i need opinions on your ownership experience Topic is solved

[dikidera]

In 2023 a 2003 car is strictly for enthusiasts, who are willing to dump their time and money into a new toy.

Not really so. In my country, cars which are '99 are being sold and bought all the time. People just cannot afford much newer than that. Not to mention they always go for LPG cars as well. So it could be a 1.6 90hp motor(whatever car) but it must have LPG to cut the gas costs even more.

Particularly for Volvo, they are indeed expensive to maintain, nor are they particularly efficient in terms of fuel consumption.

[Krons]

One item I should add, is in my experience the paint holds up very well on the P2s, no rust on my cars with two spending their life in Iowa with plenty of salt.

The black plastic trim does fade terribly on the earlier P2s, my 08 S60 has all painted trim which is better.

[ADent]

Love my P2. Bit of a problem child compared to my redblocks.

Really nice to have (cheap) VIDA/DICE available - if nothing else to reset the airbag lights.

[hu5ker555]

2008 S60 2.5T with 220k.

This is my second P2 Volvo, son has had two also. When you stick to one particular make/model/variant, you learn what to look for and the maintenance required to keep problems at bay. I plan to run this one until all 4 wheels fall off. It's been running like a top and I do most of the work myself. At the shop, I've had the timing belt replaced once, some of the front suspension parts, and that's about it. Change the oil with synthetic very frequently. It's been a great vehicle, and when it's ready to go to the fertilizer pit, I may try to find another P2 hopefully with low miles. And many thanks to all the great people on this forum who have bailed me out so often. Be kind to these good folks.

[yanga001]

Pretty straight forward. Besides a 3rd gen Odyssey, I am considering an 03-04 v70, s60, or xc70 (this one less likely). I have heard that Volvo's reputation went down with the addition of computers. If its a turbo, I plan to put in 87 or 89 gas; cant afford to keep up with 91/93. I owned an 01 v70 but other than the trans slipping (common problem) I dont recall my experience.

What is your opinion on these cars based on your ownership? Should I plan on sinking money into them? Are bulb and computer issues common?

Wanted to hit a few nails here.

I came in a similar situation of p80 -> broken p80 -> looking for a new car. I ended up with a very very nice 08 S60 2.5T with 150k miles on it. Sure it is smaller than my wagon, however the interiors i found were a lot nicer in the one i have.

The engine reminds me of the 99-00 2.3T and 2.4T engines, and the later years (06,07,08,09) seem to be the most sorted in terms of transmissions from what i gathered. I was told by my indy that the engines hit the shitter with the P3 engines or B5254T3's. The B5254T2's seem to be pretty robust and easy to wrench on.

There are more electrical components and you will need a good code scanner/VIDA. I am getting away with some foxwell one with the Volvo liscense which has allowed me to pretty much control and reset everything. I currently run 91 in it, but it didnt have an issue with 87 which was what the previous owner ran.

The suspension on these were updated to be a bit more serviceable compared to P80's. Parts are a hell of a lot cheaper it seem compared to honda engines/turbos/etc.

My 2cents with honda's would be to avoid a lower tier model. Try to buy one from an original owner or a nicer area. Don't buy someone else's problems and last ditch efforts.

The 2011+ Pilots are extremely nice and durable, i would get that over an odyssey any day. They rust pretty fast but that should not be an issue in texas. I heard the older odyssey's have pretty bad transmissions so i would avoid it. The worst things that happen on the pilots was shift solenoids which are pretty easy to replace.

If going p2 and you can find and afford it then go with a later year model 04+. This is not to say the older ones are bad but it may be easier to source parts and less aged wear will be noted.

100% have some sort of scanner when seeing any of the above makes. A normal OBD2 can only tell you so much. When purchasing these cars the newer computer systems are pretty intelligent and good at identifying faults. On my 08 volvo it correctly showed a mechanical error in the ABS ring on the drivers side. When shopping for my partners car it identified turbo codes, tranny codes, etc.

Not to be brash but what budget are you looking at. That would be helpful in determining all of this.