Volvo V50, nightmare or decent car?

[jimbo84]

Looking at replacing the rust pile of a corolla, shame as it's bullet proof reliability, just the body is failing.

Been looking at estates, a volvo v50 came up, seems like a decent car, going to look at it in person today.

Petrol as a diesel won't get the use they need. engines seem decent, anybody got experience of the body and rust (it is a ford in a posh coat after all) they seem to be prone to electrical problems, anybody got one or can recommend one or advise avoiding like the plague.

EDIT: forgot to mention, it's a 1.8 petrol 2005, 92,000 on the clock, full service history.

 

[stuvy]

Why not go for another Toyota? You know it will be better than the ovlov for electrical gremlins

 

[jimbo84]

Why not go for another Toyota? You know it will be better than the ovlov for electrical gremlins

There's only the avensis which is a decent sized estate in my budget and theres a limited number of estate versions around and even less when you want a petrol not diesel. Been bitten with the corrosion on the corolla, I suspect toyotas corrosion resistance is pretty poor across the board when you see the underneath of mine, shame as they're brilliant reliability otherwise.

 

[armalites]

It's often mentioned that they are just a Ford but reality is they share some components. There will still be a lot of things that are Volvo.

I've been running V70 for a long time now and the latest is a Mk3 which shares some components with Mondeos but I have to say it is an amazing car. Mine has a 5cyl Volvo engine.

There are little design things in Volvo that seem like obvious common sense but nobody else does. One of the classics is the parking ticket holder, little piece of clear plastic on the windscreen to hold the ticket. Must cost pennies but a very useful addition. Another classic that isn't commonly known if you look at the back of the front seats there are some levers at the bottom that allow the seat fold flat forward so you actually slide the passenger seat back,fold it and slide it forward so it tucks under the dash if you need to carry something long.

My cousin had a diesel V50 and she loved it.

 

[mart]

Looking at replacing the rust pile of a corolla, shame as it's bullet proof reliability, just the body is failing.

Which specific model of the Corolla did you have, and what year?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Have you considered a Skoda Octavia estate ?

 

[jimbo84]

Which specific model of the Corolla did you have, and what year?

It's a 2003 1.4 vvt, hatchback British built. The body (underneath) and pretty much everything bolted to the underside of the car is quite heavily corroded. It started with the inner front wheel arches and there is now a very long list of corrosion advisories at its last MOT.

• Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive both rear inner sills (5.3.6 (a) (i))
• Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive nearside rear trailing arm mounting (5.3.6 (a) (i))
• Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive offside rear trailing arm mounting (5.3.6 (a) (i))
• Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive nearside rear strut top mounting (5.3.6 (a) (i))
• Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive front inner upper wheel arches (5.3.6 (a) (i))

Have you considered a Skoda Octavia estate ?

I'm open to suggestions, just happened to come across the listing for this V50 and liked the look of it and it seemed like a half decent car. I do have some rules though, must be timing chain, manual, not a diesel, tax no more than £230 a year, and most importantly it mustn't rust at an alarming rate, I thought the days of corrosion at MOT time worries were over.

 

[mart]

It's a 2003 1.4 vvt, hatchback British built. The body (underneath) and pretty much everything bolted to the underside of the car is quite heavily corroded. were over.

Ok Jimbo thanks.
I asked because I have the Corolla estate 2006 model, diesel D4D engine. Unsure if the body will go the same as yours in another 3 years.

 

[bigegg]

i bought a 2002 v70 - 2.4 petrol.i've only had it 3? months, but it seems to be pretty good, both for rust and "issues".


its no lexus tho.

 

[stuvy]

There's only the avensis which is a decent sized estate in my budget and theres a limited number of estate versions around and even less when you want a petrol not diesel. Been bitten with the corrosion on the corolla, I suspect toyotas corrosion resistance is pretty poor across the board when you see the underneath of mine, shame as they're brilliant reliability otherwise.

My Rav4 is a 1999 and needed 2 sections on the wheel arch to sill section on its last mot other than that it’s flawlessly reliable when I need to replace it in the future it will be a lwb version auto petrol instead of my swb manual petrol

 

[Rusty]

I’ve worked for Toyota for 22 years and have never heard of any rust issues on post 2000 cars (until now) , don’t know the history of your car but rear coil springs are prone to rust on any car and of course salt water is a killer.
I had a 2000 Toyota Yaris (Japanese Built) for 11 years ,fabulous little car ,sold it to my sister in laws son needed rear springs at the mot this year not a speck of rust anywhere, my Wife drives a 2005 Rav petrol another great car I service it annually, it asks for nothing more (except petrol )

 

[slim_boy_fat]

One of the classics is the parking ticket holder, little piece of clear plastic on the windscreen to hold the ticket.

