As in the thread title, I'm interested in peole's opinions on this car as I like the look of it and have received the brochure through the post. (just when I though I'd settled on a Passat saloon!).
The spec of the SE (diesel, naturally) looks good and the brokers offer a good saving.
I've read HJ's comments and a couple of on-line reviews, one of which criticises it for noise and lack of space in back seat/boot, allo of which are quite important to me.
Does it use the Ford diesel engine, and is it relaible?
Any thoughts etc much appreciated.
Cheers
Pat
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The V50 is based on the new focus platform so i would imagine it is smaller than the passat inside and therefore you may find it lacks the space that you require.
Not 100% about the 2.0 diesel but the 1.6 in the S40 is the ford/pug engine so there is a fair chance it is the ford/pug unit.
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I looked at the V50 for a replacement for the V40. Seemed very pricey for the specification at the time, boot seemed smaller than the V40 (despite the brochure claiming same volume).
Ended up going for a Passat Estate (outgoing model) with a very good deal.
Never got as far as driving the V50 although I did like the cabin interior finish.
StarGazer
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I had one as a courtesy car a few months back. I think it was a 1.8 litre petrol, which was entirely underwhelming.
I thought it was okay, but seemed no different to Focus-class cars.
The one thing that really irritated me, though, was the 'ignition key'. This fits in the dash to the left of the steering wheel, requiring more fiddling about compared to a more normal 'key-in-right-hand-stick-it-in-the-lock' arrangement. On a 'native' LHD model the key is presumably to the right of the wheel......
Funny how little things like that can really put you off.
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Funny - years ago I had an Alfasud with the ignition to the left of the wheel - I really liked it!
I was on the column though, so in a LHD car, it would have been near to the door, not furthest from the door.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I've got a Saab 9-3 which has the ignition to the rear of the gear stick. Initially when I first got the car I would forget and look at the steering column, but it only took about 3 weeks to get 100% used to it; not something to worry about IMO.
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I come from a family with Volvo in our genes and was bitterly disappointed when I drove a Hertz rental S40 in Sweden; this early production build 2.4i 170 example was poorly assembled and underwhelming to drive.
Since then however, my sister in law has purchased a V50 1.8; although still a slug to drive compared to the turbocharged oomph that I'm used to, it handles taughtly and tidily, is reasonably refined, and is properly assembled. She has had absolutely no faults with it.
If I'd purchased it, performance aside I would be happy too.
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I had a V50 2.4 as a courtesy car and loved it. It seemed so much quicker than the V70 2.4 I owned and much better refinement.
Space wasn't so great, but if you do want the extra space then that's what the V70 is for!
Handling was better than the V70 by a large margin and comfort was just as good.
I liked it.
The position of the ignition was a bit odd, but wouldn't put me off.
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We borrowed a 2.4 last year. Very comfortable and a very good stereo. We would have bought one but it was very expensive and not much discount offered.
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Test drove an S40 2.4 petrol six months ago and really liked it.
But... it's a lot of money for a Focus in a posh frock and it was completely blown away by the new Lexus IS250 I eventually chose.
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I had several loan V50s and S40s during my unfortunate period of owning a Volvo V70... Can't say I ever took to them, didn't feel very well screwed together, only average to drive, lots of slapdash fit and finish plus all models pretty noisy.
Over-riding impression was that the Focus would be just as good at a lower price and from the experience I had with a Platinum over 10,000 km are probbaly better built.
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Thanks for the replies, very interesting.
I think I'll have a visit to a dealer at the weekend.
cheers
Pat
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Test drove both a petrol and a diesel.
Stylish, comfortable interior - but tight on space.
Irritating handbrake is mounted closer to the passenger seat, so you could end up touching your passenger's thigh each time you reach for the brake.
Rear and side visibility not the best.
Good handling, average ride, diesel was a bit noisy.
It's an OK car, but didn't stir up too much enthusiasm on my part.
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I think the consensus among road tests has been that the larger-engined V50s are nice to drive, but it's not very good at being a Volvo estate. Not much room, and no clever seat folding arrangements.
A Mazda 6 estate looks quite similar and the seats are better designed: a Skoda Octavia estate might be better value than either, and certaily more roomy.
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