I bought a 2016 S60 T5 this summer. Couple of things struck me: no physical oil level check and no spare tire. These two things are what I usually want to be able to use on a long trip. Right now I depend on the absence of the warning light for the oil level being ok.

As for the lack of a spare, has anyone ever had to use the system in place instead of a spare. Did it work well? Are any of you buying a spare and jack set to keep in the trunk? If so where's a good source for this?

Thanks!!
Harry

 

system in place being a can of fix-a-flat and a AAA card? In my 40+ years of owning cars, I've had plenty of flats and would categorize in two ways 1) picking up a nail in the tread - this is where fix-a-flat can certainly get you to a repair shop and safely on your way 2) side wall blow outs - usually caused by pot holes or large road hazards. Fix-a-flat can't help here, but keeping your tires +3-5 PSI over the factory label will. You can safely run 36-39 PSI on your tires - it will increase the harshness but will give you better gas mileage... So depending on your driving needs - around town or local daily commute I'd be comfortable with the no spare/run flat tires etc. Long drives in rural areas and at night and on weekends - yeah I'd seriously consider throwing a jack and a compact spare in the car. You car shares bolt pattern and center bore specs with most 2010+ Volvo sedans (and the 2005+ S40s) so I'd just swing by a local recycle yard or Craigslist and pick up a compact spare and jack from a wreck (or get a small bottle jack from Harbor Freight) and drop in the trunk for some peace of mind.

 

thanks i think i will.

 

I don't know how the S60 trunk is arranged but here is what I did on my '15 V60 - compact spare and Volvo spare wheel insert with jack & lug wrench found on eBay - molded fibre insert below trunk load floor remodeled with a sharp utility knife to accommodate spare. There is some loss of misc. store space but I'm much more relaxed when on the road. I carry (and have used) the supplied pump to top up a tire that triggered the TPMS.

 

I went into another state traveling and the low air light came on. I freaked out and stopped to air up the indicated tire expecting the light to go out when enough air was present. I learned some things that day about the air in tire computer. It has to be reset after correct pressure is attained. Had to call the Volvo place to get the light to go out. Wish Volvo had a retro fix spare tire.

 

Odd - I've has 3 instances of the TPMS light coming on - in all cases it went out after I added air and drove a few miles - but, my car has the "in tire" senders. I understand that sometime after mine was built (2015.5) Volvo changed to a system that uses the abs sensors to signal differences in rotational speed of tire with low pressure and infers the need for warning from that information. That might require a reset procedure.

 

From the 2016 S60 Owners manual:

Calibrating Tire Monitor In order for Tire Monitor to work correctly, tire pressure reference values must be set. This must be done each time wheels or tire pressures are changed. Calibration 1. Switch off the engine. 2. Inflate the tires to the desired pressure (consult tire pressure placard located on the driver's side B-pillar (the structural member at the side of the vehicle) and put the ignition in mode II, see Ignition modes (p. 73). 3. Press the MY CAR button on the center console control panel and select Settings Car settings Tire monitoring. 4. Press OK/MENU, select Calibrate tire pressure and press OK/MENU again. 5. Drive away. > The calibration process will be completed while driving and will be interrupted if the vehicle is parked and the engine is switched off. Calibration continues automatically when driving resumes. The system will not give any confirmation when calibration is finished although it will state if calibration fails.

 

The fact that this calibration must be done whenever wheels or tires are changed suggests that it is, indeed, based on rate of rotation of the wheel and not a remote in-tire sender.

 

Here's a very late reply to your post: I have a 2017 S60 T6. Like your S60, mine came with a fix-flat "kit" instead of a spare. As you know, the kit consists of a pump powered by the car's battery + a can of gunk that fits on the pump. You can operate the pump without the gunk, BTW. I used the pump with gunk once. It worked OK to fix the flat temporarily, but Discount Tire later told me the gunk RUINS THE TIRE, which must be replaced instead of repaired. Unacceptable, in my view. I recently purchased a mini "Tempa" spare from the dealer. The spare came with a sort of frame that, once installed by the dealer, fits nicely, as if it were OEM. Yes, it reduces trunk space by about a third, in a trunk that was pretty tight to begin with. I'm fine with swapping some trunk space for the piece of mind I now have, especially on long trips. FYI, I signed up for notices from Volvo of sales on accessories. With the discount, I was able to purchase spare wheel with "Tempa" spare and the trunk box for about $700, installed. Expensive, but, again, it's about piece of mind.

 

gunk doesn't ruin the tire - the tire's already has a problem :-). That said, the gunk can clog the valve stem (and on pre-2015s mess with the in wheel TPMS sensors) but that's better than being on the side of the road. Any tire shop can quickly replace the valve stem when doing the repair. That said, its pretty easy to find a donut for the trunk if you are in a remote area. You can go used as well - most Volvos post 2010 all use the same bolt pattern/center bore.