V70 - What to buy ?

[DC6839]

Hi folks, I currently have a 2003 V40 1.9D Sports Lux with 240,000 on the clock. As my hobby is flying radio controlled model aeroplanes, I am looking to increase the luggage capacity and so, probably, buying a V70. My V40 does 54 mpg in the summer and dips to just under 50mpg in the winter so fuel economy would be important if I were to change to a V70. I drive for economy and not speed but do a lot of miles in a year. I have in the region of £6,000 to spend so can anyone suggest which variant I should look for and what mpg I could expect please?
Thanks

[Billggski]

I bought a D2, but a recent one, for space and economy. A rare combination.
Just be careful if you go for the 1.6 engine that it is the later version. There is a thread on here about the difference and the problems with the 16v engine.
I would go for the latest you can find with a service history.

[Model flyer]

Snap! I bought my V70 to lug my RC planes about. If you go for a P3 D5 manual expect to get around 33 to 35 MPG average, thats what I get on local short to medium journeys on my manual 2007 Se Lux. It wont matter a jot how you drive it as that seems to be the MPG it does . You May squeeze a couple more miles on a long run but don't expect much more . The last V70 I had was a P2 D5 and that could get over 50 MPG on a run but it was lighter than the P3. My son had the auto version P3 and he was about 2MPG down on my manual. The upside of the D5 engine is that if its maintained properly it pretty bullet proof . Ive only test driven the 2.0 ltr four cyl model and it seemed ok on the test but car is heavy so buyer beware . The 1.6 seems very small for a big car and is possibly fine in town but probably hopeless at overtaking etc on motorway .

[tommyweaves]

Get the 5cyl 2.0 (163) D3. I'm getting mid 40s with a mixture of journeys. 50 mpg is easily attainable on longer journeys. It also has a great lump of torque for when you need it on overtakes.

[RM955I]

Originally Posted by Model flyer

Snap! I bought my V70 to lug my RC planes about. If you go for a P3 D5 manual expect to get around 33 to 35 MPG average, thats what I get on local short to medium journeys on my manual 2007 Se Lux.

I'm getting 33.6 from my 205 twin turbo auto and I have a heavy right foot. Initially it was a very disappointing 29 but it seems a good service, some fueul system cleaner, some 2 stroke in the diesel and a bit of "an Italian tune up" as I believe it is called, have cleared the tubes over the 8k I've had it.

I had no particular reason for wanting the 205 other than (a) it came up cheap from a contact and (b) I just loved the grunt. Having said that mine really gets into its stride at 80+ which perhaps is when the auto lockup has kicked in?

[pacman67]

I have the D5 205 auto which I've recently had the Polestar upgrade, with mixed driving I'm over 40mpg, cruising at 70 gets more like 45mpg.

[Sasha94]

£6000 is a fair budget but for that you'll be looking at a 2.0D 4 cylinder PSA engine or either the 2.4D 163ps or D5 185ps Volvo 5 cylinder unit.

Of those the 2.0D is night and day better on fuel than a D5 so if economy is priority forget the D5, don't even bother looking at one, yes they are supposed to be the most reliable diesel going and yes a lot of them make it to silly mileages but fuel economy, not a chance.

You could get a 16 valve 1.6D DRIVe 5 speeder in budget but I wouldn't, the 2.0D is a better all rounder and MPG is similar.

In terms of what to look for, rear trailing arm bushes wear out quickly but are the same as an MK4 Mondeo so not that pricey to change, windscreens can leak particularly on 2008/9 cars, power steering system isn't strong and the pipes can lose their coating internally and kill the pump so regular changes are vital. Other than those things, just look for all the other normal stuff. Fingers crossed you find a decent one

[oilburner]

I have a bit of experience with several of these engines in different cars. We had a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso with the 1.6 diesel that Ford lent to Volvo (did Volvo modify it?) And that was surprisingly good for such a heavy car in terms of performance but fuel economy never got much better than about 44mpg. Reliability was awful too. By 40k miles the valve stem oil seals had leaked and coked up the engine. We got rid quickly after that and many other issues with the rest of the car.

We also had a Mondeo mk4 with the 2.0D 140bhp engine and that was a brilliant unit. Very reliable and had plenty of performance even when towing with our caravan. With the 6 speed auto about 40 mpg was realistic. If you can live with having a Ford 4 pot under the bonnet then you can't go too far wrong with these.

I put on a couple of thousand miles in an S80 D5 (180 bhp) auto and found that struggled to better 38 mpg. Nowhere near as efficient as my old P2 S80 D5 and not as nice to drive either.

My current ride is a late model V70 using the D4 auto with the 2.0 Volvo 4 pot. It is a cracking engine with excellent performance and quite a nice sound for 4 cylinders too. But still, it doesn't offer much more than about 42 mpg.

The moral of the story is: forget about official fuel economy figures - they're all much the same in the real world - and decide how much performance you want and how reliable you want the engine to be. Let that guide you.