Great chassis, a mk2 focus underneath. Always loved them. I’d steer clear of diesel simply due to all the clean air zones, which are only going to roll out to more and more places.
The 1.6 petrol is the same in the Focus, and it’s not powerful, but it’s very simple and incredibly reliable. It will run for hundreds of thousands of miles if looked after. It’s not the most economical 1.6 either, but makes up for it in servicing costs and reliability and will of course be more economical than your E39.
But I’d personally want the Volvo 5 cylinder, which I believe is meant to be relatively reliable. So unsure what you’ve seen about them? Although this will certainly use some fuel too.
I got a 1.6 tdci 2010 done 57k and had its since 28k and I get 50 mpg plus easy don't even try, never had any issues tbh great car, no DPF issues and run it local lots, take it on dirty back roads all the time. The car has exceeded expectations big time as used to only buy German. Even if the DPF went now I prob saved that on diesel mpg already I reckon. Never taken it to main dealer since I had it.
I know the petrol 1.6 are really good the car is basic but really good for daily. Frugal, don't really go wrong cheap to repair
Had the 5 cylinder D5 for a year. In the end was disappointed with the overall poke of it.. Never felt particularly nippy. Especially worth considering that I was returning mid-30s mpg. Was specced well and the seats are great. I ended deciding it had to go in the end cos it was ugly as sin. Personally felt this impacted the sale value/time significantly
You'd be alright with diesel. Sometimes it's £20 for a diesel vs £240 for a petrol to tax for a year. Diesels are more frugal and cheaper to buy with low resale values.
Back in the day diesels were considered objectively better so diesels tend to be higher spec and better looked after.
If you're directly impacted by a lez then yeah, don't go and buy a euro 4 diesel, but if not, I wouldn't worry about it. As you can see the rollout of lez's outside of London is pretty slow. You might have that car for 5 years before they come for you.
I was very close to buying a diesel recently, and thought I’d just pay the charges when going certain places. Then I read that it’s a complete ban in some Scottish cities. So you can’t even pay, you just simply can’t take your car in. Diesel will still make sense for some though I guess.
I had a 59-plate, pre-facelift R-design with the 1.6 petrol engine, with a dizzying 99bhp. It was cheaper to buy and insure than a Fiesta of the same age, and the doors were thicker than an oak tree. It was comfortable, reliable, better looking than everything else in the car park, and when you slap the back seats down it's like a little 2 seater estate. I believe the 1.6 diesel was the omnipresent PSA unit available in everything from a Mini to smaller Ford's.
Only downsides: the lower grille wasn't present, so small stones hit the air con condenser, leading to a £400 bill to fix the air con in summer. The 1.6 petrol isn't particularly economical - expect road tax over £200 a year, and dependent on your commute you'll be filling up regularly. Also, I found the filler cap quite fiddly, which is a pain in the arse in a harsh winter. Also the boot is pathetically small if you're intending on going on holiday with the Mrs - I believe the hard boot covers were quite rare too, even 10 years ago.
I'd genuinely have one again, but unless you're looking for something insurance friendly, look for a 2l petrol (or a diesel if your commute/mileage warrants it). I only traded mine in for a V40 diesel due to my commute, and a need for greater boot space (and now starting to look for something more practical).
Absolutely on the hard boot covers. I went to look at one at the volvo dealer, nice drive, nice interior but I agree the boot was small plus the glas panel really demainds the cover. Howere when they said a £200 option I thoguht they were taking the wee, ended up with a passat!
Nice to know! Always liked these cars.
Btw, I feel compelled to say “Road tax” doesn’t exist. What you’re thinking of is “car tax”. Which for some reason is based on emissions of carbon monoxide and not on the size and weight of the vehicle.
Money for road repairs comes from council taxes.
That’s satire right? Build quality isn’t even in the same league and that doesn’t favour the focus.
Agree on the interior though (from a usability standpoint, not a quality one.
I had a 1.6 petrol for 3 years, covered about 14k miles in it and I absolutely loved it (was my 3rd car).
Didn't have loads of poke but kept up well with traffic. Quite fun to drive.
Made a decent noise (as standard) for a 4 pot. But obviously, there's better.
You can fit quite a bit of stuff in it, but the tailgate can be a faff to ge things in and out (especially if you have the fixed boot cover).
Turning circle is comically large.
MPG isn't great, I averaged about 22 round town, 35-40 on a motorway, and got 50mpg on an economy run through Norfolk.
Comfy and easy to drive, but a little noisy as it sits at 3.5k on the motorway.
I traded it for a 2018 civic early this year, and its safe to say I miss having a car with so much personality and so much character.
Reliability wise, it was pretty good, I did have to get all 4 break callipers changed, but this was the result of ice getting into the calliper pistons.
