Volvo S60 2.0 Turbo

I have had my 2004 Volvo S60 2.0Litre Turbo for about 4 years.

Lovely car to cruise in, has good power and quite economical.

It is a solid well made car that gives a sense of being quite safe in.

It has been fairly reliable, the first 3 years I owned it I had no problems at all, but last year the, ABS unit need replacing, cost NZ$1800 for a second hand one. Then a leak appeared in the sensor housing on top of the fuel tank. This should have been covered by volvo recall warranty but because my car was imported from asia, apparently the NZ agent would not cover it, this annoyed me, but what can you do.

I have had no problems with the electrics, but I believe that volvo upgraded the 2003-on, models to sort out previous problematic electrical issues.

Overall a nice car but servicing is expensive.

Never, ever think of buying a Volvo.

I love its straight line performance, that snugness of its seats.

The Volvo S60 2.0 Turbo has 15,600 miles on the odo, i have already replaced the following parts, front tires(Michelin Pilot), upper torque arm, front brake pads, and right hand-left hand control arm bushings. Very expensive ordeal for the past 2.5 months.

I've now driven over 55,000 miles in 18 months of owning my Volvo S60 and in the main the experience has been a pleasure. The car is stable and well powered with the 2.0 litre Turbo engine available to allow easy overtaking on back roads. Handling is much better than I expected given that it is a Volvo.

The accomodation is comfortable if smaller than expected for the size of the exterior, I can only assume all of the safety equipment takes up a lot of the missing room. Even in the basic spec there is an 8 speaker surround sound and a CD/Tape/Radio console as standard together with climate control seperately adjustable for the driver and passenger. Lots of pockets and niches to put things in together with plenty of footwell and overhead lights.

The boot is small and the main area of dissapointment but then if you are like me and go on holiday only a couple of times a year then you can cope with the fact that it can barely get two standard suitacses in the boot and then only with a lot of jiggling.

Since buying the car, apart from services, I have had to replace two front lamp clusters as each was holed by stones off of the road, unlucky or poor design?

Tyres have lasted for about 20,000 miles on the front and about 45,000 miles on the rear with the P6000's fitted. One downside that caught me out was the brake pads. You would think that a car of this price and quality would have sensors built in to detect worn pads. Unfortuantley this is not the case and the first sign of the pads having worn was a sound of metal on metal. A visit to the garage within 24 hours of this happening still resulted in the discs having to be changed on the front of the car along with the pads. Indeed all pads and all discs had to be changed at the same time as the rear pads were getting low and the rear discs getting thin. All of this at 50,000 miles. An expensive day.

Staff at all of the Volvo dealers I have used have been very helpful although the queues for services have been of the order of four weeks.

All in all not bad.

My Volvo S60 2.0 litre turbo automatic purchased as very low mileage demonstrator at excellent main dealer price. Car spoiled by awful turning circle and auto gear change design tries to be too clever by selecting neutral when at standstill with foot on brake. Often decides to engage while stopped, and frequently jerks when footbrake released. Also jerky down shifts on occasions. Intermittent electrical problem (known to Volvo) in ignition circuit caused several breakdowns. Problem easily solved when dealer contacted Volvo.