Petrol or diesel is really personal choice. The D5 diesel will be fine doing 10k a year and, overall, I'd say it is more reliable unit that the petrol.

If you buy an auto one go for a lower mileage one as the autos can give trouble at higher miles. A D5 manual should do about 40-43mpg in mixed driving, a little bit more on longer journies.

They're not actually that big - they're smaller than a current Mondeo for example.

Edited by pd on 28/11/2015 at 14:28

I need a big car for my family, Im actually downsizing from a people carrier. I do need to have an estate for holiday and also for my dog to get in the boot. I also ant the comfort of the seats as my back is not great. Thanks everyone still not certain what to go for!

I wouldn't agree that non are econmical. A D5 can top 50mpg driven sensibly on a run which really isn't bad for a big old comfy car, they're faster than the non-turbo petrols as well.

All the petrols like a bit of a drink.

Best are the 2004 and 2005 model years which had quite a few engineering upgrades (the 2005 also had cosmetic changes but the mechnical ones were 2004 - 53 plate on) with the pre-DPF 163ps D5 engine.

Any thoughts on this one? www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-VOLVO-V70-S-20V-AUTO-SILVE...e

Looks OK but if you test drive it make sure that autobox works faultlessly, they can start to play up as they get older.

Also check all electrics as they were weaker on the earlier cars, they can suffer from instrument cluster failure - Volvo improved them and these later cars will have chrome rings around the dials.

Be aware that Volvos sometimes need dealer specific software to sort out problems. Do you have a specialist in your area?