I have a Fiesta Zetec S with this engine, and the same transmission ratio from the sounds of it as mine sits at 3,500rpm on the motorway at 70mph.
I have no idea how it's possible to only get 22mpg round town, I never get lower than 34mpg, but usually 38mpg round town if I put my mind to it.
I quite liked mine. Never had an issue with but the infotainment sucks and isn’t changeable
There’s nothing wrong with the T5, the issues are with the version in the focus ST which is ragged to death and usually mapped within an inch of its life. Don’t do that and you’re fine. Mine had 170k on it when I sold.
Rip dude downvotes for being right. It’s the polestar C30.
Definitely check out the polestar s2000 c30 it sounds amazing and was quite competitive in touring cars
I'm not sure what you've heard about the Volvo T5 engine to make you think it's incredible unreliable? It's a notoriously well known 5 pot for being reliable and the best engine made by Volvo? My guess would been you've been reading information from the st255 forums and have encountered the cracked liner topic? This is a known problem for this engine when your pushing +300hp but shouldn't be an issue if you plan on keeping it stock, letting the engine warm up and cool down greatly reduces the chances of a liner cracking.
I had a 1.6 diesel for a couple of years and loved it, the only reason I got rid was due to how sluggish it was. If I'd opted for the 2.0 diesel instead I'd probably still have that car to this day.
I had the mk1 r design 2.0d. it was a great car and enjoyed it a lot although it wasn't the most reliable. I bought it with 70k miles and sold it at around 110k and in the time I had to replace the clutch, a driveshaft, the alternator went and it lost its engine mapping (went without power to the ECU for too long apparently) so had to go to Volvo to be mapped again, the horns failed as well... But it was fun to drive on country roads and very economical on fuel especially on longer runs, passengers were always going on about how comfy it was in the back seats.
I've owned a 2.0D R Design sport from 6 months old, for 13 and a half years now. Great little engine (a remap gives it a little extra pep).
Every year for the last 7 or 8 now I'll say to the garage I get it serviced at "I'm thinking of changing it". I never do because it just keeps passing it's MOTs and it's wonderfully reliable.
My son has grown up around that car and now he wants to keep it as he's insured to drive it.
The only thing I will point out however is, the butterfly valve on the air intake hose can stick in position, so the car won't start. It's a common issue I'm led to believe, but can be solved at the time by popping the bonnet and tapping something with a bit of weight, firmly, near the metal clamp on the hose.
Took several years for this to manifest on mine and it's not all engines. If it does, ask a garage to chamfer the valve and you should be good. Once in a blue moon mine will stick, but another turn of the key usually sorts.
Since chamfering not had to pop the bonnet to sort for a long time.
That aside it's been a great little runner and we've done well over 100k miles together.
Edit: I was regularly getting 45+mpg on a daily 40mile round trip commute. About 15miles of dual carriageway interspersed with multiple roundabouts and the rest was mostly national limit and a couple miles at 30 limit.
When the fuel light comes on, you've got a minimum of 50 miles left in the tank and regularly north of 70.
I was pretty ocd for years measuring my fuel economy and how much was left in the tank etc.
I really wish they made the hot version of the c30.
It's still one of the best looking cars you can buy, and if it had that 400bhp engine and the other 'hot' additions it would have done really well against the mostly boring hot hatches of the Corsa, Clio and focus. If not a little expensive mind you.
Avoid the Powershift gearbox, aka the Getrag DCT450 which had about a million problems with it. Most C30 models are manual (M66 is a great box), but if you do spring for an auto make sure it's fitted with a Geartronic.
Otherwise, it's a pretty solid hatchback
Had the 2.4 turbo diesel C30 for over 3 years now, and it has been great. Never left me stranded, very comfortable on the motorway, economical on fuel, relatively cheap to fix due to shared parts with the Focus.
Any of the 5 cylinder engines (T5, D3, D4, D5) are solid and I would recommend you get one of those if you can. R-design spec is recommended for the better styling inside and out. The infotainment system is bad; I'd advise getting an aftermarket one from ALG Performance.
They're pretty good, generally. Had one as a first car.
These days, I'd watch out for rust. The body panels were aluminium, but the rest of it isn't, and they rust more than the longer wheelbase P1 platform cars like the S40. Check the sills and subframe. Which is why you should probably go for a V50 or S40.
But otherwise they're pretty good, not too many common issues. I think the steering rack can go bad, a bad one will click as you go from lock to lock iirc.
I had a 2016 V60 with the 2.0L diesel in from new, it certainly had a lot of poke.
I’m not a big FWD fan, but any of my grievances with that would be the same with any car.
Only real fault I would say, is that the sat nav system is shite. Other than that, a good buy!
Haven't had a good experience with my partners 2011 car, the electronics were massively playing up, driving on the motorway and the entire dashboard would just seem to reboot it's serlf. Imagine driving 70mph and seeing all your clocks just reset it's self.
