Buyers Advice P2 vs P3

[vtl]

They had 3.2 replaced by the B5254T10/12 in the last couple of years for P3. I have T12 in wife's 2016 XC60, it is decent. Not as reliable as B5244S or even T2, though.

Overall a short-term reliability would be probably higher, but long-term P3 rust way more and uses made in India SKF bearings everywhere. As a P2 owner you'll be facing "strange" problems, like need for the rear differential rebuild. SKF Sweden bearings in P2 almost never die.

I've heard that P3 has also more reliable suspension, but what I see is sagged springs in just 3 years.

Not to tell that the Vehicle Communication tab in VIDA is about twice bigger for P3 than for P2

I decided to break up with Volvo and got a non-Volvo recently as a third car. Will run and repair P2 as long as I can.

[abscate]

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...

Check out the recent thread on P2 in New England Area - used car market.

I found 320 P2s under 6k within a days drive of NY. There are many with 100k on the clock.

With a 3-4k buy-in and 2k of refurbishments, thats a driving deal that is hard to beat.

[cn90]

Well,

Sometimes there is an urge for "new car smell" lol.
But you guys convince me to stay away from P3?

[abscate]

If you don’t mind being emasculated, Miatas are nice