Volvo V70 mk3 - king of the waft wagons?

The Volvo V70 was one of the biggest and dare I say, comfiest estate cars on the market. If you need to move a wardrobe full of meatballs there might be no better way to do it.

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[arieplomp]

I’am a proud owner of a v70 t6 awd ! And the 6 stands for 6 proper cylinders! Every time when i sit behind the I can’t surpress a smile! Especially when I press the gas pedal and hear the strait six roar! You realy miss that in the v90 ! Before the v70 I drove a s60 2.4t whit the lovely 5cilinder roar! Nice video Matt! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🆙

[kiyosaru]

I drove 250, 000 km per year for quite a while as a taxi driver in Sweden in these things. It did feel like a proper oil tanker sometimes but the cavernous boot and the seats made up for it. And being in Sweden, most people preferred getting into the back seat of these instead of a Merc or a Skoda or something. Volvos these days are something completely different, for better and worse.

[liamsmith]

I’ve just sold my 2010 S80 D3 2 litre which is the same 5 cylinder diesel that’s just been de-stroked with a different crank. It was on 144000 miles of which I done 25000 and it never put a foot wrong, it never missed a beat. I only changed because of the introduction of the LEZ crap in Glasgow.

[graemepryke]

I’m running a P3 based XC60 with the 2.4 5pot diesel engine. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Had a mk1 V70 years ago which was flawless. My current has just shy of 180, 000 miles on it in just 10 years. You are welcome to review it if you would like? I’m not far from you and could make the car available when convenient. I just love a car that can have this much use and still have every feature still work.

[robinrai]

crazy to me how *the* estate car company no longer makes estates!

[worldofrandometry]

That's got to be a mistake from Volvo. Their estates are iconic. SUVs are so ten a penny now.

[volvo]

V actually stands for "Vagn" which is Swedish for (station) wagon. The car is really a Ford Mondeo underneath, with many components having FoMoCo stamped on them. I have found the handling of the standard chassis pretty sharp compared to the standard P2 (and WAY sharper than the 850), thanks to Mondeo underpinnings.
The UK only got diesels for this model, the rest of the world also got petrols, up to 6 cilinder engines which ironically were built in Bridgend. The lineup is extremely confusing, because it depends on model year which engine and gearbox combo you may have in the car.
I have been driving a Swedish import V70 with 2 litre Mazda engine for over 6 years now. 145 hp without turbo makes the V70 feel very underpowered and noisy. It is however the most comfortable, roomy, ergonomical, reliable and safe car you can buy for the money. We've been to the UK with it, had to flip a lever inside the Xenon headlight assembly to switch from right to left hand traffic. And it runs on E85 which is very cheap in France. Never had such a good all purpose car. Sadly Volvo is no longer focusing on European markets, so we will have to make do with what Chinese customers want: bloated SUVs. 😢

[TOMLINBISH]

I just don't get the craze for crossovers which have a higher driving position but tiny boot space compared to a conventional estate car! 🙄

[gdwlaw]

I owned two V70 D5’s and both purchased new to transport product samples all over southern France. A Manual and last one was the geartronic with 185 bhp engine. 300.000 in the manual and I did 385.000 kms in the geartronic. I Still got a good price for it! quite a few mechanical things to watch out for. The cambelt change at 160.000 is a big job and water pump is changed at same time. The cable you discovered in central storage box is in fact the optional apple iPod cable. I paid a couple of hundred euros for this option too. I work mostly from home now and use public transport to visit clients when possible. Volvo dealers won’t sell you an equivalent car these days. Even ten years ago they suddenly started selling lease cars and refused to part-exchange anything with more than 150.000. I was still a client when Volvo was sold to Geely. If you can find a reliable independent mechanic then This car is great and Volvos have a nice discrete image. Be warned about the cambelt costs as it can exceed a thousand…..

[andrewlamont]

Biggest motoring mistake I ever made was letting my 2014 S80 D5 go. It was a late bi turbo (215bhp)with all the toys. Traded it for a Polestar 2 which is also epic but I miss the noises and it’s squidgy comfy suspension and seats.

[GentilsGarage]

I seriously considered buying one of these, but the petrol manual. That interior is lovely and so well designed. Love the burgundy colour too

[tomwinch]

The car I regret selling the most was a 1998 V70XC, officially a 2.5T, though it was only 2435cc (back in the days companies could lie about engine size!) with allegedly 190hp - it was quick, an effortless motorway cruiser and handled predictably when pushed
Only averaging 18mpg was rather painful though!
The D5 must make more sense, though only came out with the P2 model (earlier diesels were somewhat low on power imo)
Great review Matt, thanks for bringing back good memories!

[njuham]

It's like a Bang & Olufsen on wheels!

[nakoma]

"SIPS for you hips" xD

Volvo made one of the most beautiful, practical station wagons with this generation V70. The instrument dials are a work of art, and a real stunner in R Design spec too.

[johneisen]

I picked up a P2 Volvo V70 2001 140 bhp 2.4 last year due to ulez. It's got 40k on the clock. It's the best car I have ever bought and I love it!

[WestfieldFreshAir]

I've had a D3 163 for the past 3.5 years. Great car, massive space, comfortable, nice 5 cylinder warble when you extend it, and over 60 mpg you take it easy on a long journey with a 70l tank. I wouldn't say it rolls any more than a 5 series either, but it's no sports car. I had to get one.

[volvo]

By the way, the font inside the car on the buttons and dials is Handel Gothic, the same font as what has been used in many Star Trek credits (at least in Voyager)

Volvo Broad (officially called Volvo Novum) is used on their marketing and communications. It looks a lot like Handel Gothic but is different.

[Everything_Evan]

We have a 12 plate one of these on our fleet it's good but doesn't have the solid feel like the older 850s, lots of electrical issues aswell but the parts did say Ford on them.

[williamkennedy]

The T5 was the top dog ! I owned two 740s one 850 one V70 and a 460 all did what it said on the box great cars

[mikedavis]

Proud 216000-mile v70 owner. Wonderful car, a real pleasure to drive. Currently Gong on the sound system,