Volvo XC70 (2007 - 2016) D5 (215bhp) SE Nav (06/13-) 5d Geartronic Owner Review

D5 (215bhp) SE Nav (06/13-) 5d Geartronic
Volvo 2013 XC70

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In their own words

It's all the car you'll ever need really and the discounts from the dealerships are insane. I paid 23k for an 12 month old 48k car with 10k miles on the clock with every gadget available. I worry about the huge number of electronic gadgets in the long run and a complicated chipped screen cost £2k to replace (insurance job) but that's just the reality of a modern highly specified exec car. Comfortable, fairly quiet, very powerful, quite economical and some outstanding safety features. In the slightly jacked up AWD XC models you trade some ride comfort for the all wheel drive benefits and the surprisingly handy few inches of ride height. You see these driven around by people in tweed and they often have massive mileages. I'm a petrolhead who normally goes for high performance cars but I totally understand this Volvo. Its just a really nice, useful car to own. The german equivalents probably do must things a 'bit better' but they have a voracious appetite for expensive parts and image problems. I would have cited the E-Class as the alternative but we ran an E200 and the reliability was appalling. The new Volvo estate is even better and trounces the opposition. There's no XC version yet. Unusually this is a car I'll keep a long time.

How reliable do you find the car?

I was warned of niggling faults when I bought the car but it's actually been fault free despite reasonably demanding use. Everything feels extremely solid and well put together.

Does the car do everything you expected it to do?

I bought the car for comfort and space. The economy has surprised me, it's possible to get 600miles on a 70l tank. The car has huge torque, AWD and a smooth and effective gearbox. It is effortlessly fast off the mark and never wants for more power. I came from an S Class so it's inevitable the ride is less comfortable but even so the car wallows and its choppier than I expected. I'm hoping to fix this at the tyre change.
  • How they rated it

  • Reliability: 5 out of 5 5.0
  • Meets Expectations: 5 out of 5 5.0
  • Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 5.0
  • Mr Tweed recommends this car

About their car

  • Fuel type Diesel
  • When purchased November 2015
  • Condition when bought Used
  • Current Mileage 35,000 miles
  • Average MPG 38 mpg