Considering a C30, thoughts?

"Long Live the Longdoor" (victoryred08)
04/14/2015 at 20:37 • Filed to: Car Buying, Volvo C30

So in my ever changing opinion on what car I should buy as my next car next year, I had a new thought; what about a Volvo C30? I've always really liked the looks of them and had them written off once they went out of production in 2013; but recent posts on here have reminded me of how much I loved the C30.

I can probably pick one up CPO next year; though as I found out through some research, finding a manual is going to be a bit of a chore. What say you Oppo, any experiences with the C30 or the 2.5T Volvo engine?

DISCUSSION (17)

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 20:39

I always liked them. It was essentially the generation Focus that we did not get.

jkm7680 > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 20:47

Not too many manual examples of them out there. It was a sort of funky box though from what I've heard though.

For Sweden > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 20:48

Volvo or ban

FromCanadaWithLove > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 20:50

Love them. Great looking, very fast, dead reliable (it's an EU Ford Focus/Mazda 3 underneath). If I were a downer, I'd say they're not the best handling car, and the transmissions aren't the best, but I'm not so you have my support.

I drove a 2.4i C30 and T5 S40 R-Design (which I should have bought. Those are rare, here.). Both engines were great, but the T5 is obviously the one to have.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 21:07

A neighbor of mine has one, never seen it out for long periods being fixed or anything, cool retro P1800 rear window. I like them, would be cool to make quick, no idea what they are like to drive.

nafsucof > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 21:20

they are a great drive though small inside and the handling is a bit soft for my taste. 1/2 of that is fixable.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 21:21

I love em! get a Polestar time and you'll have fun. The cpo has an awesome 7 year 100k mile warranty which is great too.

Dad has a 12 S60 which we love

Orange Exige > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 21:23

I'd love to have one - best looking hatch in America. I actually forgot about these and how much I'd love one until I recently saw one the other week online... unfortunately realizing how close they are, but still too far from how much I want to spend on my next car :(

Long Live the Longdoor > FromCanadaWithLove
04/14/2015 at 21:30

Great! Thanks for the feedback! From everything I've ever read, it all seems to point towards reliability. You might be right re: the handling and the transmission. However, I'm driving a Chevrolet Cobalt ATM; so ya, the bar is very low.

I remember, years ago, seeing a red S40 which some dope stock rims; it must have been an R-Design. Though it never really occurred to me that there was a R-Design S40; did it come with a manual?

I don't know what it is, but I'm really excited by the idea of buying the C30.

Long Live the Longdoor > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/14/2015 at 21:42

Agreed, the CPO warranty just adds some extra peace of mind. I've actually looked at the polestar tunes, a little pricey but cool that they don't really change the mileage and mesh perfectly fine with any warranty work.

I love the S60; fine cars. Plus, it has a button to drop the rear headrests to hit unsuspecting rear passengers... how is that not an awesome feature?

Long Live the Longdoor > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
04/14/2015 at 21:51

That rear window harkening back to the P1800 is just great; gorgeous design and improved visibility = a win in my books! They sound awesome with an aftermarket exhaust too:

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 22:17

my next car hopefully will be a c70 cpo

And hey! When you are victim to those folding headrests like my sister and I are, they lose charm quickly!!!

Long Live the Longdoor > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/14/2015 at 22:34

There is a C70 that lives a couple blocks over from me; they're pretty nice. What engines does it come with? Wasn't it auto only?

Lol, I guess I hadn't thought of that that way. I imagine that it's something like this:

Kinja'd!!!

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Long Live the Longdoor
04/14/2015 at 22:51

the last gen ones (post facelift) were a 5 cylinder turbo. 6 speed auto was all you could get. But the prefacelift hardtop model could have a 6 speed manual. But they are virtually non-existent. Carmax oddly enough has one with the manual.

Long Live the Longdoor > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/14/2015 at 23:25

Funny you should mention it, I did a search on Volvo Canada's website the other day, and there was one CPO C30 manual in all of Canada and it is like 1000 miles from me... I'm going to have an interesting time trying to find one. Though, hopefully next year they'll get a bunch of lease returns at the 3 year mark *fingers crossed*.

boxrocket > Long Live the Longdoor
04/15/2015 at 01:03

Don't forget the CarMax option instead of CPO.

My local one had a black one with the 2.5 and a stick for like $14K, compared to about $11K for a similar Mazda with the 2.3 and a $9K Focus (US-spec, same year) with the 2.0 (I think) all with similar mileage.

I, personally, would rather have the V50, but I'm a wagon fiend. Of course, I'm selling my 1990 760 wagon and bought a Mazda6 sedan, mostly to please the wife's automotive sensibilities.

Spenc27 > Long Live the Longdoor
04/23/2015 at 22:40

It depends on how long you keep it. The warrantee from the dealership will run out after a few years so be prepared when you need to repair it, it is a Volvo and will bring luxury maintenance with it. That being said, it is certainly an interesting car and one I personally like. It is heavier and a little less communicative compared to a mazdaspeed 3 for instance but you gain in build quality and luxury appointments. Resale value will probably be okay, they seem to be holding value decently, but it may go down in the future since the C30 left production in 2012. Getting parts should not be an issue either.