Practical, classless, very economical average since purchase (3 years) 48.3 mpg. Excellent comfortable, heated leather seats and I'm 6'4", very reasonable performance, quiet, superb motorway cruiser, easy to drive, wonderful stereo, with in-dash CD stack, built-in net in back of rear seats, to protect passengers, under floor storage, folding mirrors, self-dipping mirror, automatic windsreen wipres, separate remotes taht reset seats and mirrors between my wife's settings and mine, the geartronic gearbox, Tyre wear on the front, could do with stiffer suspension settings,in my experience low profile tyres transmit every pothole, low front spoiler means that underside has been scraped over high sleeping policman, rear legroom. Depreciation. After 5 BMWs in a row, I needed a change and tried a Volvo S80, which was a pleasant surprise, I had this two years then traded it in for a V70, which I am pleased with. Volvos don't have the turn-in or chassis dynamics of a BMW, in my opinion but it is a very driveable car, is quite a classless car and has nearly every extra included in the price. I will probably try the new S80 or the XC90 when I change the V70 next year.

The new facia is smart, the stereo is excellent... pretty happy to spend time in the cabin. Also, driving position is excellent, as are seats; and there is enough poke in the the engine (even the auto box) to accelerate out of trouble as well as be a happy cruiser.

Elsewhere I like the false load floor in the boot, with hidden compartments; I like the cup shape door pockets, I like the centre console, I like the steering wheel, and I particularly like the new style seat covering, which is a robust but smart looking rubbery cloth affair. Looks pretty durable too.

As you would expect, visibility is good, it's a manoeuverable thing for its size, and the new style makes it quite a modern feeling car.

Its clearly a buyers market too as the dealership were happy to cut me a pretty good deal on a 1 year old model to secure my business. I was happy, they were happy. That's a good deal.

At the end of the day you have to be concerned with load lugging and safety and as such your lifestyle is of a certain type; so Volvo V70 has its niche. But in that niche this is a pretty smart and desirable motor and I'm happy I bought one.

This is a 185bhp D5 SE LUX geartronic version of the Volvo V70.
This is the worst car that I have ever owned (I have had quite a variety over the years) due to the excessive noise that reverberates around the cabin.
This comes from the engine/exhaust, road noise and wind noise - the cacophony is appalling particularly so for a car of this price range. Add in the excessive road noise and this is a most unpleasant environment to be in.
For comparison, I lived with a Volvo 850 tdi estate previous to this, that is still a much quieter, more comfortable car than this new incarnation.

I have had four Volvo estate cars in succession. The last three being V70's.
They have all been trouble free, but I like my present the AWD version the best, which I have now had for just over one year.

I exceed 20,000 miles per year, and my longest journey is a five hour journey of 325 miles twice a month, so comfortable seats are most important, and the seats in the Volvo V70 D5 SE are comfortable.

I would be happy to sell any of the Volvo cars I have had on to friends or family.

The Volvo V70 D5 SE (185) is a good looking car with good interior quality and space, but let down massively by poor driving and high running costs, compounded by very poor customer service from Volvo HO. I will not be buying another Volvo.