Hey everyone,

I'm thoroughly smitten with the c30 T5.

I'm currently considering one with around 112,000 miles on it. Seems well maintained, and don't expect to put more than 10,000 mi / year on it for the foreseeable future.

Is this a relatively safe buy for the next 5 years, or would it be worthwhile to spend a bit more for something in the 40 - 70k mile range? My primary concern is maintenance.

Many thanks for any insights you can offer.

- Dabu

 

What year is the car? I have read a few comments about electrical issues with this model causing the owners to get rid of it.

 

It all depends on how the thing lived over those miles. I prefer high well maintained miles to low miles where the owner never did a thing. I know, low miles is what everybody is after but high miles are just fine in a quality vehicle with good history of service. Amateurs have little to judge by, so low miles are what attracts them to pay big money as they have little else to go on. In fact, late model cars with high miles mean that the car was driven long distances (unless it was a pizza deliverer), and highway miles are usually easy. As long as the oil and other fluids were changed, a late model car with high miles should be a good deal! In this case I'd look for proof that the timing belt was changed among the other things.

 

Thanks for the responses. The car is a 2009.

The car looks and feels very well maintained both inside and out when I took it through a 45 minute testdrive on a variety of different road conditions.

The carfax report seems to reinforce the maintenance record, with all major services performed just before the schedule recommends.

The car was driven for much of its life in Wisconsin, so wondering if rust might be an issue.

I am considering bringing the car to a local volvo specialist to have them give an inspection. Anything I should request specifically when they do this?

Timing belt is due at 120k miles, and that service looks like it will run me about $1500.00, probably within the next year.

many thanks,

db

 

Volvo's are extremely resistant to rust, unless there was a past body repair. The timing belt is expensive at a dealer, it's best to find a smaller garage that would charge perhaps $3-400 plus $200 in parts. The water pump needs not be changed with the first timing belt.

I would have a look in the repair bills, and eventually call the Volvo dealer were the car was receiving maintenance by previous owner. Search for anything electrical that required more than two visits, especially in the last year. Could be a recurrent/hard to diagnose issue.

Volvo still doesn't talk about it, but having the transmission fluid replaced at least once will help enormously with prolonging the transmission life. These transmissions, made by Aisin, had terrible issues by the past because the manufacturer considered it to be maintenance free.

 

Thanks for the tips, OrageX. Does the transmissions worries apply to a manual shift car?

I have the carfax for previous work and will follow up as per your advice on electrical issues.

- db

 

The stick transmissions weren't affected by the fluid change, however early models were plagued with leaking clutch slave cylinder. I would also double check the clutch wear. Removing the transmission is very expensive on this vehicle, both in parts and labor time ($1500 or more to replace the clutch plate).