After the debacle of last Thurs in the place that shall remain nameless, I continued to search around for what I was looking for and came across this:
It's a 2005 Volvo S60 D5 automatic, with 79k on the clock. Just serviced by the dealer and came with a years MOT and 6 months warranty. To pre-empt the question, it was £6750.
Apparently it's an ex demonstrator with just one additional owner, who's had it serviced by Volvo religiously on the dot until 70k inclusive. As a demo, it looks like it's had the option book thrown at it. The engine is a 5 cylinder 2.4 turbo diesel with supposedly 163hp. I believe that mine is a Euro3 version, which doesn't have a particulate filter. I understand that the newer Euro4 version has worse fuel economy and a VERY expensive to replace particulate filter.
In short, it's lovely.
I know some people have questioned the move from our old BMW E46 330i Sport, so what I'll do is comment on the differences for reference.
First off, it's a rubbish sports car. Certainly doesn't sound like a BMW 6 cylinder petrol, red lines at 4500rpm, does a little diesel shake at standstill (like every diesel I've ever sat in does), nothing like as sharp in it's handling and I can't picture it being composed at high speeds. Lastly I think it might have just ever so slightly less rear legroom than the E46. So, that's covered the negative things. For some people, the reasons above will be enough to stop reading right now. However, the E46 often left me more frustrated than happy, mainly because I hardly ever got to use it's abilities. Living in south London, driving is often one big traffic jam, intersperced with gatsos and dawdling Micra drivers.
It shares a lot of common toys, i.e. cruise control, autobox with manual override, parking sensors, auto-dipping rear view mirror, lots of cute interior lights (e.g. on the sunvisors) and lots of electric bits.
The new things it brings to the party are a much better dolby pro logic2 stereo, dual zone climate control, folding rear view mirrors, folding rear seats, heated/memory seats, sunroof and towing system (I don't intend to ever tow anything, but it'll be great for the Thule 9403 bike rack that I have an eye on).
I was curious about the fuel economy side of things. From reading the net, I was expecting low 40s. So it was a pleasant surprise to achieve 55mpg on the way home (mixed motorway and traffic jams). I'm guessing the E46 would have achieved around half that.
For more importantly, Volvo have clearly NOT aimed this car as a sports car. So by going for fwd and a softer suspension, what you get is a lovely smooth ride, it's quieter at speed (once above walking pace, it's very hard to tell it's a diesel), with no rear diff there's more boot space, and the seats really are amazingly comfortable, even better than the BMW sports seats. Whilst the engine doesn't have the outright poke of a 330i, it's got way more than adequate level of mid range grunt that mates perfectly with the auto box, giving it a relaxed yet effective gait. I haven't tried a new BMW 2ltr turbo diesel, but found the old one to have far more lag than the Volvo unit. The result is that it's supremely easy to waft through miles in a much more chilled manner.
Other points that come to mind are that it doesn't tramline like my E46 did, uses cheaper tyres, is cheaper to insure and road tax and has lighter controls, which when you're feeling chilled, is a good thing.
I think I now understand why so many people consider Volvo drivers to be smug. Drive one for a while and you understand.
Massive thumbs up from me, just a shame that we didn't do it earlier (blame the missus).
Edit: just checked parkers on a couple of details. Apparenty the S60 is 55kg lighter than our E46 was, which I find hard to believe as the Volvo appears to be made of granite, and actually has a more substantial "thunk" when closing the door. The second thing is that whilst the diesel has bugger all rev capability, it has 10% more torque than the 330i engine. No wonder mid-range acceleration felt more than adequate.
It's a 2005 Volvo S60 D5 automatic, with 79k on the clock. Just serviced by the dealer and came with a years MOT and 6 months warranty. To pre-empt the question, it was £6750.
Apparently it's an ex demonstrator with just one additional owner, who's had it serviced by Volvo religiously on the dot until 70k inclusive. As a demo, it looks like it's had the option book thrown at it. The engine is a 5 cylinder 2.4 turbo diesel with supposedly 163hp. I believe that mine is a Euro3 version, which doesn't have a particulate filter. I understand that the newer Euro4 version has worse fuel economy and a VERY expensive to replace particulate filter.
In short, it's lovely.
I know some people have questioned the move from our old BMW E46 330i Sport, so what I'll do is comment on the differences for reference.
First off, it's a rubbish sports car. Certainly doesn't sound like a BMW 6 cylinder petrol, red lines at 4500rpm, does a little diesel shake at standstill (like every diesel I've ever sat in does), nothing like as sharp in it's handling and I can't picture it being composed at high speeds. Lastly I think it might have just ever so slightly less rear legroom than the E46. So, that's covered the negative things. For some people, the reasons above will be enough to stop reading right now. However, the E46 often left me more frustrated than happy, mainly because I hardly ever got to use it's abilities. Living in south London, driving is often one big traffic jam, intersperced with gatsos and dawdling Micra drivers.
It shares a lot of common toys, i.e. cruise control, autobox with manual override, parking sensors, auto-dipping rear view mirror, lots of cute interior lights (e.g. on the sunvisors) and lots of electric bits.
The new things it brings to the party are a much better dolby pro logic2 stereo, dual zone climate control, folding rear view mirrors, folding rear seats, heated/memory seats, sunroof and towing system (I don't intend to ever tow anything, but it'll be great for the Thule 9403 bike rack that I have an eye on).
I was curious about the fuel economy side of things. From reading the net, I was expecting low 40s. So it was a pleasant surprise to achieve 55mpg on the way home (mixed motorway and traffic jams). I'm guessing the E46 would have achieved around half that.
For more importantly, Volvo have clearly NOT aimed this car as a sports car. So by going for fwd and a softer suspension, what you get is a lovely smooth ride, it's quieter at speed (once above walking pace, it's very hard to tell it's a diesel), with no rear diff there's more boot space, and the seats really are amazingly comfortable, even better than the BMW sports seats. Whilst the engine doesn't have the outright poke of a 330i, it's got way more than adequate level of mid range grunt that mates perfectly with the auto box, giving it a relaxed yet effective gait. I haven't tried a new BMW 2ltr turbo diesel, but found the old one to have far more lag than the Volvo unit. The result is that it's supremely easy to waft through miles in a much more chilled manner.
Other points that come to mind are that it doesn't tramline like my E46 did, uses cheaper tyres, is cheaper to insure and road tax and has lighter controls, which when you're feeling chilled, is a good thing.
I think I now understand why so many people consider Volvo drivers to be smug. Drive one for a while and you understand.
Massive thumbs up from me, just a shame that we didn't do it earlier (blame the missus).
Edit: just checked parkers on a couple of details. Apparenty the S60 is 55kg lighter than our E46 was, which I find hard to believe as the Volvo appears to be made of granite, and actually has a more substantial "thunk" when closing the door. The second thing is that whilst the diesel has bugger all rev capability, it has 10% more torque than the 330i engine. No wonder mid-range acceleration felt more than adequate.
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