Volvo V70

Very, very underrated car. Safe and reliable, doesn't handle like a hot hatch, but will disgrace one if the driver is committed. Bulletproof engine and Japanese (Aisin) gearbox. These cars easily survive 500k mileage in other countries and still going.

Oh yes, Volvo has one of the best seats, wife's 3 yr old GLC definitely loses out, previous W212 wasn't better either. The new V90 and V60 seats weren't much better either hence renewed my COE and kept the change.

Driven this car for 8 years. Regretted selling it. Best car i've ever owned!

Despite the car being quite bare on features, it was nice to drive and the 5 cylinder sounded good. Parts may be expensive but the car was built really well. With less electronics, it was easy to diagnose and fix. I miss this car really much!

Been driving this car since 29 Feb 2012, 4 years 106,000KM.

NO regret! Solid car and even though I do not dare to say that it is as reliable as a Toyota, for the 4 years, no issue at all!

The overall package is great and now I truly understand their slogan of Volvo for life!

Also Kudos to the VOLVO service team in Wearnes, the best service team so far that I have experienced. ( I used to have Opel | Ford | Honda | Toyota | VW)

Made decision on the V70 based of engine power and torque, dual-clutch gearbox and load carrying ability (a proper station wagon).

Into 30000 km now and received 2 free services already. The GDTI/Ecoboost engine is a blast with great acceleration for overtaking. Too much speed for Singapore use. The Powershift gearchange is imperceptible on acceleration but jerky at parking speed and reverse, a trade off for greater efficiency and the sound/feel of a manual gearbox.

Handling is decent and interior is quiet at speed despite relatively wide standard tires (245/45/17). Fuel consumption stabilising at 9 km/L, on mixed highway and traffic snarl plus driving energetically (excuse to rev the engine).

Interior style is simple and functional, an anti-thesis to the German glam nowadays. Particularly nice touch is the quality of the leather provided which is comparable with that in the Audi A6 3.0T S-line model and higher grade than that in the 2.0T model.

Motorised boot opening and closure is standard and that is great for the smaller sized family members. Boot capacity is very good despite quoting only 575 L. This is because the boot volume measurements are made up to window line level, not to the roof. As the V70 has a low window line compared to other staion wagons, the numbers quoted are modest.

Bluetooth hands free is the best I've seen. Synchonisation with iPhone is quick.

Overall a solid car with a great engine. Need to get used to the DSG-style gearbox though.

Have driven the car for 1100km now and this is my first volvo.

Impression has been great so far, of course some improvements and more features would be nice, but overall a great choice.

2 litre engine producing 240bhp and 320 Nm from 1800rpm is great!

The family (wife and all 3 children) have driven the V70. I had the previous 2.0T model which we kept for 5 years and probably would have kept it not for the deal for this current one which is now coming to 4 years old. It is close to 60K with only routine maintenance except for the replacement of the oil pump that was a little buzzy at year 2 which was under warranty. Wearnes Auto service has been excellent and so far I have yet to pay for anything apart from the routine tyres and battery. Hence reliability has been a given for this iteration as for the previous one I owned. The competitors I auditioned then were the Audi A6 Avant which was over 20K more and Mercedes E200Twhich was 70K more and the V70 won hands down with 3 years of free service and warranty ( extendable to 5 )

It is an easy car to live with, fantastic load capacity - moved a stove in it before. With the seats folded down one could place very long objects all the way to the front with the front passenger seat folded down. Seats five adults comfortably and the ride is pliant - better than the previous V70, and very quiet, almost as good as the Lexus GS300 I once owned. However the it is very thirsty and a full tank of RON95 gets me about 500+km only working out to 12+ litres per 100km.

Volvo has improved the ride a lot in the V70 generation, and it's pretty quiet (except the D5's engine). Seats are superb, and ergonomics brilliant. In a post-modern ironical Abba-esque way, yes. The pared-back but beautifully made dash and cabin furniture is a joy, and the materials fine. You do get a great sense of reassurance from this car even if the reliability record isn't unblemished. The front-wheel-drive one feel very grown-up, well-damped and deliberate in the way they go about things, easy to drive smoothly but not much fun. The four-wheel-drive versions have better traction, obviously, but bring nothing else new to the party. The V70's boot doesn't look all that big in the spec sheets because it's measured only up to the window line, which is quite low. But the vertical tailgate means tall boxy stuff will fit in. And there's a huge range of tie-downs, hooks, brackets, and nets to keep your stuff in place. But note that the new-generation Mondeo wagon is actually a bigger car.