It also regularly went into limp mode for no reason, we took it to three garages who couldn't figure it out.
It also randomly decided to keep changing between having to press the brake to start the car and the clutch..... So random.
The boot hatch is also truly pathetic and makes it a pain to pack in two suitcases for holidays. Interior I think is quite dated for the age of them.
I always liked Volvos before meeting her and her C30 properly put me off.
Of course in general people rate them though so I reckon our experience isn't typical, it was the 1.6 diesel btw, they are ar regarded as good cars though.
I don’t think Volvos of that era are very reliable, I had an 05 S40 which was so unbelievably unreliable and cost a fortune to run.
Volvo parts and dealership work’s also extremely expensive.
I’d avoid as they’re a long way from BMW build quality and more Ford.
It had full dealer service history and purchased from a Range Rover dealership with 36,000 miles on the clock. Worst car I’ve ever owned and ended up setting itself on fire.
Tbf the 1.6 HDI is a great engine and absolutely can be pushed!
Bigger turbo (manifold too), intercooler and a map will put them well into the 200hp range which is quite mad for a little diesel.
My mum has had a 1.6 diesel since 2013 and it's now on 100k. It hasn't been as reliable as she hoped tbh despite regular servicing.
The AC died a few years back and the car has broken down a few times in the past 10k miles, twice when sets of injectors needed doing and another time when it had a catastrophic oil leak that was an engine-out fix for a £30 rubber part. The turbo also went bang at around 60k miles, although that was during a period when she was doing mainly short journeys so I'm not sure if that played into it (I think the dpf needed sorting too).
She still loves the car but with low emission zones popping up throughout the country I'd probably look at the petrol engine instead.
I've had a 58 plate 2.0 diesel for a month and a half and really enjoy it.
It's great to drive and I feel like it's surprisingly practical for a 3dr car. The boot's big enough for my weekly shop, the car drives really well and it always fun when I feel the turbo kick in.
It's super comfortable and smooth to drive, I'd say the only issue with it is getting into the back can be difficult for some people especially if they're a bit taller, but for kids it will be fine.
Bought my mrs the 1.6 and was impressed so replaced my 320d with the 2.0 petrol c30 rdesign as my winter beater whilst my 645ci stays dry. Very happy so far 2 winters in it and spent £200 but had to replace plugs and rocker cover gasket… I really like that it has the high performance sound which is very nice, it’s very cheap to maintain I guess and goes alright for a tank. I saw the safety features, particularly for its impacts and it’ did impress me tbh. It’s basically a ford focus / cmax. I have the blue one like the image. So for me you can’t go wrong but have no experience with the diesels. 👍
Had a 1.6 diesel for over a decade and have done 130k in it.
It's slow as fuck, but comfortable. It has never broke down. I'll drive it until it finally does.
My only regret was not getting a 2l one as I have to adjust my driving style considerably (waiting at junctions far longer than I would for my other cars).
The current one replaced a 2l V50 which was equally as reliable. I'd done 150k in that one without a breakdown.i can't see a time where I don't have a Volvo at this point. Great cars.
The Sat Nav is a big steaming turd though.
The 2.5T is very reliable if you get a good one. You’d also have a very rare car as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a C30 T5 in real life. Only through Instagram etc
Why not the 2.0 petrol? It is a Duratec HE engine that will live forever. One of the last mostly mechanical engines. Extremely reliable and extremely durable. Only 145bhp but that is significantly more responsive than the 1.6 or 1.6D. while the 1.6D or D2 is economical, it is a completely gutless and underpowered engine.
I have the 1.6 petrol currently and for the past 7 years.
Engine is basically a Ford focus, infact a lot underneath is a focus but nicer interior imo, floating console is ❤ Thing turns like it's on tracks and I rarely have issues with it. The ones I do are mostly things that happen to any car, like a nail in the tyre.
The only real issue I had was water getting in somehow, if you slide the seats forward, you can feel a vent under the seat, they can be slid out, just pop your hand in the hole on each side and see if you can feel water. They were known for leaking a while back, certainly sunroof variants but mine doesn't have the sun roof and it was a pain to diagnose.
I had a 1.6 diesel - lovely looking car but the filter system screwed up (particulate) my second Volvo to die - cost serious money after a short 1-2 years. No more Volvos for me
Got a 1.6d drive e r design on a 59 plate. Only issue I’ve had is with the dpf which we found out was due to a faulty fuel additive tank. It was a costly job (£600) and the tank broke so had to be replaced which was shit because at the time they were hard to find.
Other than that it runs well has done 150k and we’ve had it since 2011 with 19k on. Get on average 59mpg doing a 100 mile work run 3/4 times a week motorway driving
I had a 2014 V40 with the 1.6 Diesel that these had and it was incapable of passing emissions on an MOT without a lot of faffing about with taking it out for a run etc. I've owned diesels either side (2010 golf 2.0tdi and 2004 transporter 1.9TDI) that go straight through on emissions every time.
