Thoughts - Experiences with a Volvo V - 50?

My son slid into a 4WD Jeep with his Jetta and took out hiis grille. Insurance company and body guy say it's totaled. Really?

2009 Jetta, resale $8500, costs $5,000 to fix. (mostly labor) He's looking for another ride, what do you know about a Volvo V-50? Small soccer mom wagon, 4 wheel peel.

Thank

Just an S40 wagon. There are big differences though depending on 2.4i/2.4t, auto/manual, and build year. They are good handlers, built on the C2 Focus platform we never got here.

We got that chassis here... as the Mazda3 and 2nd-gen S40 ;)

I don't like the 2nd-gens. They are huge and slow.

I happen to have my mother's V50 at the moment while she's on vacation. Simple, 2.4 (non-turbo) automatic. Not a bad car. It's a little small (similar to a Jetta wagon in size). She seems to get terrible mileage (low 20's) with it going to church and what-not (she's retired), but I can get mileage up to the high 20's/low 30's with my mixed commute.

She bought it new and it's had it's share of needling issues. More than my '03 VW, if that's anything to go by. Weird stuff. Sunroof leaks, electrical gremlins, etc, but it seems ok now.

There were a rare few brought over with a 6 spd MT, AWD and the T5 engine. A friend just bought one (IIRC, same car was posted on this forum some months ago; he found it totally by coincidence). MT cars are out there, but rare. Volvo stopped all MT cars in the US a year or two ago.

Ian F wrote: She seems to get terrible mileage (low 20's) with it going to church and what-not (she's retired), but I can get mileage up to the high 20's/low 30's with my mixed commute.

FWIW, I've been getting a consistent 15mpg with my older 4-cyl model. I think I'd have to take a bottle of Xanax before going to work in order to get fuel economy in the mid 20s.

Thanks guys. Ian's been getting 27 or so mpg with his Jetta, problem is he spends all day in the car as a wine rep. He has a 3 series BMW as a rental for another week or so, but says the interior and trunk are smaller than that of his VW.

His guidelines are <40k miles and < $15k. I would opt for some appliance like a Corolla and just run the ass off it, but I don't have the final say.

May be best to take SWMBO's GTi and find a soccer mom-ish car for her.....

I had an 06 V50 T5 6 speed for a year. It had so many electrical issues in the first year that it was lemon lawed. It was a fun car to drive and appeared to be well built. I autocrossed it a couple of times. It could produce a lot of inside tire smoke leaving corners. I would get a Mazda 3 instead.

I am seeing a couple of brand new Focuses under $15k without looking too hard at my local dealer. Maybe a newer Focus might be the answer?

We've had an '06 S40 since new. Same thing, other than the size of the trunk.

I would not consider a first-gen. I don't trust the mitsubishi-ness of the thing.

Second-gen is a great car. It handles way better than it has any right to, is solid as a rock, very comfortable, and really hits all the family car checkboxes as far as I'm concerned, and has never given trouble.

BUT: Gas mileage is mediocre at best. With a light foot and luck you MIGHT average 24-25 mpg. Non-turbo and slush box is pretty leisurely. Get the turbo or the stick. Or both.