General: honest John volvo s60 review

[SlimTim]

good afternoon/evening.

Firstly a quick intro, I am a former forum member and have owned a 740,850 and 960 before foolishly giving them up on the grounds that the kids had all grown up and did not really need a big car.
Having messed around with other cars for quite a few years, including 4 years with a Rover MG-ZT. I have decided its time to come back into the fold.

So, I have decided to purchase an S60 and to this end I looked up honest John's review online as I would normally trust his judgement.
I was surprised with some of his findings and to be honest after trawling this site I have seen no evidence to support some of his claims, for instance that the timing belt, water pump etc should be changed after 60,000 miles.
I have cut and pasted some of the review below.
I would be grateful for any opinion on the below.
Oh and by the way 'hello to you all'.


D5 timing belts, tensioners, pulleys and waterpumps all best changed at 60,000 miles or 4 years whichever comes first. Tensioners prone to failure and may not last the scheduled 96,000 miles or 8 years. D5 Inlet manifold swirl flaps prone to breaking off at any time from 3 years old.

Check the state of air cleaner box. Open bonnet, look down the back of the air cleaner box and it may be bent out of shape. Volvo won't sell a lid only (which was the broken part) and the complete box is £139. When the lid is put on it exerts an unfair strain on the box and bends it leaving the lid only partially engaged which can lead to a broken lid then onto a damaged air mass sensor and on to dangerous surges when the car idles.

On D5s poor starting can signify injector problem. Bosch EDC15 and EDC16 injector failure on pre-2003 D5s is becoming quite common. Cost £1,200 - £1,500 to replace. Othterwise often need new fuel injectors when they reached mileage of around 100,000.
On early D5s (up to 2004) a rubber core plug can pop out into the bellhousing, depositing the engine oil on the clutch of manuals (a £750 repair job). Obviously thousands more if the engine seizes as a result.
25-10-2011: Timing belt tensioner of 2.5 litre Volvo engine can fail in as little as 50,000 miles, flinging off the belt and wrecking the engine, then landing the owner with a £6,000 bill.

I have seen a 2006 2.4 D5 with 100,000 for £4 and a half K, one owner (a doctor) FSH and it looks lovely.
Then I thought, a Doctor? dont they do loads of short trips? And now it set me off thinking if its a good idea or not.

[TXC]

You could copy and paste that review under the heading of any and every diesel engined vehicle ever built since the introduction of common rail injection and dual mass flywheels to the majority of cars.

It doesn't stop you wanting and eventually buying one (which you will), Honest Johns is after all, just another forum, where scare stories and general problem reports flourish, after all, not many people will ask for advice on a trouble free car (trouble free car - contradiction).

Look for the best service history and spec you can afford, unfortunately, there's still no gaurantees, that goes for any make, good luck.

[Clan]

I would take what john say a with a pinch of salt , i have written to him a few times over the years trying to put him right over a few volvo issues he has written about , hes not a volvo person he prefers japaneese cars ..

[Bill_56]

Echo earlier comments re HJ, he doesn't even mention the things that genuinely are of interest, such as delaminating handbrake shoes loose driveshaft bolts. Neither of which should put you off, but worth a forum search for each of them.

Personally though, I'd caution against the 2006 diesel as it's likely a Euro IV car with DPF, which can act up. Sometimes they cause no problems, but the MPG difference between e4 cars and petrol may be less than you expect - about 25% advantage according to Volvo's own published figures, and borne out by my own experiences. My own car was fine at first, but had to go after I quit work, daiy mileage dropped to nearly nothing, and DPF problems kicked in.

Plus, everybody else wants a diesel so you get more car for your money when buying a petrol, and they are so nice to drive... whisper quiet, silky smooth, and bags more overtaking power.

[SlimTim]

Many thanks for all of your replies, they are much appreciated.
Am interested in what an E4 actually is (excuse the ignorance), I assume petrol but what size? 2.0 2.3 or 2.5?

For your info here is a link to the car I have seen.
sadly I am a sucker for good looks and comfort and this is getting in the way right now of any rational decision.
http://www.chipperfieldcars.co.uk/us...01231480608437

You are correct as regards diesels in general, my MG had a drive chain which simplified things a little but they still had issues with the MAF etc (mine had a 2.0 BMW engine and it was the best bit of the car).

Edit.
Ah! I see it now, the E4 is the same sized 2.4 Deisel but updated I assume.