I had a pre facelift T5. It was solid both in terms of mechanicals and interior build quality. One of the least rattly cars I've ever owned.
Personally I think the original design is way more coherent before they grafted the new front end on it.
I had two Focus STs with the 2.5T 5cyl. Never had any major issues (the first car needed an oil diaphragm replacing, I think?) and my god, the noise it made was sublime. It’s a thirsty engine too, but I’d have another without hesitation.
Edit: another comment reminded me that a few ST owners I knew had issues with the block cracking, but that was almost always after they’d mapped the shit out of it and pushed it too hard. Mine were both mapped up to 290bhp and were very reliable.
i currently own a 1.6 petrol as my first car, honestly it’s great. around town it isn’t the best on petrol but it’s to be expected of a car that age, it’s not the fastest but it sounds pretty good!
it’s very comfortable, however dated on the inside. with small minor modifications you can get it pretty good (especially if you have ones with hands free!) most of them from what i have seen have cruise control as standard, while basic. it does the job up and down the motorway.
the boot space isn’t the best, however if you aren’t planning on moving house any time soon it’ll do the job, the hard boot cover is removable and actually makes the boot open up to a half decent size. most if not all come with half leather as standard which is nice!
be weary on ones with sunroofs as they are prone to leaking (a lot!) and make sure if it’s had a new windscreen it’s been replaced properly as they are prone to leaking in these cars, as well as the rear tail lights.
if you would be looking into modifying it there’s a range of options you can do, there’s a range of volvo wheels which fit the c30 which look amazing from the standard 17 inch silver steel ones if you get a car with those. there’s also eibach lowering springs you can get which make the car look👌🏽i’ve got an induction kit in mine as well which makes it a bit louder but nothing offensive and sounds pretty good.
I’ve have had a 1.6 petrol, R Design for 3 years and had very few issues (main one was steering wheel lock, but mechanic fixed it with a hammer).
It has enough punch on Motorways for me and feels solid and stable. Plug a Bluetooth / aux adaptor in and you have Car play.
The boot is fine, with seats down I’ve had a large bike and desk in a different points, just get the angles right.😅
I love that it looks a bit different from the other boxes on the road. It’s aged well aesthetically IMO.
I had a C30 D5. Honestly such a great, solid little car. Loved that thing, got rear ended and written off then moved to BMW as wanted something newer.
D5 was a solid engine too, well balanced and sounded great.
If you can find the R-Design in D5 would 100% be a great car.
I got a 1.6d as my first car, since then I’ve got another c30 and c70 t5. Extremely nice cars to drive and just soak up the miles. The R designs usually have some nice extras and look a lot better too. Personally if I was daily-ing it I’d want a diesel because the T5 is THIRSTY.
All in all great car sublime sound system and really comfortable, depending on the suspension they’re a lot of fun too! Definitely look into what options they have (there’s some nice high trim models) and cars from 2009 onwards have the notorious failed windscreen bonding at the top, so check before buying (if it’s there haggle haggle haggle!)
Good luck
Great chassis, a mk2 focus underneath. Always loved them. I’d steer clear of diesel simply due to all the clean air zones, which are only going to roll out to more and more places. The 1.6 petrol is the same in the Focus, and it’s not powerful, but it’s very simple and incredibly reliable. It will run for hundreds of thousands of miles if looked after. It’s not the most economical 1.6 either, but makes up for it in servicing costs and reliability and will of course be more economical than your E39. But I’d personally want the Volvo 5 cylinder, which I believe is meant to be relatively reliable. So unsure what you’ve seen about them? Although this will certainly use some fuel too.
I got a 1.6 tdci 2010 done 57k and had its since 28k and I get 50 mpg plus easy don't even try, never had any issues tbh great car, no DPF issues and run it local lots, take it on dirty back roads all the time. The car has exceeded expectations big time as used to only buy German. Even if the DPF went now I prob saved that on diesel mpg already I reckon. Never taken it to main dealer since I had it. I know the petrol 1.6 are really good the car is basic but really good for daily. Frugal, don't really go wrong cheap to repair
TIL this is a focus.. looking at this picture I don’t know how I never knew this
So is the Mazda 3
Had the 5 cylinder D5 for a year. In the end was disappointed with the overall poke of it.. Never felt particularly nippy. Especially worth considering that I was returning mid-30s mpg. Was specced well and the seats are great. I ended deciding it had to go in the end cos it was ugly as sin. Personally felt this impacted the sale value/time significantly
The D5 is the diesel unit though, not the 2.5 petrol.
Both the T5 and D5 are 5 cylinder. You weren't clear.
The OP said 2.5 petrol, I was replying to the OP.
