Hey its my first post here...

I'm in the market for a compact car or wagon with AWD as a new car... AWD is right now a must for us because of our neighborhood being on top of a large hill with the approach being 15% grades or above and really curvy. When ever it snows only cars with AWD can make it down and up. I want a car that I could do oil changes and other small maintainence stuff on myself, as well as one that won't have too many gremlins pop up. The S40/V50 with the T5 AWD are on the list as well as the Audi A4 2.0t Quattro, VW Passat 3.6 4Motion, and the Subaru Outback 3.0R.

I would like to hear the opinions from you guys as to how the V50 stacks up against the others and as well as ask about changing the oil on the T5 engine. I'm pretty used to the proceedure on the Ford Expedition that we have. But the question is, what kind of filter does the T5 use? Is it a screw in one like on the Ford Tritons or a cartridge within a housing? And will I be able to get a decent quality filter from the stores or will I have to search down an OEM one? As well, how much are you guys having to pay the dealerships for them to change it? And how are the Volvo dealerships in general?

*edit* And also, is there some kind of electronic service interval tracker that needs to be reset after each oil change? And how much would it be to get something that could reset it?

 

I currently own a 2007 V50 T5 FWD and its my first Volvo. I can't obviously comment about the AWD performance on my V50. That said, the V50 is a great drive and an excellent freeway cruiser. As far as servicing, the V50 is a much easier car to work on compared to Audis. I've owned a 1990 and 2004 A4 1.8T quattro as well as a 2002 Allroad. Both A4s had over 150Kmi on them before I sold them. The Audi engine bays are cramp and have lots of covers to remove to get to things. Service and parts were also $expensive. Thats why I got rid of my Allroad prior to the warranty expiring. Reliability on the A4s were great but not so with the Allroad.

As far as driving dynamics, I would say the Audis are sharper drives having, in my humble opinion, the best AWD systems. I use to drive to Tahoe a lot on ski trips. Awesome cars in the snow.

The oil filter is a standard screw on, not the cartridge type and can be purchased at just about any autoparts store. The T5 engine in the V50 is pretty much the same as the V70, S60, etc which means parts are fairly easy to come by. My car is fairly new and so my Dealer interactions are limited. I currently have ~22kmi on my V50 and have had no issues, knock on wood. The car feels pretty well put together and have no doubts it's gonna last. As far as dealership quality, I think that will vary with location. I can vouch that the ones here in Southern California are great to deal with. On top of that, there are a few good dealer service alternatives here in SoCAL.