Looking to buy a V60

[Mark3]

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a V60 D4 R Design and have a few questions.

Is there a buyers guide or a list of what I shout look out for? I'm looking at a car on Monday with 100k on, are these engines good for a lot more? Ideally I want to have it tuned, is this sensible and can anyone recommend somewhere to have it done local to the Midlands?

Any advice /recommendations on things to check would be much appreciated

Many thanks

Mark

[SeaShell]

Hi Mark.

What age is the car you are looking at?

Read the threads about EGR valves and the safety recall and check what work if any has previously been done to the car.

Also it seems the Cam belt now needs changed at 90K indeed of 144K therefore it may now need done on the car you are looking at.

[Mark3]

Thanks Seashell,

I have just read the recall post. Looks like you've had a bit of a time of it. Don't really fancy going through that myself, I'm thinking about the volvo because I've had enough of unreliability trouble with my Alfa but if doesn't sound like it will be much better!

The car is a 2014 D4 which all the reviews I read said was the best choice.

Ill check the history for a clutch and any egr work and waterpump as it's on 99k and try and get the vin to cross check

Cheers

[Zebster]

There's a lot of really great things about this car, but the VEA engine problems mean that I honestly couldn't recommend buying one... I've had mine a year and needed both a replacement EGR valve and EGR cooler at around 70k miles (even though the cooler had already been replaced under the previous ownership). I already had concerns about other reported issues such as blocked intake manifold, fouled inlet valves and high oil consumption caused by 'porous cylinders', now Volvo have written to me warning that the intake manifold could melt or even catch fire, but they don't yet have a fix!!!

Volvo goodwill can be generous, but not on all parts... and who knows how long they'll keep supporting these problems?

Not heard of any clutch or water pump issues though.

[dhr90]

Have you considered the 5 cylinder D5 engine at all? You get to own a Volvo V60, without the problems of the D4.

[ShovelBoy]

Seconded....get an earlier 5 cylinder engine.

2013 D5 SE Luxs (which include the fantastic Active-C suspension) are around the same money as 2014 D4 Business Editions. No comparison!

[scoobysn7x]

I have a 2013 V69 D4 5 cylinder that's for sale if your interested, 2 previous owner, full leather interior, few mods, full service history, mostly Volvo main dealer, recent new clutch and dmf, drives like new.

[Craig S]

I agree with all that has been said.

The VEA D4 is pretty much a pig in a poke, there are so many things that are wrong with the engine as a result of the method of getting the emissions Euro 6 compliant, meaning that future EGR/Cooler replacements are going to be required on a pretty regular basis. Not withstanding the fact that they have had the "final EGR Cooler Fix" for some time but it simply isn't fixed. Plus the engine oil consumption.

The EGR thread has so many stories arising from it, and the current recall may even be related to the final EGR cooler fix. I'm not a mechanic but it is a bit of a coincidence that it has taken 5 years for this fault to become apparent, but with the numbers of cars having replacement EGR Coolers fitted it makes sense that the so called EGR fix could be the root of the current recall.

It is really sad, as the engine other than that the engine is a really strong, quiet, powerful and economical engine, and had it been reliable it would have been excellent.

I moved from a 2010 V70 D5 to the 2014 V60 D4, and for the first 9 months of ownership where I was blissfully unaware of the reliability issues I would say it was one of the best cars I had until the dreaded Engine Management light came on with the P04d9 fault code.

[SeaShell]

I agree with Craig S, until there is a real 'final fix' for the VEA engine, problems will just keep appearing and there is no guarantee how long Volvo will keep replacing parts.

In my case if I was stumping up for repairs, the car would probably be scrapped as the repairs will be more that 50% of the cars value....not really ideal for a 4 year old car with less that 80K on the clock.

The perception (mine anyway) is that Volvo's if regularly serviced would run for 20 years and many many miles.

Unfortunately for me the with type of driving I do now, I feel the issue will return....

If only there were more petrol V60's out there!!