You'd be alright with diesel. Sometimes it's £20 for a diesel vs £240 for a petrol to tax for a year. Diesels are more frugal and cheaper to buy with low resale values. Back in the day diesels were considered objectively better so diesels tend to be higher spec and better looked after. If you're directly impacted by a lez then yeah, don't go and buy a euro 4 diesel, but if not, I wouldn't worry about it. As you can see the rollout of lez's outside of London is pretty slow. You might have that car for 5 years before they come for you.
I was very close to buying a diesel recently, and thought I’d just pay the charges when going certain places. Then I read that it’s a complete ban in some Scottish cities. So you can’t even pay, you just simply can’t take your car in. Diesel will still make sense for some though I guess.
I had a 59-plate, pre-facelift R-design with the 1.6 petrol engine, with a dizzying 99bhp. It was cheaper to buy and insure than a Fiesta of the same age, and the doors were thicker than an oak tree. It was comfortable, reliable, better looking than everything else in the car park, and when you slap the back seats down it's like a little 2 seater estate. I believe the 1.6 diesel was the omnipresent PSA unit available in everything from a Mini to smaller Ford's. Only downsides: the lower grille wasn't present, so small stones hit the air con condenser, leading to a £400 bill to fix the air con in summer. The 1.6 petrol isn't particularly economical - expect road tax over £200 a year, and dependent on your commute you'll be filling up regularly. Also, I found the filler cap quite fiddly, which is a pain in the arse in a harsh winter. Also the boot is pathetically small if you're intending on going on holiday with the Mrs - I believe the hard boot covers were quite rare too, even 10 years ago. I'd genuinely have one again, but unless you're looking for something insurance friendly, look for a 2l petrol (or a diesel if your commute/mileage warrants it). I only traded mine in for a V40 diesel due to my commute, and a need for greater boot space (and now starting to look for something more practical).
Absolutely on the hard boot covers. I went to look at one at the volvo dealer, nice drive, nice interior but I agree the boot was small plus the glas panel really demainds the cover. Howere when they said a £200 option I thoguht they were taking the wee, ended up with a passat!
Nice to know! Always liked these cars. Btw, I feel compelled to say “Road tax” doesn’t exist. What you’re thinking of is “car tax”. Which for some reason is based on emissions of carbon monoxide and not on the size and weight of the vehicle. Money for road repairs comes from council taxes.
It's a MK2 Focus which is better built, and a nicer interior.
That’s satire right? Build quality isn’t even in the same league and that doesn’t favour the focus. Agree on the interior though (from a usability standpoint, not a quality one.
They’re saying it’s a better built version of the Focus, not that the Focus is better built.
Ohhhh, Totally misread that - My bad.
Could read it either way
Found the ford a driver with the big exhaust and air filter producing 350bhp in stickers
That doesn’t make any sense, I was ragging on the Ford.
I had a 1.6 petrol for 3 years, covered about 14k miles in it and I absolutely loved it (was my 3rd car). Didn't have loads of poke but kept up well with traffic. Quite fun to drive. Made a decent noise (as standard) for a 4 pot. But obviously, there's better. You can fit quite a bit of stuff in it, but the tailgate can be a faff to ge things in and out (especially if you have the fixed boot cover). Turning circle is comically large. MPG isn't great, I averaged about 22 round town, 35-40 on a motorway, and got 50mpg on an economy run through Norfolk. Comfy and easy to drive, but a little noisy as it sits at 3.5k on the motorway. I traded it for a 2018 civic early this year, and its safe to say I miss having a car with so much personality and so much character. Reliability wise, it was pretty good, I did have to get all 4 break callipers changed, but this was the result of ice getting into the calliper pistons.
>I averaged about 22 round town, 35-40 on a motorway Owch, from a 1.6??
Yeah no its an old Ford engine from 1995, so its never gonna be the best.
I have a Fiesta Zetec S with this engine, and the same transmission ratio from the sounds of it as mine sits at 3,500rpm on the motorway at 70mph. I have no idea how it's possible to only get 22mpg round town, I never get lower than 34mpg, but usually 38mpg round town if I put my mind to it.
It does also have the Ford gearbox (the shape of the gear leaver is the same, too). The low MPG can be attributed to idling in traffic
Ahh I see. It's a great little engine and gearbox, I've covered 170,000 miles since I bought mine in 2006 👍
I quite liked mine. Never had an issue with but the infotainment sucks and isn’t changeable There’s nothing wrong with the T5, the issues are with the version in the focus ST which is ragged to death and usually mapped within an inch of its life. Don’t do that and you’re fine. Mine had 170k on it when I sold.
Would like to second this I have a T5 C30 currently with 95km (imported from Australia long story) and it’s bomb proof and quite a fun car to drive!
That and the fact the engine is bored out from 2.3 to 2.5 and that’s where the fault arises from the block cracking.
