Recommend Me A Car

[Minuit]

Several weeks into the process, I sat in a car!

 

I test drove an '08 S60 today. I was in Nashville for a work-related training class that ended early, and a local car lot had a high-mileage but clean looking example (at least, in the pictures online). I had a bad feeling about this one mostly due to the mileage, so I was mostly looking for things like seat comfort, visibility, etc.

 

Unfortunately, that specific example turned out to be a $#!&box showing severe and obvious signs of neglect, but I did learn a few things:

 

- Build quality was overall very good for a car of this age and noticeably ahead of anything American and most Asian brands I've seen regardless of age. Despite 178k miles (and plenty of scratches and dents leading me to believe they were pretty hard miles), all of the doors opened and shut beautifully and panel gaps were near-perfect. The leather seats looked better at 178k than my mom's Cadillac do at just over 100k. Some leather conditioner and one or two spot treatments would easily bring them back to like new. Ditto the steering wheel. Almost all materials had a premium feel. Seats were very comfortable. Back seat is very tight, but I couldn't care less. The paint did not appear to be actively removing itself from the car... how do they do that?

 

- This car was almost fully loaded, and had a lot of neat features like rain sensing wipers, front and rear fog lights, parking sensors, and a premium sound system which sounded quite nice for a change. By this point, Volvo was handing out sunroofs like candy, so any car with decent options will have one - I'm not so sold on that, but whatever.

 

- This car had 17" wheels, so the turning radius was not great. I'm pretty used to this on front wheel drive cars, but I'd probably look into some 16" wheels and the matching steering stops to tighten it up a bit.

 

- Even though it was not in the greatest of mechanical shape, it was plenty quick and the transmission shifted very smoothly.

 

So, Volvo remains high on the power rankings. I've located a couple S60s that are likely to be in much better shape, but further away - could hit all of them in a day if they're still there in a couple of weeks.

[ghetdjc320]

I’ve had 2 foresters and a wrx. Had a 2002 JDM forester with the 2.0 and 5 speed. Hands down my favorite. 09 forester was soft and cushy and had the coldest AC of any vehicle I’ve driven lol. Comfortable driver overall with decent mileage. 2017 wrx. This thing was lots of fun but probably not what your looking for. That 2.0 Subaru engine was very nice though on both the NA JDM forester and the boosted wrx version. Great mileage and trouble free. I’ve never tried the Subaru V6 though. 

[Minuit]

Well...

 

 

2008 S60 2.5T with every option in the book except all wheel drive. Exactly as I wanted. 122k miles. This was the third one I test drove and it was the best by miles. The 300 mile drive home with it was about the smoothest, quietest highway drive I've experienced.

 

It's not 100% perfect and it does need its 120k mile service done which includes a timing belt/water pump, but all of that can be overcome. Lots of firsts for me here. There will be a "build" thread very soon.

[Pete M]

Dang. Just missed it.  Looks great!

[Minuit]

On 11/28/2021 at 1:47 AM, Pete M said:

Dang. Just missed it.  Looks great!

This was why I was glad you were able to take the D44. Left just after 5 am, got home with the car right at 6:30 pm. And I would have had to do the same thing on Friday otherwise.

[acfortier]

Sweet ride! Thinking about trading in my Gladiator for a newer S60... I think they look great, lot's of bells and whistles for a decent price (compared to German counterparts).

[Parei_doll_ia]

On 11/27/2021 at 9:15 PM, Minuit said:

2008 S60 2.5T with every option in the book except all wheel drive. Exactly as I wanted. 122k miles. This was the third one I test drove and it was the best by miles. The 300 mile drive home with it was about the smoothest, quietest highway drive I've experienced.

 

It's not 100% perfect and it does need its 120k mile service done which includes a timing belt/water pump, but all of that can be overcome. Lots of firsts for me here. There will be a "build" thread very soon.

Nice. I did the timing belt on my TDI a few months ago, idk anything about Volvos, but it wasn't too hard. Just make sure to spend the money on the special tools if there are any, there's a reason why they exist. Buy your parts from FCP Euro, they have a lifetime warrantee on everything they sell, including oil. You just have to pay to ship it back. If the Swedes are anything like Germans, they love to use TTY bolts too.

[Minuit]

2 hours ago, keeponjeepinon said:

Nice. I did the timing belt on my TDI a few months ago, idk anything about Volvos, but it wasn't too hard. Just make sure to spend the money on the special tools if there are any, there's a reason why they exist. Buy your parts from FCP Euro, they have a lifetime warrantee on everything they sell, including oil. You just have to pay to ship it back. If the Swedes are anything like Germans, they love to use TTY bolts too.

