Buyers Advice P2 vs P3

[Rattnalle]

Rear subframe bushings on early models wear out, but apart from that the chassis is much more solid.

In the south Swedish climate with wet and salty winters that used to turn Toyotas into brown dust in a few years the P3s still hold up well. Not as excessively well as P2s but on par with most other cars sold here.

[pgill]

My advice.

If you like the P2 then buy the P2

If you like the P3 then buy the P3.

For me personally I own two EUCD vehicles (or if you prefer Volvo P3 Platform)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EUCD_platform

I've owned the first since 2008 when bought it new and the second since 2018 when I bought it used.

Both Vehicles are the 3.2 liter six cylinder gasoline version.



If you are making the decision based on performance only then I will share some information that I posted on a different Volvo board.

Here is a link to a car and driver test for the V70 FWD 3.2

2008-volvo-v70-32-1 - Copy.pdf

(469.47 KiB) Downloaded 414 times

0 to 60 7.5 seconds (not really fast but not that slow)

60 to 100 12.0 seconds (reasonably fast)

5 to 60 7.7 seconds (faster than the T5)




By comparison here is the T5 with 247 HP

2001-volvo-v70-t5.pdf

(101.76 KiB) Downloaded 196 times

0 to 60 7.2 seconds

60 to 100 11.6 seconds

5 to 60 7.9 seconds (rolling start is slower than 3.2)

If you search the forum you will find that the T5 owners feel that their car is significantly faster than the 3.2

The numbers tell otherwise

I think the real take away is that Volvo made the torque curve on the 3.2 very flat and that makes the 3.2 feel slower than it is.


If you want to know what needs to be looked after to keep it going well above 100,000 miles

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic32504.html

And if you are handy the cost is not significant.

I paid just over $500 in parts to complete nearly all of the items on the list for my used 2010 S80 3.2 with 123,000 miles on it


For me the P3 is the safest car that you can buy and maintain for ~10 years and about $10,000.

And because I own two P3's I am building a small inventory of parts just in case I have an unexpected failure.

Here is a nice thread bout a P3 that went >300K miles and what the owner did the keep it going

https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthrea ... 3-2-Thread

If I get to 300K miles I may need to replace the timing chain and tensioner.


Hopefully this is helpful to someone


Remember: Get the one you like, you will take better care of it

Have fun

Paul

[Marcobrick]

In New Zealand you can get the 2008+ V70 with a 5cyl turbo. They come in as second hand imports from Japan. Very tempting, love the interior and exterior styling particularly around the rear. (Don’t read too much into that statement!)

[MacNoob]

I do like that model. Lots of the P3 XC70s around here, very few V70s although I do see them on occasion.

[matthew1]

I’ve seen only two or three P3 V70s ever.

[natural4reelz]

Im new to VOLVO...
I have the 2002 VOLVO S60 2.4 TURBO/ AWD

WHAT do you mean you should avoid 2001/2002 P2

Geeez....

Hope its not that bad..••••

[abscate]

The 2001 and 2002 had problematic software in the transmissions about 10% of the time - if yours is running well, ignore this advice. You also get the first generation MM Electronics throttle body (ETM or ETB) which lasts about 150-200k miles.

The bias here against these models come from the poor folks who come here gleefully having bought a $500 luxury car and then finding they need $2000 in repairs.Lashing out at the year and model is a better emotional defense than admitting you got taken.

[Rattnalle]

The 2001 and 2002 had problematic software in the transmissions about 10% of the time - if yours is running well, ignore this advice. You also get the first generation MM Electronics throttle body (ETM or ETB) which lasts about 150-200k miles.

The bias here against these models come from the poor folks who come here gleefully having bought a $500 luxury car and then finding they need $2000 in repairs.Lashing out at the year and model is a better emotional defense than admitting you got taken.

Later models do have fewer model specific standard fault though. Not that early ones always have them. As with most cars as these are ironed out year to year.

[matthew1]

Lashing out at the year and model is a better emotional defense than admitting you got taken.

Brutal, but true.

[cn90]

Old post but I trust this "P2 crowd" so to speak...

Just in case I need a newer Volvo such as P3, I have read this thread and advices by "JRL" on the first page.
But I want to avoid the Ford 3.2 engine if possible.

So, for V70 it looks like 2013.5 ---> 2016 seems like a good year to buy?
I just need something reliable (engine and trans) and easy to maintain.
Will look at vehicle with < 100K miles...