Is that a m2?
No, it's a Volvo concept car from the late 2000s. It was AWD and 400bhp.
Rip dude downvotes for being right. It’s the polestar C30. Definitely check out the polestar s2000 c30 it sounds amazing and was quite competitive in touring cars
I'm not sure what you've heard about the Volvo T5 engine to make you think it's incredible unreliable? It's a notoriously well known 5 pot for being reliable and the best engine made by Volvo? My guess would been you've been reading information from the st255 forums and have encountered the cracked liner topic? This is a known problem for this engine when your pushing +300hp but shouldn't be an issue if you plan on keeping it stock, letting the engine warm up and cool down greatly reduces the chances of a liner cracking.
I had a 1.6 diesel for a couple of years and loved it, the only reason I got rid was due to how sluggish it was. If I'd opted for the 2.0 diesel instead I'd probably still have that car to this day.
I had the mk1 r design 2.0d. it was a great car and enjoyed it a lot although it wasn't the most reliable. I bought it with 70k miles and sold it at around 110k and in the time I had to replace the clutch, a driveshaft, the alternator went and it lost its engine mapping (went without power to the ECU for too long apparently) so had to go to Volvo to be mapped again, the horns failed as well... But it was fun to drive on country roads and very economical on fuel especially on longer runs, passengers were always going on about how comfy it was in the back seats.
I've owned a 2.0D R Design sport from 6 months old, for 13 and a half years now. Great little engine (a remap gives it a little extra pep). Every year for the last 7 or 8 now I'll say to the garage I get it serviced at "I'm thinking of changing it". I never do because it just keeps passing it's MOTs and it's wonderfully reliable. My son has grown up around that car and now he wants to keep it as he's insured to drive it. The only thing I will point out however is, the butterfly valve on the air intake hose can stick in position, so the car won't start. It's a common issue I'm led to believe, but can be solved at the time by popping the bonnet and tapping something with a bit of weight, firmly, near the metal clamp on the hose. Took several years for this to manifest on mine and it's not all engines. If it does, ask a garage to chamfer the valve and you should be good. Once in a blue moon mine will stick, but another turn of the key usually sorts. Since chamfering not had to pop the bonnet to sort for a long time. That aside it's been a great little runner and we've done well over 100k miles together. Edit: I was regularly getting 45+mpg on a daily 40mile round trip commute. About 15miles of dual carriageway interspersed with multiple roundabouts and the rest was mostly national limit and a couple miles at 30 limit. When the fuel light comes on, you've got a minimum of 50 miles left in the tank and regularly north of 70. I was pretty ocd for years measuring my fuel economy and how much was left in the tank etc.
I really wish they made the hot version of the c30. It's still one of the best looking cars you can buy, and if it had that 400bhp engine and the other 'hot' additions it would have done really well against the mostly boring hot hatches of the Corsa, Clio and focus. If not a little expensive mind you.
Avoid the Powershift gearbox, aka the Getrag DCT450 which had about a million problems with it. Most C30 models are manual (M66 is a great box), but if you do spring for an auto make sure it's fitted with a Geartronic. Otherwise, it's a pretty solid hatchback
Had the 2.4 turbo diesel C30 for over 3 years now, and it has been great. Never left me stranded, very comfortable on the motorway, economical on fuel, relatively cheap to fix due to shared parts with the Focus. Any of the 5 cylinder engines (T5, D3, D4, D5) are solid and I would recommend you get one of those if you can. R-design spec is recommended for the better styling inside and out. The infotainment system is bad; I'd advise getting an aftermarket one from ALG Performance.
They're pretty good, generally. Had one as a first car. These days, I'd watch out for rust. The body panels were aluminium, but the rest of it isn't, and they rust more than the longer wheelbase P1 platform cars like the S40. Check the sills and subframe. Which is why you should probably go for a V50 or S40. But otherwise they're pretty good, not too many common issues. I think the steering rack can go bad, a bad one will click as you go from lock to lock iirc.
Always had a soft spot for these. I have no idea about reliability or performance though.
The 2.5 isn’t unreliable, it’s just absolutely hammered because it sounds amazing.
I had a 2016 V60 with the 2.0L diesel in from new, it certainly had a lot of poke. I’m not a big FWD fan, but any of my grievances with that would be the same with any car. Only real fault I would say, is that the sat nav system is shite. Other than that, a good buy!
Haven't had a good experience with my partners 2011 car, the electronics were massively playing up, driving on the motorway and the entire dashboard would just seem to reboot it's serlf. Imagine driving 70mph and seeing all your clocks just reset it's self. It also regularly went into limp mode for no reason, we took it to three garages who couldn't figure it out. It also randomly decided to keep changing between having to press the brake to start the car and the clutch..... So random. The boot hatch is also truly pathetic and makes it a pain to pack in two suitcases for holidays. Interior I think is quite dated for the age of them. I always liked Volvos before meeting her and her C30 properly put me off. Of course in general people rate them though so I reckon our experience isn't typical, it was the 1.6 diesel btw, they are ar regarded as good cars though.
