Hi All,
I currently have a bmw e46, and recently realized that it's going to cost me between $500 - 1k per year to maintain. Although I really love the car, and I already put in quite a bit of money with it, but that doesn't sound like a ton of fun to me. So, I'm wondering if an '03-06 S60 is going to be a better option for me. I'm also just sort of getting tired of one thing after another going wrong and requiring my entire weekend to fix it.

Are there certain known issues that I need to be looking out for when shopping if I do decide on an S60? I've heard Volvos last forever, so am I assuming correctly that milage isn't too big of an issue?

Thanks in advance for any input you guys have!

Ryan

 

Since i live in Sweden i cant comment the owner costs for a S60 in the US but if you want to buy a S60 MY 03-06 i would personally try to find a 05 or a 06 because the facelift on the S60 came 2005.
The 2,5T version is fun to drive and the maintenance cost is about same as a non turbo version.
Make sure that the servicebook is included with the car and that the car is maintained according to the maintenance schedule and im quite sure you will have many happy years with your S60 even if you buy a high milage car.
Because you dont seem to hesitate to buy a high milage car i will mention this about oilservice.
The oil service interval is very long on the S60 so DONT let any independent oil shop change your engine oil without checking what type of oil they will use and how much.
Use only fully synthetic according to Volvo recommendation and make sure you get the correct amount because the instruction book can be confusing it will say both 5,8L and 5,5L but it depends if you have the oilsensor on the oilpan or not.

I have had no problems with my manual trans 2005 S60 2,5T except for replacing the upper engine mount that cost about 50USD and 15min of work.
My father have a 2001 Automatic 140hp version S60 and in 100 000 km all he have done is replacing the brake pads once and done the regular service.

 

Thanks for the tips! Just out of curiosity, how long is the oil change interval? I tend to go about 5-7k with synthetic in my e46 - would it be similar to that?

I'm trying to decide between keeping the e46, or going with an s60, acura tl/tsx, or an infinity g35... so far I think the volvo seems the most promising in terms of reliability, build quality, etc. Lots of research left though... :/

thanks again!

 

Now i dont know the US spec for service intervals but in Sweden the S60 2005 and up have 30 000 Kilometers or one year depending on which comes first between the oil and filter replacements.
But this is interval is only used together with the Synthetic Castrol SLX/EDGE longlife oil that is the only oil the volvo dealers use here for this S60.
The timing belt is replaced at 180 000 kilometers.

(Personally i prefer have the oil changes at maximum 15000 kilometers or one year)

 

My US 2009 S60 2.5T manual says that the oil change intervals are 7,500 miles, which is about 12,000 km. They do not provide different intervals for conventional vs synthetic. They also say that your Volvo dealer will use conventional oil unless you request synthetic at additional charge, and that Volvo recommends Castrol.

I know that my local dealer here in Florida uses Castrol GTX for conventional and Castrol Syntec for synthetic. As well, they recommend changing the oil every 5,000 miles or about 8,000 km.

But of course, that's what Volvo and my Volvo dealer say. You will find different opinions in this forum.