Buying A C30 looking for advice.

[AngeloEvs]

I want to buy a VolvoC30, most likely a 2009/10 1.6Diesel model and looking for any buying advice. A bit confused with the Taxation costs as some Diesel are exempt, some £20 but Petrol Variants very high. Apart from Engine choice any buying advice would be appreciated. Been told that the Diesel variants can cover quite high mileages and still be reliable. Many thanks.

[Simmy]

the 2.od is a better choice 1.6 can have issues.

[Thassos]

I think early C30 diesels had a different engine to later ones with the 1.6L D2 engine which is a PSA / ford engine also used in Peugeot/citroen in peugeots its 92bhp version is below 100g/km for emissions and tax free in the 2014/15 years, am guessing this might apply to volvos (also in the V40) have driven a D2 V40 and it felt a bit underpowered compared to Peugeots but i think thats perhaps down to the cars kerb weight (volvos are never the lightest vehicles..) Petrol C30s are less prone to some of the problems you can get with more complex diesels, so cheaper to repair. C30s share a lot of ford focus parts so things like front wishbones are not so expensive vs volvo gen parts.

The 1.6D is a 5 speed, the later D2 has 6 speeds in a manual.

its swings & roundabouts, i think you probably see more petrol C30s than diesel, but as you say road tax will be higher..

hope thats some help

[pinballdave]

The tax class depends on the emissions, the early 1.6d cars are in higher tax bands. The 1.6d DRIVe cars are usually £20 or £30 a year (these will be the 2009/10 year cars), some of the later D2 cars are £0 tax.

If you really want one of these lower tax band cars with the 1.6d, then it needs to be really well looked after. Once they have been neglected, they can be very expensive to put right.

If you are capable of working on the car yourself, then parts are plentiful and cheap. If you're paying a garage to fix faults, then you're going to spend more than you are saving in car tax taking care of the issues these engines inevitably have.

These 1.6d engines are known for oil contamination, which then leads to turbo, egr and dpf problems. Oil and filter changes are vitally important, and if they have been missed you can expect trouble.

The fuel injector seals fail, allowing combustion gasses and soot into the crankcase. The poor design of the sump pan doesn't allow all of the oil to drain, leaving almost a litre of old oil remaining in the sump after every service.

If you've had turbo or injector seal problems, or suffered from blocked egr pipes, then you need to remove the sump to clear out the contaminated oil and remove any sludge from the oil pickup strainer.

The 1.6d engines use a wet DPF, and this is considered to be a consumable item with a life of 75k. It also requires the Eolys fluid tank to be topped up every 37k. The later D2 engined cars, use a normal DPF which doesn't require any routine servicing.

[Thassos]

Some great points pbd.. i had forgotten about the dpf differences, i wonder what mpg the Diesel versions do, i think the petrol 2L might be around low 30s to 40mpg on a motorway run. The 1.6 petrol feels a bit more peppy than the 1.8 or 2L but suspect thats some ford tinkering to its mapping the 1.8 & 2L are a mazda derivative and very smooth running.