Volvo XC70 (2000 - 2007) 2.4 D5 SE (185bhp) 5d Geartronic Owner Review

Bought initially as a cheap car for lugging items to a new house - and for rubbish to the local tip, then became a very well loved family car. I've owed the car as I type this literally 1 year and 8 days and in this period have clocked up 21,383 miles. I have driven it to the Highlands twice, and regular trips to Norfolk from Lincolnshire not to mention many miles in and around London (where you are hit with the £12.50 ULEZ charge).

Now, overall it has been a good and comfortable car working alongside my BMW X5 and Mercedes SL this was 'meant' to just be a cheap runabout for tip runs and load lugging. However, I now use it more than the BMW or Mercedes as it is just so comfy and smooth, you are not judged by others when you drive it, no issues where you leave in a car park for fear of dings and it swallows up fear like a small van. It has not been without it's issues though...

I am effectively the second owner, as the first owner only had it 3 months before selling it on to the second owner who had it from 2007 to 2021. They lived in leafy Highgate, London and I can just imagine the sort of work it did as a family estate. They had it serviced at a local main Volvo dealer and it had many, many thousands of pounds spent on it - nothing was too much. New CEM Module, PAS pump, drive shaft, radiator, headlights and even two new door mirrors - I guess the previous owner had issues with spacial awareness and hit them? Never failed and MOT and the only advisories were for tyre tread depth so when I bought it around 138,000 miles I felt it would prove reliable. How wrong I was... I have had to spend 3x the cars value on parts and labour to replace the Intercooler and A/C Condenser, Alternator, EGR Valve and MAF sensor. New discs, hand brake shoes and cable, new battery, new Alarm sounder, new headlight units, Cambelt and water pump, a new windscreen, blower motor, lower rear offside light cluster, a repair to the exhaust system, new headlight washer pump and hoses, new offside front fog light, new number plates and just last week another set of 4 Bridgestone Weather Control Evo tyres (previous set lasted just over 20,000 miles so good going).

My issue with the car is the sheer cost it takes if you are running it in town, it is a heavy old cumbersome thing and performs badly in stop start traffic - on a good run, I have managed to squeeze 47MPG out of it - in excess of the manufactures specifications, but add in the higher tax bracket and the ULEZ cost and i am not sure how long this will reamin my faithful 'go to'. I am keen to look into a Mitsubishi Outlander Phev as they hold a lot, and for nipping into town for shopping can all be done on EV alone - yet can be bought for around £9,000 so make an ideal used bargain if you want space and economy for short trips.

The old Volvo is comfy, I like the old school simply dash and happily live without modern things like the 360 birds eye cameras the X5 has. Its more comfy on a long run - but don't expect it to corner well or be quick. The noise in the cabin from the engine is i think too much for what was once a fairly luxury car, but then XC90's are the same. Make sure you jump on issues that crop up and they will go on and on, but I think what will see these old bruisers off the roads is the cost of running as they are not economical and emit high levels of Co2.