Volvo V50

Solid Feel:

Doors, ride feels like it's really heavy - and it is. 1500kg, easily matching Nissan Teana, Toyota Camry kind of weight (despite it's smaller size). It's heavier than Mazda 6 2.5l. Extremely stable ride at high speed cruising (up to 180km/h in msia).

Space:

Reasonable. But this car, despite it's small size, really does wonder at squeezing in lots of items when the back seats are folded down.

Safety:

Needless to say, volvo's typical safety features.

(Note, i'm a satisfied owner of this car at age 25).

Contrary to what many Car mags say, I do not find that the T5 as thirsty as they claim it to be. Perhaps its how you nail the loud pedal to the metal when commuting or simply a case of perceived thirstiness. I get around 450-500+kms on a tank of gas so its ok for me. The plus point is that no matter how much insulation I dump into my former Japanese luxury car short of a Lexus, the NVH will never match the Volvo's ability to cosset the individuals when transversing the daily routes to school or shopping trips. Got this car off a Swedish chap and it was fully maintained by SM Motors so needless to say, no mysteries on the condition. Road-holding was on par to my ex-Japanese sports sedan and power on tap definitely was better due to the LPT on board.

Volvo is arguably the world's leading maker of luxury estates/station wagons. The V50 is a handsome car. It is pricey, no doubt. But it rides and handles well. The cabin feels bomb-proof. While the T5 promises a ride that has more "ooomph", the V50 2.4i doesn't disappoint with its 9 second 0-100kmph sprint. While there are some Japanese luxury sedans that are most affordable (like the Camry or Accord), the Volvo V50 is a more sensible buy compared to its competitors like VW Passat Variant, BMW 320 wagon and Mercedes C-Class wagon. And it offers a fantastic drive for those who likes to push their cars to the limit along the N-S Highway.

I bought a V50 for safety reasons. It's not a 'big' car, but it feels big. The road handling is very good, as are the comfortable seats. But beware the new 2008 model. It's got an irritating clicking noise coming out of the front dashboard - supposedly something to do with the aircon cutting on and off every 3 or 4 seconds.

For $128,000, I think Volvo needs to do a lot better than this. I understand that it is also a problem on the 2008 S40 model as well. But if you don't mind the clicking noise, I believe it's a safe way to ferry the kids around.