Jumping ship for a hybrid Volvo?

[guydewdney]

The E300 failed its MOT on significant front subframe welding, and a few advisories on rubber bushes etc etc. the C isnt much better.

Im bored of lying under cars getting oily, and the mrs cant help (wheelchair bound) so am thinking of jumping ship to a V60 hybrid Volvo - the leccy plug in diesel estate.

if the mrs buys it and gets it adapted for her, then theres no vat to pay - thats 8 grand off.... then theres 5 grand govt incentive thingy - then theres almost no (no?) road tax / VED to pay - and 155mpg....

Most of our journeys are max 15miles round trip - which it will do on 100% leccy - which is free when you have a sodding gert bank of solar panels and water wheel stuck on the side of the house....

Our next regular journey is 50 miles round trip - to the next big town - often a little more - 75 or so. All country lanes / small A road - so very variable speed and hilly - so the leccy will run out (30 mile range in pure leccy) - but this doesnt give it time to do the DPF thing (which aparently needs a motorway type journey to clean it)

Next - one a week swmbo plays basketball - involving a reasonable motorway run, after getting to the motorway (25+ miles of wiggly roads, then 35 miles of M-way) - is this enough to clean this dpf thingy?

Any comments re volvo these days - I learnt to drive in a 940 turbo estate and the next series wernt as well built - how are they now?

Guy

 

[flango]

We run 2 Volvos a V70 and a C30 build quality is fine ergonomics are still the best of any car now Saab is no longer. I don't think they are in the build quality class of the 940 and 850 era and my Gen 2 V70 was better screwed together than this Gen 3 V70. I'm well into double figures for Volvo ownership and never had an issue with any of them. I sometime swap with a collegaue who has a V60 when he needs a bigger car and its a fine machine and the only reason I didnt buy it was I needed the carrying capacity of the V70. I'm sure if you get the hybrid it will perform fine

 

[Piff]

Had a C30 1.6 DRIVe for a couple of years until this spring no problems up to 3 yrs old. Had an S80 before that for about a year, that was a 3-4 yr old car. Generally no problem until the phone module died & the main dealer wanted £1800 to fix. Argued the toss with them as it was an ex Volvo staff car & had full Volvo history. Ended up paying £1000.
Generally servicing a bit pricey but no worse than MB.
Well equipped cars and both of ours were ex Volvo staff cars with extra toys.

 

[guydewdney]

Well - picked up the ovloV(as they are known in some motorcyclist circles) V60 Hybrid PHEV at lunchtime. 1/4 tank diesel, 27 miles of battery life left showing.

Reset trips.

Drove from taunton to Minehead - about 25 miles, as carefully as I could, keeping the speed down to under 50, predicting braking as much as possible, maintaining speed through corners etc - doing my best to get the best mpg I could. The computer registers it as 55mpg at the end - using 'save' mode on the battery. Battery is still used as the engine has a stop-start technology, and uses the battery to pull off from standstill. By the time I got home, I now had 24 miles of battery.

The wife tries to get her basketball wheelchair in the back - and we can, but its a struggle, and will end up damaging the headlining without a doubt. Also tried getting it in the rear seats - also very difficult - it a big thing and awkward shaped. This was 90% a deal breaker for us. Then I put her day chair in the boot - again very awkward due to the extra battery in the boot floor and the small boot opening. This is no W210!

Off for a drive in 'pure' mode- ie battery only. The 5 miles to minehead, via a long steepish hill, round a housing estate, into the supermarket x 2, bit more high street driving, and back home - 6 miles left on battery. This drive was done 'normally' with little regard for economy, but still driving gently.

Dashboard is cool - and user configurable to different styles showing various differnt information. The sides have eco displays showing battery / diesel usage and levels.

Seat was comfey. Quiet. Not as quiet as I was expecting. Boot is saloon size, I think my W140 CL boot was bigger in volume.

Trying a Beemer battery thing in a fortnight.

 

[wemorgan]

The wife tries to get her basketball wheelchair in the back - and we can, but its a struggle, and will end up damaging the headlining without a doubt. Also tried getting it in the rear seats - also very difficult - it a big thing and awkward shaped. This was 90% a deal breaker for us. Then I put her day chair in the boot - again very awkward due to the extra battery in the boot floor and the small boot opening. This is no W210!

The Honda Civic has its fuel tank under the front seats. This frees up a lot of space for the rear seats. The seat base can fold up independently leaving a very deep load space. Maybe with a try.

 

[IanA2]

....then theres almost no (no?) road tax / VED to pay - and 155mpg....

Guy

If SWMBO is in receipt of the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA (to which she is clearly entitled) then one car of any band is gratis.