4th Nov 2015, 21:43
For the A/C smell, have a look over Youtube, there are several videos showing how to fix this at home. Here's one of them. You can turn on both the heat and the A/C so both the A/C evaporator and the heater core get sprayed, because both of them get mildew. When doing this operation, the cabin air filter (inside the vehicle) must be removed and its cover must be put back in place (without the filter).
4th Aug 2016, 12:03
Would just like to add, when replacing suspension parts, make absolutely sure the mechanic is using either parts made by the original supplier to Volvo, or parts directly from the Volvo dealer. Original suppliers for Volvo are either Sachs, Bosch, INA or Lemforder for most suspension parts. Monroe struts also seem to be of acceptable quality and give a smoother ride, but longevity is yet to be proved.
The reason for this is that most other parts makers, such as Febi and Meyle (HD or not) sell parts that won't last past one year. Most Volvo forums mention these brands for such poor durability and it's not accidental: all owners have experienced this, it is not only a few parts that have been faulty.
Most sites that sell Volvo parts have both the cheap Febi stuff, and the good quality Lemforder stuff, for example.
Speaking of the timing belt, good brands are Continental for the belt, INA for the pulleys. Some people also reported good experience with Gates kits, while others had issues with them.
On all 2000+ Volvo models, the water pump does not need to be replaced with the first timing belt. Yes, this sounds surprising, and most indie garages that don't do Volvo regularly, will replace the water pump with the first belt. However, all Volvo dealers will never replace the pump on the first belt, only on the second timing belt around 200K miles. If the water pump has to be replaced, it is very important to only use either an original Volvo pump or Aisin as most other aftermarket ones have multiple reports of very early failure.
On the S60, V70 and XC70 engines, replacing the timing belt is rather easy, with the crank pulley not being required to be removed. Check various forums online if you are looking for a DIY; many owners have done it themselves.
4th Feb 2017, 13:30
Answering why the oil change interval is much longer in Europe compared to the North America; could it be that the European synthetic oil formulas are much better than the oil we purchase here in North America? I also heard the gas quality is better in Europe for the equivalent octane? I know most oils here are processed in North America, while Castrol sells only one bottle (0W30 Syntec) marked "Made in Germany".
4th Feb 2017, 20:50
The intervals in Europe are longer in almost all cars, because these are designed to appeal to bean counters - company cars on lease. How much it costs to "run" the car over, say 2-3 years, includes the price of servicing. Your company may be in the market to replace a fleet of cars of a similar price, and over a period, the difference in servicing requirements and CO2 tax to be paid, can make all the difference in a car being rejected. So although synthetic oil is used, the service interval of something like 15-20K miles is really more to do with what is the deemed cost of running the car. The problem is that these cars after the company lease period are released to the public, and you will then find cars like BMWs or other cars whose chains snap as the oil has been allowed to get too dirty. It's still recommended that oil be changed at least every 10K mi or 1 year, using very good quality oil.
3rd Aug 2019, 15:42
Totally agree with the original review, reflects my experience and some friends' ones of their S60 perfectly. The Volvo S60 is a good car, but unfortunately they can have a lot of electronic issues as others have talked about. As for the headlights, that is a problem almost every car built after the year 2000 has - the plastic covering.
You could also say the complexity of more modern cars is to blame, not just Volvo on these particular issues, for the likes of electronic faults mentioned here.
Myself I live in the UK and Volvo still has a good, reliable, safe image, however the mid 2000 era cars that are getting older now are proving just too much to repair, far too much for cars over 10 years old, and a lot are now piling up in the scrap yards, even though the engine transmission and bodywork are in good shape. Shame really, if the cost of repairs was reduced, a lot of older cars would still be on the road.
3rd Aug 2019, 21:15
Guess I'm going to the wrong "scrap yards". All the ones I go to have plenty of 1980s/1990s era cars, but not that many "mid-2000 era" ones, and the few that are there are obvious traffic accident victims.
Pray tell, where are all these junked cars that have good engines, transmissions and bodywork??
4th Aug 2019, 17:43
Maybe you are looking in the wrong places - I have seen this comment on here before. I believe the confusion comes from the UK / USA side of things. I live in the UK and the comment before yours is correct - over here the scrap yards are full of mid 2000's crap. Perfectly good cars but with so many electronic faults, (amongst some other mechanical stuff) they were uneconomical to repair. You guys in the USA must have good garages that can take care of older cars if they are still going, because here the average lifespan is around 11 years for a car.
Myself I just scrapped a Volvo S40, 2007 model. (Review is on here, see the 2007 S40 section the one with lots of comments) Good engine, transmission, body, the lot. But the airbag light was on. The exhaust was falling off. Clunking from suspension. You name it. The car was worth £1200 UK pounds at best, and my repair bill was quoted at over £2500. So you do the math. Why would I spend nearly 3 grand on a 12 year old car with over 100,000 when I can spend just the same £3000 and get a newer low mileage car? So that's exactly what I did. Makes much more sense.
As for 80s and 90s cars, well that was a long time ago, that's why most of them are in the scrap yard. And I do miss that era of cars - I easily got 15 years out of them, whereas nowadays cars are struggling for 12 years before the economy of keeping them or not has to considered. You could argue all day about reliability and what era was better, but longevity is an interesting one. I do not think we have seen much progress in that respect. Also in the UK the cost of having a car is substantially higher in general than you guys in the USA - fuel, insurance, and of course, parts and repairs. It is possible to keep an older car here - but it is getting harder.
5th Aug 2019, 12:52
I would also like to add, do not forget about regulation - it varies state by state in the USA, but in the UK they have pretty strict MOT (Ministry Of Transport) test like your USA yearly inspection in some states.
A lot of cars won't pass unless their emissions and things like any dash warning lights about electronic faults are in perfect order, so it is possible for a car to have a good bodywork and engine, be relatively young, and still end up on the scrap heap unfortunately. Here in the UK scrap is big business now - they pay you a small sum for your broken car, and sell the good parts for profit worldwide.
20th Jun 2015, 17:11
I have owned many older Volvos and still own a 1991 Coupe (780) with 249,956 miles on the clock. Most of them were up into 200K range and I have never experienced a turbo failure. With the current 780 (like all of my cars) I use pure synthetic oil (either Mobil 1 Extended or Penzoil Ultra/Platinum). Just recently I switched to Amsoil. You can open up the oil fill cover on the 780, look into the valve train and the engine is absolutely clean, like brand new (slight surface rust discoloration on the cam in the non-wear areas). I change the oil on a one year/ 12,000 mile schedule. It all about preventive maintenance and replacing wear components before they cause cascade failures. In the 15 years I've owned the 780, it has been the most trouble free Volvo I've ever owned and, for that period, any car I've owned.