Faults:

Door Locks replaced under warranty.

Warped rear discs, replaced under warranty. These caused horrendous vibration above 65 mph and nearly made me sell the car after only 6 months of ownership. Volvo dealer excellent, especially compared to several previous Peugeot dealers. They could not do enough to help.

Electric windows fixed twice under warranty.

Accelerator cable replaced under warranty.

Drive-shaft gaiter failed at 5 years one month (one month out of warranty). Volvo dealer paid all labour costs.

Battery lasted 6 years.

Near side front wheel bearing replaced at 115000 miles.

Front discs replaced at 115000 miles.

General Comments:

An excellent family wagon. Supremely comfortable, reasonably quick, very quiet and massive.

I get 33 mpg most of the time, the lowest ever was 28.5 running at 95 to 105 mph in France. That's fantastic for a 2.5 even if it isn't the best accelerating car.

Early faults were annoying, but warranty covered everything without a quibble. Since then it's been utterly reliable save for the recent wear and tear replacements. It has NEVER failed to complete a journey.

Should last another 120k if I look after it.

Faults:

Air Conditioning gradually became less efficient and is now not working.

Rear washer inoperative.

Air flow meter has a fault which shows up as an engine management fault on the dashboard display. This shuts the engine down to "Get you home" mode, i.e. about 60 horse power. My local dealer was unable to fix it and suggested that the only course of action was a new air flow meter. I decided to investigate, stripped it out of the air cleaner and cleaned the sensor with petrol and a camel hair brush. This was entirely successful and has to be repeated about every 20,000 miles. I can do it now in about 20 minutes!

Interior tailgate trim now getting loose and needs some new clips.

In the hands of the previous owner the cambelt snapped at 73,000 miles and did £2500 worth of damage to the engine. Volvo say it will do 80,000 miles before a change is due, but the same engine in an Audi, the belt is changed at 60,000 miles. I do mine at 60K!

Bottom crankshaft pulley oil seal now weeping oil slightly.

General Comments:

Having owned the old 940 SE diesel estate which did 215000 miles with no trouble I decided to keep with Volvo and get the V70 for increased performance and handling.

This car is driven seriously quickly and always returns 42-43 mpg.

The mid range overtaking performance is fantastic and high speed cruising comfortable and quiet. You really can have your cake and eat it with this car.

Seats are heated and beautifully comfortable, I never get backache in driving even 400 miles per day.