2005 Volvo V50 - Good, Bad, or Meh

"Sprinty" (1985sprinty)
05/21/2019 at 21:10 • Filed to: None

A good friend is looking for a smaller suv/wagon with AWD and decent MPGS around $6-$7K and he said he’s looking at a 2005 Volvo V50 T5 AWD wagon. It sounds like it’s a 1 owner car with around 100,000 miles and a recent timing belt change.
Any things he should check out with this car? Is it a pain to get parts since it’s Swedish?

Here’s the actual car:

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As always, thanks for any recommendations about this!

DISCUSSION (14)

Khalbali > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 21:29

Dunno other than I want one, I know somebody here just got one not too long ago, same color and everything, hopefully they chime in I can't remember who off the top of my head.

CompactLuxuryFan > Khalbali
05/21/2019 at 21:31

Future Heap Owner!

CompactLuxuryFan > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 21:33

Seems well priced!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 21:40

FutureHeapOwner owns that very car. A couple months in and only one thing has broken!

cberg > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 21:44

Very very good. I drive a blue one, parts are in easy supply. I would hold out for a manual one. Not sure about the 5 speed auto but my 6 speed AWD one gets 36 highway MPG when I’m not in boost. I’ve put over 30k very hard miles on mine & never been stranded once.

functionoverfashion > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 22:29

Those are great, my wife had the sedan version and put 140k on it with only a few little issues that wouldn’t keep me from recommending it to anyone.

Future Heap Owner > cberg
05/21/2019 at 22:42

Hold up, 36 highway mpg?! I barely get 28. I’ve only used premium (92), tho. For my next multiple-tank road trip, I’ll be trying regular.

Future Heap Owner > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 22:56

Hi! I bought exactly this car three months ago (though with the six-speed manual). I’ve been very pleased with it: it’s much more comfortable and sportier than my last car, and the MPG are decent (19-20 for full city driving, 27-28 full highway). It corners super flat; I’ve taken it around twisties at 20 or so over, to the point of inducing a tiny amount of oversteer, with almost no body roll. The boost is very satisfying when I open it up on an on-ramp.

A very common failure in these is the rear bearings. Mine were replaced at around 90k miles. If this one hasn’t had those replaced, it may be something to watch out for.

My has refused to start on me once (the weekend before last, on the Oppo Cruise) because the steering column lock jammed open. We were able to get it to start and I drove the ~4 00 miles back home without issue (never taking the key out of the ignition), but if a bunch of Oppos weren’t around I would have been stranded. I chose to take the workaround route of removing the lock rather than replacing it, but replacing probably would have been around $800. This failure mode is common enough that Volvo did away with the lock a few model years later.

My car does need the cam seals replaced soon-ish, because they’re leaking oil, but that’s the only thing the shop mentioned to me when I brought it in for an oil change the other week.

If I had known all I know now, would I have still bought the car? Heck yeah.

Feel free to ask me any other questions you or your buddy have!

Future Heap Owner > Future Heap Owner
05/21/2019 at 22:58

Oh, also, when I called the shop to get a quote on replacing the steering lock, I asked if they needed to order the part, and they said that if they didn’t have any, someone in town would and they could get it same day (this is in Portland, OR). So parts availability doesn’t seem like an issue.

CobraJoe > Sprinty
05/21/2019 at 23:47

We had an ‘07 non-turbo a few years ago, it was an amazing little car. Solidly built, extremely reliable, pretty fun to drive even in non-turbo form.

We sold it to upsize to a crossover, and I wish we kept the V50 a little longer.

SpeedSix > Future Heap Owner
05/22/2019 at 01:51

If premium is recommended, the engine will probably deliver (a little) more power, return (slightly) better fuel economy, and run a little smoother, since the ignition timing can be advanced to where the engineers intended it to be, without risking knocking.

cberg > Future Heap Owner
05/22/2019 at 21:29

Well I did say off boost; when I drive like an automatic Volvo driver on cruise control in 6th the little V50 is nearly as efficient as the NA 2.5 5 cylinders.

Simple airflow/exhaust mods & a chip up to 240+ hp should actually move me a little closer to 40MPG. They’re very smooth highway cars.

cberg > cberg
05/22/2019 at 21:30

For what it’s worth, all the automatic Volvos I’ve ever driven were geared very nicely. Also, only run these cars on 91 octane or more.

Future Heap Owner > cberg
05/22/2019 at 23:21

What speed are you going at? I leave it in 6th on the highway going between 70 and 80, often in cruise control. This puts my RPMs around 2.2k - 2.5k. I didn’t pay much attention to my OBD boost gauge, tho.