2002 Volvo S60 2.4t review from North America

I have only had 3 problems with the car, none of them significant.

1. Power locking does not like the doors being unlocked through pulling the open handle when locked. This will result in the door unlocking opening, but sometimes the door will not lock again through power locking on the first attempt. The power locking must be engaged an disengaged several times before the door will lock. This problem does not occur if the doors are initially unlocked through the power locking.

2. Once every 3 months, I get a "Bulb Failure" error message informing me that a position bulb has failed, whereas they are all working. This problem is solved by opening the trunk and slamming it closed. Researching Volvo forums on the internet suggests that this problem occurs due to an overly sensitive bulb failure sensor that can be triggered by dirt (which is dislodged by the impact of the trunk slamming).

3. The dipstick was stuck in place and snapped off the first time I tried to extract it. This was not covered under the certified pre-owned warranty, but only cost me $17 Canadian to fix.

This car has been fantastic so far. The light pressure turbo and five-speed auto make it extremely lively at any speed and the handling is superb. I've never felt anything, but confident attacking on- and off-ramps, or even snapping around corners.

In the winter snow, with 16-inch snow tires it gripped well and never threatened to lose control, whilst the 17-inch all-seasons I put on in summer give the car excellent grip and handling.

Inside, the factory installed 8 speaker sound system delivers crisp sound, whilst the comfortable leather seats are supportive enough to make long distance drives downright refreshing. You get out no more tired than when you got in.

Noise suppression is also very good, and it's all to easy to wander well over the speed limit because you can't hear the engine making any effort at all.

The only 2 gripes I have are that the the car suffers from quite a lot of wind noise at speed. Though this was apparently helped in later models by redesigned wing mirrors, in the 2002 model this means that after a while you reach to turn the stereo volume up...

Also, the car has not too much leg room in the back. It's great for kids and for occasionally driving around adults, but beware if you're taking tall people long distances!

Overall though, this is a fantastic car so far. The dealers treated me with enormous respect and professionalism and left me happy enough to choose to continue going there for maintenance such as tires and oil. I'll definitely seriously consider another Volvo based on my experience so far.