V50 1.8 petrol

[Gordo12345]

Hi . I’m looking to get a Volvo estate and I’ve seen a V50 1.8 petrol .
Any advice on wether these are good cars or am I better off looking at a diesel.
With the emissions becoming harder to pass an mot is petrol the way forward .
I’m going to look at a V50 tonight , what’s the main things I need to be aware of .
Thanks for any help .
Gordo 12345

[PNM]

The earlier 1.8 petrol engines were prone to excessive oil consumption once they neared 90K miles - I got rid of mine at 101K due to this problem.

Also, mine often struggled with warm starts, so during the test drive, I would get it up to temperature, turn off and leave for 10 mins or so and then restart - mine would need a liberal application of the accelerator pedal to get it going.

All S40/V50s are prone to problems with the AC compressor bearing, so listen for a whine when accelerating with the AC on - although this isn't a massive problem to fix.

Other than that, I had no real problems with mine for the 30K I owned it. The big plus is that the 1.8 and 2.0 petrols have cam chains and not belts, so that keeps the servicing cost down.

In my opinion, buying a diesel now is a bit risky - with the DPF problems and the ever increasing number of cities threatening to charge to drive a diesel into, I would be a bit hesitant to get one.

[volvopilot]

I can't agree more with your post. pretty solid cars but look for oil consumption and potential start problems. These often have to do with bad throttle bodies or ECM problems.

Originally Posted by PNM

All S40/V50s are prone to problems with the AC compressor bearing, so listen for a whine when accelerating with the AC on - although this isn't a massive problem to fix.

do you know if this can be fixed without replacing the whole AC compressor?

[PNM]

As far as I'm aware, the most cost effective fix is replacing the compressor with a referb. It's not a massive job though.

[Gordo12345]

Thank you for your views . Very informative.👌

[Parisien]

Of the 1.6/1.8/2.0, the latter is the best on all fronts, so given the choice, do I as I did and get the 2.0L!

Its the most refined, best performance and almost the same mpg as the others, plus generally fewest problems, go for a latest version with lowest miles you can afford.

P