Volvo S80 - why wouldn't i?

whippet

I am going to be doing alot more motoring in the new year and will need a diesel

I will be holding on to the my GTI (well the wife will be) and I don't really know what I want.

I will have about 20-23k cash to spend and I will need something comfy, frugal and with reasonable poke.

The S80 D5 or 2.4D keeps my interest, I have considered both the S60 and a 520d but something I can't put my finger on makes me really consider it.

I will try a test drive over the weekend hopefully .. but has anyone any real world experience ?

biko

Honest John review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1GfqFfmCl0

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volvo/
http://www.carsurvey.org/

mondeo

Lovely cars.... I have had a S80 for a little while now and it's very comfy. Although mine is just a 2L but it has all the extras. No idea what the bigger engines are like to drive though so not sure if my input would be relevant in your query.

:P

colm_mcm

Drove a v70 d5 for awhile a few years back, only gripe was it was hard to manouver, lock was pretty poor.

VolvoMan

colm_mcm wrote: »

Drove a v70 d5 for awhile a few years back, only gripe was it was hard to manouver, lock was pretty poor.

That's what you get in big cars with transversely mounted engines. With the S60/V70 you had big five cylinder engines mounted sideways above the front wheels, giving them a very poor turning circle.

If you are looking at a last generation S80 the D5's aren't quite bargain basement prices like the petrol models are. They are also not that common due to their large engine capacity and the fact that diesel execs weren't as popular back then.

Edit: Now that I've seen your budget, I realise that it must be the current model you are looking at. They are quite a big comfortable barge of a car but just don't expect any sportiness, as Volvo managed to remove any dynamism left in the Mondeo platform that underpins it.

colm_mcm

That's the only bad thing I found. dunno how the new model is on that front.
A 5 series is much easier to manouvre, the Volvo was the only vehicle I had to take 2 swings to get out the driveway, and that includes a zetor 9640

R.O.R

I've driven the current S80 model quite a bit in the 2.5T Geartronic, and had brief drives in both the D5 Geartronic and 1.6DRIVe.

All models are increadibly comfortable to drive, really needs the autobox to make it a decent cruiser. 2.5T is pretty gutless for such a great engine, and has one hell of a thirst.

The D5 SE Geartronic I delivered to a driver at the start of this year is one of the best cars I've driven of that size. D5 has plenty of poke, the seats are amazingly comfy, the Autobox works much better with this engine than the Petrol, and I stil think it's a great looking car. Didn't do enough mileage to get an idea of the fuel consumption.

If you aren't worried about depreciation, or can pick one up cheap enough then they are great (and often overlooked) cars.

_Conrad_

Basically if you like volvos, you really like volvos. As far as i'm concerend they're great and are massively underestimated and underappreciated. The S80s are lovely, they're cruisers not sportscars though so that has to be kept in mind. Comparing an S80 to a 5 series isn't a great comparison, the S80 is more like a 7 series for sensible/understated people

SouperComputer

I have the original S80 T6 (1999), different platform of course but it has some similiarities wioth the newer one in that are both very comfortable, but budget for maintenance and repairs when its out of warranty. When things go bad they can cost big money, even if you DIY. The S80s are really technical, a lot of things are truly dealer-only because if the way the electronics are integrated into the car. If you can stomach this then they are a great car.

I'm guessing the V70 turning circle mentioned above is for the later models, I have a 98 T5 (based on the old 850) and its one of the best turning cars I've had, full stop.

whippet

the posts here are sort of feeding my desire.

I am not interested in anything sporty really, this is will be a high milage motor which will need to be a nice place to be.

I will see if I can get a test drive in one over the next week or so and see what I think.

If only I could sell the house so I have an excuse to buy the motor !

R.O.R

Only issue now for you is going to be finding one with a decent interior. Just had a look through the reasonably priced S80 D5's on Carzone and all of them have the full ivory interior.

Cream seats I can handle - but a cream steering wheel and cream gear selector is just asking for trouble - especially in a diesel. One of them does have a lovely, tasteful, "wooden" steering wheel.