03 Volvo S80 2.0T

Spent the weekend looking for a car for my brother, and I decided the Volvo was one of the best used completely under rated car he could buy, after going through Carzone and Donedeal we looked at some and my god there is some awful crap out there.

I eventually say a S80 that we looked at today, did the car check and headed off to Dublin and checked it out, the body had scratches here and there but so did they all that we looked at.

It's a 2003 with 78 K miles, full service history dealer stamped. Was definitely the best car we saw, well minded. It needs a full service and timing belt water pump so we got 400 off the price to 2100 Euro's.

Very good condition inside full leather, very very comfortable car and a great cruiser with plenty of poke from the 180 hp turbo petrol.

From Irishtown to Naas I averaged 37 mpg, not bad but I did get stuck in a lot of traffic, so I'm estimating I could average 40 odd mpg.

It's certainly one car I'd buy and convert to LPG, really underrated cars.

The brother is certainly happy and it drives far better than any of the rest of the cars we test drove with over 100K miles and you'd know it.

Really nice car, then I had to get into the Prius !

Guy:Incognito

S80 or S60?

My 02 S80 is going back on the road tomorrow

I'm rooting around for a cheap spares one to replace a few bits on mine. By the time I buy 2 rear lights and some other bits, I may aswell spend €500 on a donor.

BMJD

You didn't convince him to get a Leaf?

You have failed me, grasshopper.

Supergurrier

Well wear sounds like a good deal.

BMJD

BMJD wrote: »

You didn't convince him to get a Leaf?

You have failed me, grasshopper.

Na he's planning on keeping it 6 months, as he's renting a 3 cylinder 1.0L corsa, so he'd rather have something decent and he can't spend money on a Leaf, though he would love one.

Speaking of the corsa, I don't know how anyone could spend 14 grand + interest + depreciation all for the sake of economy and cheaper tax, madness.

That corsa 3 cylinder is very rough and gutless, I hate it with a passion.

Guy:Incognito

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

S80 or S60?

My 02 S80 is going back on the road tomorrow

I'm rooting around for a cheap spares one to replace a few bits on mine. By the time I buy 2 rear lights and some other bits, I may aswell spend €500 on a donor.

S80.

If you can find one for 500 and somewhere to store it then why not ?

We had a look at 3 yesterday, one in Rathfarnham, for 1500, mechanically ok for the miles but very rough inside, torn leather and trim falling off so he said no.

The 2nd in Tyrrelstown was only the straight 1.8, engine sounded rough and inside was in tatters. We ran from it . I didn't trust your man either !

The other one in Clane, looked in really good nic inside and out, there was a problem with the suspension, as it pulled to the left over a bump, it was very noticable, it needed the timing belt done and on closer inspection I noticed the front passenger wing was resprayed and the passenger door, so that told me it got a smack, it was well done but you'd notice it if you looked close enough, so I just didn't trust it, so we walked away.

But definitely the S80 today was really good mechanically and very good condition inside, we'd rather have bought a car that needed no work but with 78K miles and because it was in good nic and got about 350 off the price we couldn't say no.

There were other cars with much higher mileage for around the same price and higher, so I think it was a good find, it's certainly some nice comfortable place to sit.

Oh crap I see my mistake with the title.

Can a mod please change the title to the S80 please ?

Bigus

You'd pay over 5k for that same car in Germany, according to mobile.de, some value in Ireland at the moment, this value won't last forever, well done in finding a good one.

Bigus

Bigus wrote: »

You'd pay over 5k for that same car in Germany, according to mobile.de, some value in Ireland at the moment, this value won't last forever, well done in finding a good one.

Cheers, I didn't realise they were going for that in Germany .

I think the motor tax is a huge turn off for people so much that they are willing to spend twice as much on a car or more for a car with little or no power.

I would like to buy it and replace the CRV, I could convert it to LPG.

If I got the 37 mpg as I got today, even 30 mpg on LPG but if I got 30 mpg on lpg that would work out the same as a diesel at 53 mpg, not bad for such a big car with a great engine !

bmwguy

Sounds lovely, well done. Just a word to the wise I bought a 2004 BMW 525i sport just over 2 weeks ago, thevspin back on motorway gave me 37mpg but that has dropped to 26 over 2 weeks mixed driving, I would say a 2.0t would be similar. I had a similar story to you actually, found a lot of poor ones before finding a well minded one, paid around the same as you also, great value in these cars when they get on in years but a well minded one can be just like new. Best of luck with it

unkel

Plenty of them out there. Everyone is selling big petrol cars and no one is buying

Great if you are buying :cool:

Father in law had his '02 up for sale a while ago, FSH, low miles, spotless, belt done, taxed, NCTd and he was looking for €1,700 iirc. Every realistic owner will take an offer several hundred under the asking price if you show the cash...

They are excellent value for money. Probably the most powerful car for 2l tax money too. And 5 cylinders. I hope it was an automatic your brother bought?

thecomedian

If you don't do huge miles and you like comfort, you get a better car than the S80 or S60 imo.
Best of luck with it, very underrated for some reason.

bmwguy

bmwguy wrote: »

Sounds lovely, well done. Just a word to the wise I bought a 2004 BMW 525i sport just over 2 weeks ago, thevspin back on motorway gave me 37mpg but that has dropped to 26 over 2 weeks mixed driving, I would say a 2.0t would be similar. I had a similar story to you actually, found a lot of poor ones before finding a well minded one, paid around the same as you also, great value in these cars when they get on in years but a well minded one can be just like new. Best of luck with it

Cheers, thanks, maybe the mpg will drop, if my Brother drives it like he did today, he doesn't know himself coming from 3 cylinders to 5 !

But I did reset the trip computer for that particular trip, and I usually go by the tank mpg. But either way he's better off than renting the corsa for the 6 months.

The 525I would be nice but he wasn't willing to spend more on motor tax, can't say I would either.

I think the S80 offers a better balance between power and motor tax.

Thanks for changing the Title Mods !

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Plenty of them out there. Everyone is selling big petrol cars and no one is buying

Great if you are buying :cool:

Father in law had his '02 up for sale a while ago, FSH, low miles, spotless, belt done, taxed, NCTd and he was looking for €1,700 iirc. Every realistic owner will take an offer several hundred under the asking price if you show the cash...

They are excellent value for money. Probably the most powerful car for 2l tax money too. And 5 cylinders. I hope it was an automatic your brother bought?

I forgot to mention it had an NCT until July 14.

No, no Automatic, any we saw were manual and to be honest the auto would have been even more thirsty, and I don't like torque converter auto's much, though if he wanted one I wouldn't have stopped him getting one.

thecomedian

thecomedian wrote: »

If you don't do huge miles and you like comfort, you get a better car than the S80 or S60 imo.
Best of luck with it, very underrated for some reason.

Maybe, what do you have in mind ? Because I might look for something to replace the crv in the new year.

I like something that soaks the bumps, not a complete barge either. I drive on back roads a lot and like the suspension on the S80.