[Bill_56]

By 'e4', I was referring to Euro IV diesel emmisions standards, which applied from about 2005/6, and required fitment of Diesel Particulate Filters. It is worth confessing that whilst I personally have bad experience of a DPF car, many people have no problems with them.

Any S60 badged 2.4D (these cars have 163bhp) will have a DPF, and a car badged D5, if it is the 185bhp version, will have a DPF. That seems to apply to yours. In essence, as long as you regularly make journeys that sustain moderate speeds, say 50mph-ish for ,say, a half hour you will probably OK. But do a bit of research yourself, google for DPF issues and be alert to any possibility that the previous owner may not have satisfied the needs of the DPF...

With all that said, it looks like a nice car, and I wouldn't want to put you off.

One more comment... my current S60 has a light coloured interior, whereas my previous one was black. Cosmetically, I prefer the light one but it can be a problem at times with reflections of the dashboard in the windscreen. Just a niggle really, but something else to make sure you are happy with.

[S60D5-185]

Originally Posted by Bill_56

It is worth confessing that whilst I personally have bad experience of a DPF car, many people have no problems with them.

Any S60 badged 2.4D (these cars have 163bhp) will have a DPF, and a car badged D5, if it is the 185bhp version, will have a DPF. That seems to apply to yours. In essence, as long as you regularly make journeys that sustain moderate speeds, say 50mph-ish for ,say, a half hour you will probably OK. But do a bit of research yourself, google for DPF issues and be alert to any possibility that the previous owner may not have satisfied the needs of the DPF...


One more comment... my current S60 has a light coloured interior, whereas my previous one was black. Cosmetically, I prefer the light one but it can be a problem at times with reflections of the dashboard in the windscreen. Just a niggle really, but something else to make sure you are happy with.

Bill, that pretty much sums up my experiences so far with my 2006 S60 D5 185. I have put 30k miles on in the last 2 years and have had no problems at all with DPF due to the type of journeys that i do. It tows my caravan easily and is excellent on fuel as well as being VERY lively when required.
If i was going to be running araound the doors all of the time then i think you got it right with a petrol 2.0T.
As for interior colours , my car is the metallic Ruby Red with the light cream interior. I have seen the same car with black interior and it was nowhere near as nice. I have had no problem keeping it clean.

Darryl

[Joe Harding]

I think Honest J's report would be like a man going to the doctor and having every part of your anatomy scanned for potential troubles. Then asking the Doctor; 'What could go wrong with me?'

My experience of the D5 to date has been 28,000 miles (on top of the 120,000 we bought it with) in which we have had a fuel gauge fault, the handbrake delamination, two rear shocks, an earthing strap fail, a pulley disintegrate, a gunked up EGR and the odd cryptic message. Judging by what some people experience we've got off lightly, but all in all, for the quality of the ride and build, I think we're okay with this one.

We drive carefully and get a good mpg. I prefer the 340 for 'knowability' of the faults it might present, but then I always had a soft spot for the 300 series.

[Bernard333]

I am suspecting that some of what honest john writes is anecdotal , his opionions carry no more weight than an average user and I would think these days its better going to a car specific forum like this for advice. My experience as an average user of a 2003 D5 is good , its done 163000 miles on original tensioners and auxilliary belt , I am thinking about changing them but the aux belt still looks in good condition. When the cam belt was replaced at 117 000 miles it was still in good condition from the appearance but you can never know what state its really in until it snaps , water pump is original . I would like to see some properly documented statistics about the failure rate on these components on D5 engines .

[SlimTim]

Guys,
Once again thanks for the replies, I really am very grateful.
Interesting mention of the 2.0 litre petrol which I had not considered because it appears from my brief research to only get 20 MPG around town, this seems a lot less then the 2.4 D any thought on this or are there different flavours of the 2.0?
Strange thing is looking at an autotrader search for the 2.0 it seems that nearly all are Autos, and I would like a manual.
Am amazed to be honest that HJ recommends changing waterpump as a matter of course after 60,000 miles, especially as it seems from the above that they can go on for nearly three times that amount.

Like I say the problem i have generally is that I go for looks and comfort, and those cream heated leather seats look bloody lovely.
I need to stop my heart ruling my head, or on the other hand....
I may pop up there tomorrow and take a look, but am a little worried it maybe love at first site. Guess I need to take a good look at the service history and recent bills, am assuming that at 100,000 miles the timing belt etc should have been changed.
I will keep you posted.
I also used to use a good Volvo specialist in walthamstow called Swedish Motor Co, I better also go check they are still in business.