My New Car

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SimonsMerc

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 3, 2004
Messages
1,147
Location
Sudbury, West London
Car
Merc S212 E350 CDI BlueEfficiency Sport 256bhp, Suzuki GSX-650F, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Dynamic
I never did get the BMW running on LPG, so I've decided to swap it for a Diesel Engined car to use as my daily runaround for work. The BMW was relatively fuel efficient on the motorway (can't complain at 38-40mpg at 70mph on a two tonne car with a 2.8 litre straight six engine!), but around town it was much less good.

Ideally I wanted to get a a C220cdi, but it wasn't possible to get one with all the toys (really just COMAND and leather) within my budget, even with high mileage. So, for the princely sum of £4500, I have purchased a five year old Volvo S60 D5 SE, with Satellite Navigation (with TMC), Television and GSM phone built in. It's a lovely car, I've driven it around and it's very smooth. It's having a service/mot/etc today, and I pick her up this evening :)

-simon
 

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The inside

Inside it looks like this:
 

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Looks nice. I used to own a Volvo S80 and it was a lovely car. had the most comfortable seats of anything I've ever owned. a real ncie way to get around.
mind you, mine wasn't exactly fuel efficient :)
 
Volvo used to offer a dual fuel version of the S60 but I don't think they sold many. I liked the elegant design of their interior and their comfortable seats but the early one I drove had very hard suspension. I think the later ones had revised settings. Nice colour hope you enjoy your new wheels.
 
That's trade price for an 80k S60 SE on 53 plates. Well done!
Going by the state of the pedals I guess that's about the mileage yours has done. ;)
 
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Great buy I had a V70 T5 one of the best cars I have owned, it had to go though did 124,000 miles in 2 1/2 years and it never missed a beat and apart from routine servicing it never had a spanner on it. Good luck and enjoy
 
That's trade price for an 80k S60 SE on 53 plates. Well done!
Going by the state of the pedals I guess that's about the mileage yours has done. ;)

Not *quite* that good a deal! Mine has 119k on the dial. But, it's having the timing belt done today (I have a stamped service history with most receipts but not the 96k one, and since there is no proof I'm insisting on a CAM belt change), the engine is very smooth indeed, and it's a one owner car (owned by a conveyancer in the home counties, who drove it 100 miles a day for work). I think I got a great deal :)

According to the most accurate internet source I've seen for car valuations, the car is worth about 3.5k trade or 5.8k retail.

http://www.freecarvaluations.co.uk/car-valuation-106822.htm

But also bear in mind that it's almost impossible to get such a highly specced one at that price.

All in all, I'm pretty happy (especially when I look at the on board computer and it's showing an average of 51.9mpg over the last 1000 miles).

-simon
 
Congrats, looks like a nicely specced example :)

I had an 'S' version of the same vintage, was a great cruiser and without doubt the most comfortable car I have ever owned... Not to mention lovely growl and torque from the motor.

When I got my current steed, I passed the D5 on to my old man who was having back trouble with the seats in his Focus, he hasn't complained since - nuff said :D Its about to roll over to 100k and still runs sweet as a nut. I wish I could 'borrow' it back sometimes ;)
 
*sigh* Just found out that the Service, Cambelt change and MOT will not be finished today, and I won't get the car until Monday Evening :-(

Oh well, I guess it's probably best to get it done properly than to rush it!

-simon
 
is the satnav the one where the controls are a cursor pad and 2 buttons on the right back of the steering wheel? That's what I had on my S80 and I thought it was a brilliant idea. full control over the nav system and your hands never leave the wheel.

dave
 
is the satnav the one where the controls are a cursor pad and 2 buttons on the right back of the steering wheel? That's what I had on my S80 and I thought it was a brilliant idea. full control over the nav system and your hands never leave the wheel.

dave

It is indeed. I tried using it earlier and it's superb. Also, as you can see from the second photo, the screen is in the perfect position - you can glance at it without taking your eyes off the road, much better than the majority of built-in sat navs!

Can't wait till tomorrow :)
 
It is indeed. I tried using it earlier and it's superb. Also, as you can see from the second photo, the screen is in the perfect position - you can glance at it without taking your eyes off the road, much better than the majority of built-in sat navs!

Can't wait till tomorrow :)

yeah, the volvo satnav wasn't bad. no postcode on my one though, which sucked, but I thought the controls were excellent.

is yours the CD satnav? with the 6 cd satnav changer? if so, I might have the france 2 cd set somewhere if you fancy it? it'll be a few years old (like 2001) but hey.

dave
 
It's actually the newer DVD based RTI system with TMC (and full postcode routing). Many thanks for the offer though!

-simon
 
ahh well, it was worth offering just in case.

I look forward to your review of the car when you get to drive it for a while :)
 
That interior brings back memories. Can I recommend to you the Rica remap...

My S60 served me well, petrol 2.0T with 225bhp and no ill effects.
 
The seats in all Volvo's are among the best in the world. They use orthopediac (is that the word?) experts to design them.

My S80 had wide and "wow" factor seats. The V70 had sport seats which were great!

An S80 rental car in Sweden once had the wide Sport Seats, which to me, were the BEST seats I have ever had the pleasure in putting my behind in! Full soft leather too!

The leather alone on a standard Volvo is the same quality you get on the MB Nappa seats!
 
I've had the car now for a few days, and it's absolutely superb. I am *so* glad I chose it over the C class and BMW 3 series! Highly recommend it to anyone looking for a medium saloon car.

Only two complaints are ones I knew about beforehand - turning circle is large, and rear visibility is relatively poor. I'll be fitting parking sensors to sort the second of these out.

-simon
 

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