Faults:

Over the two years I owned this V70, light bulbs were broken a few times. Sometimes the car indicates that a bulb is broken, but then it starts working again. Nothing else.

Timing belt was changed together with the water pump for $700.

General Comments:

Excellent car. Essentially nothing went wrong over the two years. So, I took the car back to Europe from the US. Very comfortable for long-distance rides. Quiet and enjoyable to ride. Mine gives 30-32 MPG on highway (about 7.9 l/100km) driving around 70 MPH (110 km/h).

I think this is excellent for the car of this size. Very big and roomy inside. A lot of space. My wife and daughter are always on the back seat, and they are happy with the space too.

This is not a sporty car. On the other hand, 170 hp is not that bad for this car. I love sporty cars by my nature, but made this choice because of the family. And I am happy driving this Volvo; it makes me feel that there is no hurry, there is no need to rush.

Faults:

So far, 4 months and 4000 miles driving, nothing went wrong.

General Comments:

Generally I like the car very much. Very comfortable, so far reliable. It is nice to drive for long distances. Having 170 horsepower is good enough for this car albeit turbo would probably be better. The seats are a little bit of the trick and have to be properly adjusted. I found myself comfortable after quite long seat adjustment.

Faults:

Passenger window broke a runner at 15,000kms.

General Comments:

I really like the vehicle, ride, performance and reasonable economy.

There was a low speed drive-ability problem which a software upgrade solved, so any car with jerky response needs this upgrade.

I have been frustrated on several long winter journeys that the windshield washer warning is not an ‘idiot light’. It is part of the message system which only seems to check when you stop. This means you can run out of fluid on snowy or slushy roads without warning. Bad deal here in Ontario, Canada.

One other concern which I will have to address is the breakdown of the clear-coat on my alloy wheels. The wheels were in use from August to November when I mounted snow tires on steel wheel. They were reinstalled in April and now in June I find the clear-coat has peeled. I have used McGuire’s wheel cleaner, but I doubt it caused the problem as a friend has used the product for 3 years on a Mercedes without trouble.