That's a great tip, I'm sure I have something suitable in a drawer.
Apologies to @jimbo84 for this mini highjack

 

[Keith 66]

You got me worried now, my Corolla is the same model & year!, no corrosion worries so far!
Unlike the 04 Ford focus i had a few years ago, It had come from Wivenhoe & i have a feeling it had lived on Mersea island for a while, that means driving across the Strood causeway regularly up to its nuts & bolts in sea water, that was festering nicely!

 

[dobbslc]

What about the Honda Accord estate? It's a massive car and if you get the 2.0 petrol i-vtec engine its cam chain too! Same lump as the CRV we had and it was bomb proof.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

You got me worried now, my Corolla is the same model & year!, no corrosion worries so far!

Depends to an extent where the previous owner lived - perhaps @jimbo84's chap lived right by the sea...
Unless you're in that category you'll have less to worry about - just keep a check on it occasionally

 

[chris pruteanu]

Old cars in romania used to be protected underneath with a mixture of engine oil and petroleum grease/jelly brushed evenly and thick on the underside... there are old dacia's cars over 40 years old about, looking better than many modern cars underneath ! Not a pleasant task to work on them with all that grease but can be scrapped away with a wire brush and some solvent...

 

[armalites]

I do have some rules though, must be timing chain, manual,

Sadly those days where if it had a timing chain it meant it would last for ever are gone, there are modern cars that have issues with timing chain. BMW,Min,Citroen,Peugeot. The 1.6 petrol unit is very prone to timing chain wear. They aren't too bad to change but only if you catch them before the plastic guides break. When I bought my 2 post lift the garage I bought it from had 5 bays and 3 of them were occupied by timing chain replacements on those engines. BMW N47 diesels have issues too.

 

[jimbo84]

i bought a 2002 v70 - 2.4 petrol.i've only had it 3? months, but it seems to be pretty good, both for rust and "issues".


its no lexus tho.

I did look at the v70, it's a pure volvo too it seems, just the tax kills it for me, I heard the MPG wasn't great either, it seems all the good cars are costly to tax and fuel, they're trying their hardest to cost these old reliable motors off the road.

I’ve worked for Toyota for 22 years and have never heard of any rust issues on post 2000 cars (until now) , don’t know the history of your car but rear coil springs are prone to rust on any car and of course salt water is a killer.
I had a 2000 Toyota Yaris (Japanese Built) for 11 years ,fabulous little car ,sold it to my sister in laws son needed rear springs at the mot this year not a speck of rust anywhere, my Wife drives a 2005 Rav petrol another great car I service it annually, it asks for nothing more (except petrol )

I looked at a few a couple of years back for my mum when she was looking for a new (used) car, mainly yarris's and I was surprised by the amount of rust under them and in the engine bay.

You got me worried now, my Corolla is the same model & year!, no corrosion worries so far!
Unlike the 04 Ford focus i had a few years ago, It had come from Wivenhoe & i have a feeling it had lived on Mersea island for a while, that means driving across the Strood causeway regularly up to its nuts & bolts in sea water, that was festering nicely!

Hopefully I just have a bad one and yours will be ok, great cars otherwise, surprising what you can get in them and never lets me down.

What about the Honda Accord estate? It's a massive car and if you get the 2.0 petrol i-vtec engine its cam chain too! Same lump as the CRV we had and it was bomb proof.

I did have a look at those but they're listed as £325 a year tax

Depends to an extent where the previous owner lived - perhaps @jimbo84's chap lived right by the sea...
Unless you're in that category you'll have less to worry about - just keep a check on it occasionally

Not sure where it came from it's had a fair few owners so a posibility.

Sadly those days where if it had a timing chain it meant it would last for ever are gone, there are modern cars that have issues with timing chain. BMW,Min,Citroen,Peugeot. The 1.6 petrol unit is very prone to timing chain wear. They aren't too bad to change but only if you catch them before the plastic guides break. When I bought my 2 post lift the garage I bought it from had 5 bays and 3 of them were occupied by timing chain replacements on those engines. BMW N47 diesels have issues too.

I have heard some horror stories, particularly with the smaller engines with chains, I believe the bigger ones are still fairly reliable so long as they've been serviced regularly. I swear vehicle development is going backwards not advancing.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I did have a look at those but they're listed as £325 a year tax

That's what I pay for a 3 litre petrol straight six in the BMW - now 16 years old, on 139k miles and still running like clockwork. No rust & passed a fresh MOT this month with no advisories.

 

[jimbo84]

That's what I pay for a 3 litre petrol straight six in the BMW - now 16 years old, on 139k miles and still running like clockwork. No rust & passed a fresh MOT this month with no advisories.

It appears the government site is wrong well there's a surprise, they've made such a mess of vehicle tax rates they themselves can't even get it right. If you use their own tax calculator by entering the reg date, model etc most 2.0ltr vehicles come out in the wrong tax band, quoting a higher annual figure.

Do it by reg and get the c02 emissions then calculate it yourself via the tables and you get the correct rate which is lower. Most 2ltr petrols come out at £260 via the emissions tables do it via date of registration and model etc on the calculator and it'll come out at £325