V50 General : A bit Rubbish really

[Alec Dawe]

At risk of doing a murray walker, and giving the kiss of death to my S40 2.0D, I have to say that, so far (18 months old, 22,000miles) it has been a model of reliability, the only problem being a scratched bumper when the dealers fitted my towbar, to which they admitted when I collected the car (the scratch was in the bootlid shut area, caused by the bumper not having seated correctly when refitted, and the boot lid catching) and then asked when would be the most convenient time for me to return the car to them, with identical courtesy car, so that they could do a proper respray job on the bumper, making sure it matched properly.
Otherwise, my S40 models my wife's Focus C-max (23,000 miles) in reliability, but I would say the Volvo built quality is far better, trim materials nicer (The C-max is fine, but a little utilitarian, harder plactics etc), better equipt, better safety gear, and generally nicer to drive. Also about 3 to 4 mpg more economical (better aerodynamics?) and faster.
This opinion endorsed by my wife, who loves the C-max, but also loves to drive 'my' car!

[Marmoset]

Hmm, rubbish is somewhat harsh in my opinion - no major problems here in 32k, just a creaking drivers seat and a leaky rear washer jet.

If the car handled like an S60 I drove, I wouldn't have bought it, so I'm thankful that it's based on the same architecture as the focus. Also, having owned a couple of fords previously, I can tell that the Volvo is of a higher level of quality - just looking underneath makes it obvious.

In my opinion Volvo's are still Volvo's, you still get that tank like build quality (mine seems like it anyhow), the paintwork is great, the seats comfortable, tight turning circle and it still has the "swedishness" left intact.

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

I currently run a (leased) V50 2.0D and am pained to admit that it is a bit rubbish really.

OK, so it handles well, has good pull from the engine, is relatively quiet and looks OK inside and out, but the reliability is absolutely shocking.

So basically it sounds like you think the car - as a model - is good, but your particular example is pants?

Which probably means you've got the inevitable "friday afternoon car" that is bound to be turned out by any large manufacturer these days. Unfortunately that's probably given you a false impression of the reliability of the modern volvo... just as yours always goes wrong, a lot of people prob. have one that never goes wrong, and the majority of people have one that goes wrong occasionally... there's bound to be a duffer of any car every now and then, I should know as it's usually me that ends up buying it ....

[Viking V40]

... think I'll just hang onto my VOLVO V40 and my old aircooled VW Beetle ...

[mortyst222]

Having owned a ford focus St-2 for 5 weeks now I can say its not a bad car.
The build quality is far better than my vauxhall vectra that im getting rid of plus the engine is a peach its smooth, fast and very refined, handles like a dream too. I did think about the V50 t5 sport when i was buying my new car but the ST won me over...

This is the first Ford Ive owned and in my opinion its very good. I did hear bad reports about Ford but im not regretting buying my focus and after spending over £20k on it of my own money im happy.

Darren