayne
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