Faults:

Five light bulbs (front and rear) have needed replacing.

This is a car weighing nearly 1.5 tonnes and accordingly tyre wear is heavy and expensive.

Central locking system failed (repaired under warranty).

Excessive noise from power steering system (repaired under warranty)

General Comments:

This is a very quick car whether using the auto or manual box (mine has geartronic).

It has plenty of room for big dogs and four adults and is a supreme motorway cruiser - very quiet and comfortable.

It is superbly appointed with high quality materials and every conceivable luxury imaginable (although our American friends may dispute the quality of the cup holders)

I am maybe considered a fairly quick driver so fuel consumption is rather heavy at around 24 mpg.

Two thefts resulted in broken side hatch windows which are very expensive to replace when you include the replacement of the surround trim (£540 each time).

Faults:

Controller for the cooling fan failed at 20,000 miles.

General Comments:

The car was extremely comfortable.

Not the best handling car, but it is better than most 4X4's.

But best of all the construction of this car saved me from serious injury when I had a major accident.

Faults:

Moisture in rear lower light cluster.

Pale coloured seats easily show marks.

General Comments:

First impressions are of a soundly-built, smooth car with a high level of comfort.

Not as quick as I expected, but engine is very quiet.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with the car!

General Comments:

I love the Volvo V70 for several reasons.

The first is the comfort of the car for driving. The Volvo seats are superb and excellent for long distance driving. The cabin is cosy and well designed with a clear dash and easy to use controls.

The second reason is the usefulness of the car. The boot is huge and the car can easy cope with 5 adults and luggage.

The third reason is the quality and finish of the car is excellent. The cabin is well screwed together and the external paint finish is fantastic.

Performance is good when the car has warmed up and is at speed, but the Volvo' acceleration can be a little sluggish from traffic lights in urban areas.

Refinement is good and ride quality is good - however the handling of the car is a little unenthusiastic when it comes to bendy roads or high speeds - understeer sets in early and you can feel the chassis flex a little as the car protests such treatment!

Faults:

The cup holder has broken twice.

A bracket holding the front left turn signal light broke (causing the light to pop out of the front grille area and dangle by the electric line).

The seat belts often don't retract fully (which caused the buckle to poke a hole in the door leather when the door was closed).

The cover for the driver's seat adjustment controls has broken twice and keeps falling off.

The button on the gear shift lever kept sticking and had to be replaced.

The windshield wiper fluid pump needed replacement.

Plastic covers which cover where the front seats are attached to the floor board near the back seat keep falling off. The carpet-like upholstery keeps pulling out from under the plastic moulding near the passenger side door.

Some kind of flap valve associated with the air conditioning/outside vent switching doesn't close properly (which causes the air conditioner to pull in outside hot air even on recirculation (in Texas, not good)).

Some kind of coating has begun to peel off the front and rear bumpers (Volvo says it's my problem because the paint is only warrantied for one year).

General Comments:

Too much time spent at the dealership.

I can't believe that for a garage-kept car with only 23,000 miles, that the paint (or whatever kind of coating) is already peeling off the bumpers (ridiculous for a $40,000 car).