Newbie here: Should I buy this car?
 

Hi all, I am getting closer to the purchase of my first volvo, and have settled on an 06 2.5t awd s60. It has everything I want in a car, comfort, decent power(208hp and 236tq), safety and an awd system. I understand that it is heavy so the 170ish it puts to the wheels will probably feel a little sluggish, but I live in the mountains and awd is a must for the winters.

When looking for cars the most important aspects for me are that they are at least a 200+ hp/tq car, with a turbo(easier to modify for more power if finances allow it), awd, and at or below 80k miles(because I do not have the finances for a newer vehicle right now)

I've found a few, but wanted to check with some knowledgeable enthusiasts like yourselves first about a few concerns I have about the frequently reported cons of ownership. I've read about the wide turning radius...don't care.
What IS a concern to me is the supposed high maintenance costs( it seems to me that anything newer than 05 is going to cost some money to repair if you cannot do it yourself), whether or not the transmission issues reported in the earlier s60's had been resolved by 06, if you guys would consider it wise to purchase this car with 80k miles on it, and what kind of common problems I should expect with a car this age. I looked up faq's with the search bar but only came across faqs for s40s? so I apologize if asking for such a wealth of knowledge here comes off lazy, I feel as though I have read as much as I can read everywhere else about this car and would appreciate your input:D

I am not particularly mechanically inclined, changing the oil and doing brakes is about the extent of my knowledge( done on hondas toyotas and nissans)although it looks like changing the oil on this car is extremely easy.

Should I buy this car? Thanks for your time in advance

I'll keep it simple for you. If you are not going to maintain it yourself and you can't afford a professional to fix it do not buy it unless you are getting a steal of a deal AND have service records.

If price is ok for you AND service records are available, buy it.
I have no experience with awd s60 but as far as i know it's a haldex so i wouldn't worry much about it.
One of the S60's weak points is the front suspension. Top mounts, silent blocks etc which are becoming cheaper nowadays. As i live in Greece these take quite a beating on our roads.
80K is the big (& expensive) service due, see if done already. And check cambelt replacement records. If not, you're looking at an additional $600(for both) setback on your hard earned.
As for tuning, you can check BSR.Se, just a remap can take you up to 250Hp and more than 330Nm of torque. It's safe and easy. Cost about $1000 or less.

Thank you for your response, I guess I wasn't very specific. I'd be doing all of the oil changes, and brake changes, my primary concern is whether or not I'm going to be putting $300 a month into this car for maintenance for a car of this age and mileage; because if that is the case I may reconsider. Obviously every car is different and service records would be ideal, but what is your experience?

I mean if I were to buy this car, and then at 100k I need to pour 2,000 dollars into it....what kind of reliability have you seen on these forums? Thanks again

Thanks a ton, that was a more than informative answer and exactly what I was trying to find out. I'll definitely take the car to my tune shop and have the suspension checked first to see if any expensive repairs will be on the horizon. As for tuning, haha I've already done a ton of reading on some cool parts for this car. The first mod with probably be the turbo control valve from ipd ha

I mean as long as these cars dont have a reputation for being in the shop a ton after 80k I think I should be ok, obviously less mileage would be ideal but I think 80 is young enough for this car to last me through college....or one could hope

Three years of ownership:
140.000 km on the clock; service records.
All prices in Euros:

Service #1: 450
Service #2 and foll jobs:
Top mounts l/r front, handbrake squeak remedy, a/c refrigerant refill, cambelt: 660
Tyres: 550
Silentblocks + wishbones fwd: 250
_----------------------------------
Total 1910 in 3 years

Thats not bad at all...thats about 2500 dollars divided by three years, so 800sh a year divided by 12 thats like 60 bucks a month. Not bad at all, I just checked out that website, whats the consensus here, bsr tune or rica? 252 would be a fun drive...

It's more like 72 bucks a month (euro-usd 1,35) which is still no biggie... :p
I have BSR stage-2 on mine and I'm happy with it. Support is great too. I accidentally lost the software on the ppc once. They gave me one year of free updates...

nice! would love to see a dyno with your numbers, I wonder what this stock block is capable of putting down reliably?

250 puts like 230 on the road. I had 228 on stage-1 which gave around 215. I changed to 3"downpipe and updated to stage-2 but i have not taken her to the dyno since. First time was to confirm tuning worked as claimed. Car is heavy but not sluggish and turbo lag is dealt with very noticeably.