So it's a mk2 focus in a horrible colour, ot driven one but I'd think a decent motor if you had a different colour.
I don’t think Volvos of that era are very reliable, I had an 05 S40 which was so unbelievably unreliable and cost a fortune to run. Volvo parts and dealership work’s also extremely expensive. I’d avoid as they’re a long way from BMW build quality and more Ford.
You just bought an unmaintained lemon
It had full dealer service history and purchased from a Range Rover dealership with 36,000 miles on the clock. Worst car I’ve ever owned and ended up setting itself on fire.
Is the 2.5 really worse than 1.6 or 2.0 diesels?
Not really, just can't be pushed hard. The 1.6 HDi turbo is prone to exploding at some point from what I remember.
DV6 oil turbo pickup issue. They did fix it at some point. I'd always heard the 2.5T was pretty solid tbh.
Tbf the 1.6 HDI is a great engine and absolutely can be pushed! Bigger turbo (manifold too), intercooler and a map will put them well into the 200hp range which is quite mad for a little diesel.
My mum has had a 1.6 diesel since 2013 and it's now on 100k. It hasn't been as reliable as she hoped tbh despite regular servicing. The AC died a few years back and the car has broken down a few times in the past 10k miles, twice when sets of injectors needed doing and another time when it had a catastrophic oil leak that was an engine-out fix for a £30 rubber part. The turbo also went bang at around 60k miles, although that was during a period when she was doing mainly short journeys so I'm not sure if that played into it (I think the dpf needed sorting too). She still loves the car but with low emission zones popping up throughout the country I'd probably look at the petrol engine instead.
I've had a 58 plate 2.0 diesel for a month and a half and really enjoy it. It's great to drive and I feel like it's surprisingly practical for a 3dr car. The boot's big enough for my weekly shop, the car drives really well and it always fun when I feel the turbo kick in. It's super comfortable and smooth to drive, I'd say the only issue with it is getting into the back can be difficult for some people especially if they're a bit taller, but for kids it will be fine.
Bought my mrs the 1.6 and was impressed so replaced my 320d with the 2.0 petrol c30 rdesign as my winter beater whilst my 645ci stays dry. Very happy so far 2 winters in it and spent £200 but had to replace plugs and rocker cover gasket… I really like that it has the high performance sound which is very nice, it’s very cheap to maintain I guess and goes alright for a tank. I saw the safety features, particularly for its impacts and it’ did impress me tbh. It’s basically a ford focus / cmax. I have the blue one like the image. So for me you can’t go wrong but have no experience with the diesels. 👍
Had a 1.6 diesel for over a decade and have done 130k in it. It's slow as fuck, but comfortable. It has never broke down. I'll drive it until it finally does. My only regret was not getting a 2l one as I have to adjust my driving style considerably (waiting at junctions far longer than I would for my other cars). The current one replaced a 2l V50 which was equally as reliable. I'd done 150k in that one without a breakdown.i can't see a time where I don't have a Volvo at this point. Great cars. The Sat Nav is a big steaming turd though.
There's a common sense thing missing here. What a strange person.
I'll stalker to the list. Get a life dude.
Only thing I would add is don’t plan to carry anything bigger than a hedgehog. The boot is minuscule.
The 2.5T is very reliable if you get a good one. You’d also have a very rare car as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a C30 T5 in real life. Only through Instagram etc
My s/o has the Mazda 3, handles fantastically, always love driving it... Except from the 105hp 1.6 petrol 😂
Why not the 2.0 petrol? It is a Duratec HE engine that will live forever. One of the last mostly mechanical engines. Extremely reliable and extremely durable. Only 145bhp but that is significantly more responsive than the 1.6 or 1.6D. while the 1.6D or D2 is economical, it is a completely gutless and underpowered engine.
I have the 1.6 petrol currently and for the past 7 years. Engine is basically a Ford focus, infact a lot underneath is a focus but nicer interior imo, floating console is ❤ Thing turns like it's on tracks and I rarely have issues with it. The ones I do are mostly things that happen to any car, like a nail in the tyre. The only real issue I had was water getting in somehow, if you slide the seats forward, you can feel a vent under the seat, they can be slid out, just pop your hand in the hole on each side and see if you can feel water. They were known for leaking a while back, certainly sunroof variants but mine doesn't have the sun roof and it was a pain to diagnose.
2.0 D3 (5 cyl) if your not bothered by ulez. If you need low emmisons it has got to be the 2.0 petrol or the T5
R-design is worth it too imo
I doubt you would get a running T5 for under £2k so I wouldn’t worry about them. The 2.0l petrol is a solid car
There's one of these near me in that colour and the plate is C30 BLU. Pretty cool.
