Any opinions on Volvo S80 T6 - First generation

jluis

jluis

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I'm changing jobs at the moment and sadly the company car will have to go.
Will need to replace it with a family wagon or sedan for daily drive and to carry the whole family around.

As I don't want to spend too much money on a car at the moment before being in the new job for a few months, I was looking at buying something big,cheap and confy.
Since it's only for a few months, fuel consumption is not a great concern (No, I cannot drive the 3200 as it's about to start snowing over here and no way I'm exposing the chassis to road salt!)
In 6 months I would sell it and buy a more sensible and recent diesel car

So, being a Volvo fan, this obviously led me to the S80 T6 MY 1999 or 2001 as they cost between 2k and 4k over here.
It's a big car but with 270HP and 2 turbos, I think it will pull along just fine :)

Anyone here ever drove one and can pitch in with some opinions?
The 850T5/R were known to be pretty good cars and I'm hoping the S80 continues that tradition
One of my fears is that I buy one and the auto gearbox goes out, as they are known to fail and a manual version is next to impossible to find.
 
safrane

safrane

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Had these as company cars a few year back when they came out. As you say large, comfortable and big. Expensive parts but as a Volvo owner you will be use to that.

As all mine were new I cant say how reliable they are as they age.
 
jluis

jluis

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safrane said:
Had these as company cars a few year back when they came out. As you say large, comfortable and big. Expensive parts but as a Volvo owner you will be use to that.

As all mine were new I cant say how reliable they are as they age.
Click to expand...

How about driving experience? Any good?
As for the price of parts, well ... I'm a Volvo and Maserati owner. I don't think it gets any worst than this :)
 
Trev Latter

Trev Latter

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I had one as a company car back in 2001. Good car. They do feel big to drive, especially width wise and a little soft suspension wise, but it's not the sort of car to do track days with. The T6 certainly goes well enough and doesn't suffer too badly with turbo lag. Mine was new at the time and didn't have any reliability issues while I had it. The D5 diesel was a good engine in those too and whilst ultimately not as fast, still performed pretty well with about 200 bhp and torque by the bucket loads.
 
jluis

jluis

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The D5 engines I have seen from that era are all 2.4L 163HP
My current Volvo is a V60 D4 2L 163HP and the engine is one of the most amazing diesel engines I ever drove.
I have driven cars with 4 cylinder engines with more power that I didn't feel the same level of torque as the D4. Might be because of that fith cylinder :)

I assume the previous 2.4L engine will be similar to my D4 and it's also on my shortlist (T6 or D5)
 
Hexadex

Hexadex

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I have both a yellow 850 T-5R (which is mental 250 ish bhp) and a D5 V70 soot chucker 14 my. Both excellent
 
safrane

safrane

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S 60/70 were far better on the road when moving swiftly... Police used them here for a few years...S80 was a big fat Hector in comparison but great for long motorway trips.
 
Trev Latter

Trev Latter

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Absolutely agree. I also had an S60 T5 and the whole package just felt nicer. That would probably be my choice out of the two.
 
outrun

outrun

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We're huge Volvo fans too.

I've just finished my company car lease which was a v40 d3 r design nav. The wife has an xc60 d4 r design nav polestar, my dad has an s80 d5 which replaced an s80 2.4t and my mum has a v40 d2. Previously I owned an xc90 t6 which I adored.

My opinion on the t6 is to be a little careful of the gearbox which struggles with the load. They are supposed to last a lifetime without fluid changes which is nonsense and you must change the fluid or it will break around the 100k mile mark. They also suffer from abs unit failures and thermostat issues but both are easy repairs.

Volvos rock!
 
jluis

jluis

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Thank you all for your input.
The S60 t5 is harder to find and more expensive.
The cheap t6 price is probably a reflection of the poor quality GM gearboxes these cars have.

Another thing that I would like to know is how does an auto gearbox with only 4 speeds feels like?
I tought 4 speeds were a thing of the distant past ...
I only had manual cars and the only time I drove an auto was a rental corsa for 1 day and the gearbox felt like a robotic manual ( like the cambio corsa)
 
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