Thinking of buying an S60 - Advice please

[nick 9-5]

Hi guys,

First post of many I hope. Just need some help in deciding on a purchase and was hoping you guys would be the experts!

I might be going to see a car very soon and just wanted to know a few things to look for and potentially an idea on price etc.

The model is a 2002 - S60 2.4s bi fuel - Is there a buying guide on here that someone could point me to? Any idea what sort of price I should be paying?

I've never been in one of these and have no idea about the engine etc, are they belt or chain driven? If belt, whats the usual interval for changing it? Any known reliability issues with this particualr engine?

I know it's a 2.4 but from what I can gather it's only got 140bhp, that seems low to me, are these cars nippy or is the 140bhp a little too low to be lugging all that weight around? Does anyone put new maps on these to increase the BHP?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions, thanks in advance.

Nick

[wegal]

Hi Nick,

Lots of questions there I cant answer lol.. Im sure an anorak.. sorry more knowledgable member will be along soon. In the mean time welcome to the forum, and dont be afraid to ask questions.... no such thing as a stupid question.

As for the S60...... I dont know that engine at all, I have a T5, so to me yes it would seem sluggish with "only" 140 BHP. However dont get to worried about the "low" BHP figure, most volvos are quite torquey and so they accelerate reasonably well. Tuning for Volvos is pretty common and there are lots of places you can go for advise on that. Dont expect massive HP gains from it, but rather an enhanced drivablity.

Things to look for..... well its a volvo so they are generally pretty well built. I guess its the usual stuff, general condition of the cars exterior / interior gives you an idea of how its been loked after, i wouldnt touch one without a full service history from either Volvo or a GOOD independant. Do the normal checks you would on any used car, HPI and if your not mechanical either take someone who is or get it looked at professionally. Mistakes can be costly !

Generally the S60 is a nice car, it lacks rear leg room compared to other family saloons, but that said im 6"2' and I can sit in the back of mine behind my driving position without discomfort. Fuel economy isnt great on any of the range in my opinion ( waits for the howls of drission from the oil burners) but its not horrendous either, my T5 returns 23mpg and i have a lead right foot.

The S60 is front heavy and so wears the front tyres quiet quickly, I get about 10k out of a set of fronts, you should get more with less power, but dont expect 30k out of them. Tyre choice is important - most of the expensive branded tyres are next to useless - you get better wear and handling out of toyos or vredstiens. Both much cheaper and better tyres.

Check for wet carpets in the front - broken heater matrix and a nightmare to fix.

I can list many bad points, but I have never owned a car longer than 18 months before my S60 - had it 4 years now and I still love it !

Great cars no matter which engine you punt for.

[Wobbly Dave]

I can list many bad points, but I have never owned a car longer than 18 months before my S60 - had it 4 years now and I still love it !

Question is - is it still shiny

[wegal]

No it needs a wobbly visit !

[Liddo]

Dont know anything about the Bi-Sexual ones, but the D5's are superb.

There are a few "known issues" which you'll probably find looking through the threads, but from what i can gather, its mainly down to suspension knocks and creaks after a certain amount of miles.

One thing to look out for is the computer going funny, and the time counting down!!!!! This is the DIM going haywire, and can be costly.

The lock to lock is crap, and can embarrass you if your thinking of doing a three point turn, which ends up a ten point turn

Mine has just had knocking when pulling away, which turned out to be the drive shaft bolts. DEAD easy fix and cheap, so nothing to worry about.

Build quality is great, luxury is nice with all the toys, and performance is fine to. I was looking at a BMW 330d yesterday, drove it, and thought the D5 was a nicer place to be, so have now gone off the thought

Test drive one, and see what you think. If it knocks on the front, haggle the price down and dont worry, as its ususally something easy to fix

Good luck on finding a nice one

[Turkish]

My father used to have a S80 bi-fuel, the 140 engine does feel very underpowered, you really notice it past 5000 RPM. I know you can remap the 140/170 2.4's to approx 180 ish, but I am not sure if this is available on LPG models.

The LPG system had to have a software update when it started to misbehave, otherwise it was faultless and returned good MPG.

[brummie1972]

i have a 2001 s60 2.0t petrol my first volvo and i love it ,,standard 180 bhp no problems with comp or engine all though need a new battery. full leather interior no ware and tare outside mint couple of light scratches but looks great....no mods planned really apart from tinkering with the air filter..