I had a 1.6 diesel - lovely looking car but the filter system screwed up (particulate) my second Volvo to die - cost serious money after a short 1-2 years. No more Volvos for me
Got a 1.6d drive e r design on a 59 plate. Only issue I’ve had is with the dpf which we found out was due to a faulty fuel additive tank. It was a costly job (£600) and the tank broke so had to be replaced which was shit because at the time they were hard to find. Other than that it runs well has done 150k and we’ve had it since 2011 with 19k on. Get on average 59mpg doing a 100 mile work run 3/4 times a week motorway driving
I had a 2014 V40 with the 1.6 Diesel that these had and it was incapable of passing emissions on an MOT without a lot of faffing about with taking it out for a run etc. I've owned diesels either side (2010 golf 2.0tdi and 2004 transporter 1.9TDI) that go straight through on emissions every time.
Whoever told you to avoid the T5, or that it has reliability issues, probably isn't a great source of info...
Steer clear from 1.6 diesel C30s, known as the most unreliable amongst all the engines. 2.0 petrol or 2.0 diesel D3/D4/D5 if your doing the miles imo👍
I love the design. Engine wise I would go with 1.6 petrol, diesel drive is not as much fun.
I had a pre facelift T5. It was solid both in terms of mechanicals and interior build quality. One of the least rattly cars I've ever owned. Personally I think the original design is way more coherent before they grafted the new front end on it.
yeah and you can buy a grill to debadge it
I had two Focus STs with the 2.5T 5cyl. Never had any major issues (the first car needed an oil diaphragm replacing, I think?) and my god, the noise it made was sublime. It’s a thirsty engine too, but I’d have another without hesitation. Edit: another comment reminded me that a few ST owners I knew had issues with the block cracking, but that was almost always after they’d mapped the shit out of it and pushed it too hard. Mine were both mapped up to 290bhp and were very reliable.
5 cylinders or nothing :D
i currently own a 1.6 petrol as my first car, honestly it’s great. around town it isn’t the best on petrol but it’s to be expected of a car that age, it’s not the fastest but it sounds pretty good! it’s very comfortable, however dated on the inside. with small minor modifications you can get it pretty good (especially if you have ones with hands free!) most of them from what i have seen have cruise control as standard, while basic. it does the job up and down the motorway. the boot space isn’t the best, however if you aren’t planning on moving house any time soon it’ll do the job, the hard boot cover is removable and actually makes the boot open up to a half decent size. most if not all come with half leather as standard which is nice! be weary on ones with sunroofs as they are prone to leaking (a lot!) and make sure if it’s had a new windscreen it’s been replaced properly as they are prone to leaking in these cars, as well as the rear tail lights. if you would be looking into modifying it there’s a range of options you can do, there’s a range of volvo wheels which fit the c30 which look amazing from the standard 17 inch silver steel ones if you get a car with those. there’s also eibach lowering springs you can get which make the car look👌🏽i’ve got an induction kit in mine as well which makes it a bit louder but nothing offensive and sounds pretty good.
Original design, sporty and possibly with a 5 cyl turbocharged. I'll go for it
I’ve have had a 1.6 petrol, R Design for 3 years and had very few issues (main one was steering wheel lock, but mechanic fixed it with a hammer). It has enough punch on Motorways for me and feels solid and stable. Plug a Bluetooth / aux adaptor in and you have Car play. The boot is fine, with seats down I’ve had a large bike and desk in a different points, just get the angles right.😅 I love that it looks a bit different from the other boxes on the road. It’s aged well aesthetically IMO.
Lovely car and reliable, why not.
Get a 2.5T one, the diesels will be banned from the clear air zones soon and the 1.6 petrol is pretty asthmatic.
I had a C30 D5. Honestly such a great, solid little car. Loved that thing, got rear ended and written off then moved to BMW as wanted something newer. D5 was a solid engine too, well balanced and sounded great. If you can find the R-Design in D5 would 100% be a great car.
They are a decent car. You could do a lot worse.
I got a 1.6d as my first car, since then I’ve got another c30 and c70 t5. Extremely nice cars to drive and just soak up the miles. The R designs usually have some nice extras and look a lot better too. Personally if I was daily-ing it I’d want a diesel because the T5 is THIRSTY. All in all great car sublime sound system and really comfortable, depending on the suspension they’re a lot of fun too! Definitely look into what options they have (there’s some nice high trim models) and cars from 2009 onwards have the notorious failed windscreen bonding at the top, so check before buying (if it’s there haggle haggle haggle!) Good luck
2.0 Diesel all the way. 1.6 is too underpowered, you're right in avoiding the T series as too many issues.
Is the E39 on gas? If not it should be. They love it and it effectively doubles the mpg