Faults:

Power Steering Rack has leaked - had to replace o-rings and seals within the rack.

Turn signal switch sometimes does not "hold" when turning.

Some plastic interior trim pieces have broken/come loose such as the door lock tab bezels.

The rear left reversing bulb holder has stopped working - apparently an issue in these cars.

The auto-dimming rear view mirror started leaking internally, necessitating the installation of an aftermarket reverse camera and mirror.

General Comments:

We bought this car used in 2019 for $5,000 as a replacement for the beautiful but ultimately unreliable Audi A4 1.8T with Multitronic.

We were looking for a car that was good to take on long, out of town trips. In an archipelagic country like the Philippines, journeys of 300km can take as long as 5 hours due to mountainous terrain and B-roads through towns that cannot be bypassed.

The Volvo suit the bill perfectly - I have never ridden in a car with such comfortable seats. They fit people of varying widths and heights like a glove. Even relief drivers had no problem adjusting to the car.

The car is the perfect highway cruiser with low NVH and a 5-speed selectable automatic gearbox that allows you to cruise at 2,100 RPM at 100 km/h.

On the sometimes cracked and eroded concrete roads of the Philippines, the 215 65 16 tires, 20cm ride height and reinforced suspension give the Volvo a ride supple enough to glide over imperfections without wallowing.

Legroom in both the first and second rows is excellent, as is the cargo area. Having a vertical tailgate and a rectangular loading area makes it easy to load a lot of bags.

As for ownership and maintenance - it seems power steering leaks are common with S60s/V70s of this era (the P2 generation). Make sure you check for any leaks before buying one. Otherwise, routine maintenance done by an independent mechanic has been reasonable, with no unexpected breakdowns.

On the highway, I get 12km/l from the 5-cylinder, 2.5T engine. Considering that comes with 210 PS and 320 NM of torque, that's not bad at all. City fuel economy averages around 8km/l, which is also not bad at all.

For someone who needs a car that can do everything - carry loads of cargo, serve as a long-distance cruiser, and is usable enough for densely packed cities, I would pick the XC70 to do all of those things.

Faults:

Electronic issues right from the beginning: warning messages appearing, mostly of the intimidating kind (Anti-skid, Brakes, ABS not working). There was a pattern in it, but this didn’t quite help the mechanics in the shops. Sometimes the car wouldn’t (re)start!

The air con tends to excessively cool down the driver’s cab. I felt the temperature sensor in the dashboard to be too hot (wrong position, a design flaw) - but then again, if it was only this!…

General Comments:

The car handles and behaves well, and is mechanically sound.

Only thing that makes it sort of a lemon is the electronics. Had it many times at the car dealer - it usually wouldn’t take long before I had the same problem again. Becoming ever worse lately. Finally a year ago, they thought that they had found the problem: new software loaded on the ABS/brake-computer. Too bad it worked only for a while before getting back to the old routine. Now it seems clear what the solution could be: All considered it took them over 2 years to figure out that the piece itself might be defective. I find out by myself that this piece is prone to failure (found a DIY-manual published on the website motor-talk.de, German language, which also refers to other people having done it). Warranty?! Rather a design flaw, I’d say!

I refused the offer of having it repaired - simply couldn’t trust them anymore. I’d have a lot to tell, I have written several letters and made even more telephone calls - to both the Italian importer and company HQ in Sweden. I - that is my car - got the best attention from a Volvo dealer in Switzerland. By courtesy of the Swiss importer I have to say (way better than the Italian branch) who substantially contributed to the investigation of the flaw.

I understand that nowadays no car is flawless anymore. So what it all comes down to today is good service marks from the dealers up to the car company itself! Volvo doesn’t really care about that point. OK, there was no warranty on the car any more. But then one buys a car not for that - you want a car that works! OK, they did answer my correspondence, but by always handing it down to the local level (the importer…). Other manufacturers don’t! Or at the same time they brief the local representatives on what to do and at least give technical support.

Anyway - Volvo has lost me as a customer: they’ve become an overrated manufacturer relying on their fame among people. “Heja Volvo”, Come on Volvo! they used to say…

Two things on my behalf:

if somebody wants my log of the car’s problems, there is no problem. Post a reply.

I would be prepared to file a lawsuit against Volvo - anyone with similar problems interested?