Should You Buy an Old VOLVO V70? (Test Drive & Review 2.4 SE Auto)

Alright guys, how's it going? Welcome back. So, £400 doesn't buy you an awful lot these days, does it? If you go out and buy a nice pair of jeans and a new pair of trainers, you won't get much change from £400. Maybe a few nights out and a nice meal? Either way, it doesn't buy you a great deal. You wouldn't think it would buy you six metres of Swedish luxury, would you? Well, it can. And it has. Today, I'm in a 2004 Volvo V70 that I paid just £400 for. I'm not really sure why I bought this, but as I mentioned in the old E46 M3 video, sometimes I can make some very questionable decisions. I only paid £400 for this car, but I've since spent another £400 on it, having a service and MOT done. And it also needed a driver's window regulator. The previous owner had propped up the driver's window using a bit of wood, and not told me, obviously, because I'm just a used car dealer and we're scum of the earth. In fact, on a social scale, it goes normal people, petty criminals, rapists, and then right down at the very bottom of the ladder, just above estate agents, are used car dealers. That seems to be the general consensus. Anyway, literally 10 seconds after buying the car, the first pothole I drove through, the wood that was propping up the window fell. The window dropped so violently, I thought I'd been shot at. It was a bit like the Top Gear African Special, where that log that Jeremy ties to the back of his car bounces up and smashes the rear window. It was a bit like that. In case you were wondering what a window regulator costs on a 2004 Volvo, it's roughly 50% of its value. It cost me like £200. Anyway, it's all working perfectly now, as it should. Right, so let's have a look around it then. It's a late 2004 Volvo V70 SE, and I've got the bulletproof 2.4-litre petrol engine. I've got a very smooth automatic gearbox, and it's done 150,000 miles, or as Volvo owners would describe it, delivery miles. I've been driving around in this now for a few hours, and literally all I can fault is this dodgy cup holder that won't stay put. It keeps popping out like a cuckoo clock. So you get a 2.4-litre five-cylinder petrol engine, which reduces 140 horsepower. It does feel quite quick, actually. And the automatic gearbox, to say this has done 150,000 miles, is very smooth. The wipers are a bit noisy, though. I've got heated leather seats. The seats are very comfortable, actually. It's more comfortable than my sofa at home. They're electrically adjustable too, which still work. It has powerful mirrors, which still work too, although the cover's missing off one side, which I have ordered. I like the clear display, and I like how easy everything is to use. The on-board computer here is very easy to use. You literally just turn the dial on this stalk. The layout of all the buttons is perfect, and everything's just very easy to use. The instrument cluster's very well designed too, because it's not cluttered. It just gives you all the information you'd need. Nothing more, nothing less. My dad worked in Sweden for a while and had a V70 like this. And over in Sweden, you can buy parts for them pretty much everywhere. Not that you'd need them, though, because they're very reliable. They have a timing belt that needs to be replaced every 10 years. Now, VW and Fiat should really take note of that, because their five-year intervals are rip-off. The boot is cavernous, and I like that the boot lid doesn't have those gas struts to it up, which always fail. These don't. If you ever find yourself in Sweden, every car on the road that isn't a Saab or a Tesla is a Volvo. Most of them are V70s too, and they're quite an outdoorsy people. And I think they just love the practicality of these V70s. You can fit all sorts in them. They even did an option with a third row of seats, where you could have two rear seats in the back facing the other way, which, all right, they're only suitable for smaller children, but how handy is that? There's so much space in the back too, you could fold down the rear seats and lie down completely flat, which would be quite good if you were camping. In fact, I've camped in one of these cars. Now, I'm saying that from experience because I've actually spent the night in the back of a V70. I was camping out with my dad and brother and some mates on the outskirts of Gothenburg, and I didn't fancy spending the night in a tent, so I just chucked my sleeping bag in the back of this and slept in a V70. And there is ample room for that. It does feel like a bit of a dinosaur compared to most modern cars, but you just get the sense that it's built to last, because this car, even at 15 years old, I just know that in 10 years' time it'll still be on the road. Even though Volvo have been making this 2.4-litre engine for most of my life, it's quite an efficient engine. On a motorway run, you'll get 38 miles per gallon, and round town I've been averaging 27.8, which is incredible really given the weight and size and age of this car. I forgot just how bad the turning circles were on these cars. In Sweden it might be every man's car, but over here it was usually bought by the middle classes. It's a well-known fact that more Sebastians and Henriettas have been transported to their lacrosse practice in the back of a V70 than in any other car on the road. And I can see why, because it kind of has that Lexus thing going on, and what I mean by that is the driver can drive around in something luxurious and expensive, and everybody else doesn't think you're a complete bellend. I know myself, if I arrange to meet a customer out of hours, I've got to pick my car very carefully, because if I turn up in a Range Rover or a Mercedes or a BMW, they're just going to think I'm a bit of a show-off, whereas if I turn up in a Lexus or a Volvo, I think it still looks like you're successful, but it doesn't look like you're conceited. People do judge you based on your car, and I'm sure there's some truth in that, so let me know what you think below. Because these cars were designed for the harsh Scandinavian climate, they don't often rust, like British, German or Japanese cars do. They're built like tanks. They feel very solid and heavy. The interiors don't age very well either. I mean, you can see that because the leather's quite soft, it shows all the sort of crease and wrinkle lines in it, especially the beige interior, because they show all the marks. You'd be better off buying a black interior. Nevertheless, I'm sure this car will still be on the road in 10 years' time. I think it has some charm as well. It comes across as trustworthy and dependable. It's sort of like the family's golden retriever. It becomes a member of the family. I know that sounds a bit cringeworthy, but it's true. People have these for 10 years or 20 years. They've just become part of the furniture. It does have some get-up-and-go this, actually, after all these years. So I just thought I'd share with you my latest acquisition. If you've ever owned a Volvo V70, let me know below. Let me know what your experience was like. If you liked the video, give it a thumbs-up. Make sure you subscribe if you haven't done already, and yeah, I've got plenty more videos on the way. So I'll see you next time. Cheers, guys.