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Mon 30 Jun 2014 10:24

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - DrJoe

Hi All

I have a Volvo V70 D5 SE (2002) which I think is excellent but I live in France and am soon moving back to the UK so will need a RHD instead of a LHD.

I'll be doing reasonable mileage on all sorts of roads plus at least a couple of trips to Southern France with 2 dogs and, normally, some kind of furniture and luggage so motorways are important.

I'd like another Volvo V70 but I'm not a fan of the new shape and the older shape (same as my current one) seem expensive second hand over there unless they have intergalactic mileage.

I've recently been looking at a Honda Accord Tourer (2009 model) diesel which seems to carry as much, if not more than the Volvo and seems good on motorways for comfort too. The manual has excellent MPG figures but I've heard horror stories about the short life of clutches, Honda's reluctance to help and cracked exhaust manifolds. The auto would seem to make sense given the clutch issue but the MPG is rubbish compared to the manual. My family have had several Hondas in the past but they were all petrol ones and never, ever went wrong. They don't seem known for their diesels though.

Can anyone shed any light on these Honda issues? Is the Honda a reasonable Volvo replacement?

Any advice would be welcome.

Cheers

Joe

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Mon 30 Jun 2014 10:50

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - daveyK_UK

they did have a few issues with the 2.2 diesel engine when it first arrived, the timing chain would start to go around 100k.

However, i was talking to a bloke at a trade conference who kindly gave me a lift to the station in his diesel honda tourer and said he had done lots of research and the earlier failures where only on high milege examples where the owners had not followed the service regime.

He knew what he was talking about, he spent the whole 20 minute journey telling me about the ins and outs of the 2.2 diesel engine.

As per usual, if the car looks well kept, has the service stamps and receipts to back up its history, it should be ok.

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Mon 30 Jun 2014 10:54

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - gordonbennet

Agree with you about the prices of V70, roughly twice the price of the saloon S60 equivalent.

My son has the S60 with the 185hp engine, quite amazing the torque that engine has, and apart from the known weakness with OE rear parking brake shoes (do not neglect) the car has been trouble free and returns around 45mpg both on his commute and rapid distance runs.

Son and his wife are in exactly the same boat as you, and are also considering the Honda due to amazing V70 values, they already have an 05 plate CRV Diesel thats now done about 110k miles, not a sign of clutch or manifold trouble there and i don't suppose the design is far removed from the Accord....CRV did need 2 drive shafts (about £250 all in refurbed, we fitted) but i put the blame for those squarely at the door of my sons enthusiastic getaway style.

I wouldn't have thought an exhaust manifold would be too difficult to weld up better than new, and clutches are almost always the result of poor driving, the Diesels themselves appear to be pretty bombproof.

I've suggested to him that they look again to buy a V70 in the depths of winter, when a better price is likely, could you manage with the LHD for a few months and then buy when its freezing cold wet and nasty when only the brave venture out?

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Mon 30 Jun 2014 14:20

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - DrJoe

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear that the Hondas sound OK and I'd only get one with full history so shouldn't be any probs other than my wife just dropped the bombshell that she "just doesn't like them". We'll see!

I've been toying with the idea of keeping the Volvo for a few months and, in theory, I could keep it but it would mean re-registering it in the UK, headlight conversions for MOT and insurance etc to keep it all above board. Not to mention, it's worth more over here! Do the prices really dip in winter though? I hadn't considered that to be honest, but I'd have thought, knowing my luck, buying a Volvo in the depths of winter might be like buying a convertible in spring. Thinking about it, I'd be selling one to buy one so any price fluctuation would balance itself out.

Thanks for the help, keep the info coming.

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Mon 30 Jun 2014 15:15

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - barney100

You could sell the lhd Volvo to the lh car dealers over here or even sell it where you are and put the cash towards one over here. I would go for another Volvo though as you say they aren't cheap at the moment.

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Mon 30 Jun 2014 17:34

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - Ed V

Can your choice only be Volvo or Honda?

Size-wise, there's quite a choice, from C5 to Avensis to Hyundai etc. I'd hold with the earlier view that maintenance and condition matter more than manufacturer, assuming the vehicle has what you want, e.g. space, mpg, acceleration etc.

You pay for the Volvo image. If that's important to you pay up. Otherwise go for Citroens or Hyundais! (I have a 2008 C5 saloon, and it's great!).

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Mon 30 Jun 2014 17:45

Volvo V70 - Volvo V70 or Accord Tourer - Avant

As well as those mentioned by Ed above, you could add to your list the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Superb or Octavia and VW Passat.

The near-vertical rear ends of the Volvo and Honda have some advantages, but the opening is narrower than those above and won't take all types of load.

If you do go for the Honda (the previous model to my eyes was stupendously ugly; the new one looks better) I think you should go for the petrol.

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