Yep, within 24 hours I had an order placed with FCPEuro for over 700 bucks.

 

The timing belt job is about as easy as it gets. Not encountered too many special tools in the service info I've peeked through. The swedes do love their Torx though. You can take most of this car apart without touching a hex socket

[Parei_doll_ia]

24 minutes ago, Minuit said:

Yep, within 24 hours I had an order placed with FCPEuro for over 700 bucks.

 

The timing belt job is about as easy as it gets. Not encountered too many special tools in the service info I've peeked through. The swedes do love their Torx though. You can take most of this car apart without touching a hex socket

Yeah I had to learn what a triple square bolts were when I bought my VW. 

[scguy]

S80s have the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in.

 

[Tex06]

On 11/4/2021 at 1:08 PM, Sir Sam said:

What’s the going price on these? In a similar vein this is why I recommended the diesel Mercedes, but the ones before emissions stuff got bad. 

 

I know the OP already picked up his new ride but I had to comment.  I purchased a 2012 TDI Jetta Sportwagen for $6100 in August with 80k on it. Not the manual transmission I wanted but for that price I couldn't pass it up. Absolutely great car and easy enough to work on once you figure out you need a set of triplesquare sockets.

 

38-44mpg depending on how much I'm in the pedal, plus full length sunroof, heated leather seats, and very very comfortable for long rides. 

[AMCJeepMJ]

Congrats on joining the Volvo family. I've had Volvos off and on for 25+ years but always the old RWD bricks.

My suggestion would have been the same as Pete's... a Chrysler/Dodge minivan with fold flat seats and Pentastar just for the utility, ease of driving, surprising power for a minivan, and relatively low purchase cost... those fleet-only GT models with blacked headlights and wheels are not bad to look at either.

[ExpatMJGuy]

Until I retired I’ve always had a car as a commuter.  I might drive my Jeep or my truck one day every few weeks but mainly I drove my car. My commute with Atlanta traffic was an hour to two hours each way, average length 1 hour 20 minutes by the time I retired.  I figured out every 4 weeks I easily put in a 40 hour work week in my car and I easily did 100 miles a day. 
 

I drove 10 years to that job in 4 vehicles as my commuter car. 2005 Jetta GLI,  2012 Jetta TDI, a 2015 Nissan Leaf, and back to a 2015 Jetta gas one.  I can’t remember the trim.

 

 Before that in 2008 and 2009 I drove an 04 Jetta 270 miles From Fayetteville NC to Charlotte once a week and in my 13th month I drove it that 270 miles daily till I graduated from UTI.  I know me some commuting in Jettas.

 

 The leaf was great till the chargers at work died and it was decided they wouldn’t be repaired.   And if it weren’t for the Dieselgate buyback I’d drove that TDI into the ground.  As stated earlier it was great on fuel, and those things are reliable as can be.  When I got my gas one to replace the leaf the TDI models weren’t for sale yet but was still a great car!  The cheaper fuel almost offset the mpg gains of the diesel.  But the diesel at least pre modification was king.

 

 In my experience while I like the looks of the 4th Gen Jetta better than the 5th, 6th, or 7th.  The 6th Gen was more reliable by far!  I never had anything major wrong with my 04 or 05 Jettas that wasn’t caused by me just lots of little crap.   Knobs, buttons, well… I did have a coil die one time.  6th Gen vehicles were ROCK solid.  Nothing but scheduled maintenance.  I had a buddy have to change some bushings on his but that’s it!  I didn’t like the gawdy chrome grill of the 5th Gen and I don’t like the interior of this new 7th Gen.  So I guess I skip generations.
 

When I retired I decided I wanted to do more car restoration and my commute was cut next to nothing so fuel economy wasn’t a thing.  I traded my Jetta and sold my old truck for my 2019 Nissan Frontier which hauls old cars and heavy loads better than my old 4 cyl 2000 Frontier did.

 

IF I were to go back to commuting though first I’d try it out with my Subaru BRZ but those race seats and long commutes may not be a good mix.  If were on a budget then back to the TDI Jettas.  Mid 2010s is where it’s at for value.  If I decided do buy a new or newer vehicle I’d go with the Subaru Legacy.

 

 In recent years I feel Volkswagen has screwed me over 1 too many times.  Both at the Corporate level when dealing with Dieselgate with our trade (a whole separate and crazy story) and the local level at the closest Dealership.  Our family owned VW was bought out by big box Autonation and since then everything involving that building has turned to Crap.  Sales, Service and Parts!  By the time I drive to another part of town to go to another VW Dealership I can be at a Subaru dealership.

 

* So I can vouch for the Volkswagens but with Caveats.*