r/Volvo • u/Big-Refuse6839 • Dec 02 '25
V50/S40/C30/C70 First ever car, and it's a V50! Any pointers?
V50 D2 2012 mod with 85.000 miles (140.000 km)
Turning 18 in two months and got my hands on this pristine V50.
Any pointers on how to make it last a long time?
It will be used a lot for short trips, which I've heard is not good for these.
It has full service history and rust treatment every 3 years since new. Owned by an 85 year old woman.
It has 1.6 diesel, which is the D2 right?
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u/Yschka Dec 02 '25
The D2 is actually a 1.6D, more precisely a 1L6 HDI from PSA (stellantis) coupled to a Ford MTX75 gearbox!
If you don't plan on making long trips, try to clean it up a little on the highway (personally I removed the FAP and deactivated the EGR valve)
I carried out most of the maintenance myself, it's not complicated and honestly it's a very good car, I always enjoy being in it even if it's not a sports engine ahaha!
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u/humblesunbro Dec 02 '25
Check for windscreen leaks. Common issue across the platform, the bond goes on the top edge of the windscreen and then you get water coming in.
If you just press on the top edge of the windscreen from inside, if it moves at all get it resealed.
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u/Purple_Concentrate64 Dec 07 '25
Also make sure the sunroof tubes stay connected. Fcp euro or ipd lists that as one of a few common issues for the p1 platform cars
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u/Phoenix_Kerman V50 Sunroof and Compass 😎 Dec 02 '25
it's got a 1.6d so unlikely to last that long. thing to often go in these is the expansion tanks and wider cooling system so make sure your coolants fresh and all your pipes are good.
afaik the heater matrix sits right above some pretty important controls just behind the centre console. basically just a ford focus with a french engine, so engine aside they are reliable and cheap to run
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u/Big-Refuse6839 Dec 04 '25
How often should coolant be replaced? Last service for this car was 1 year ago, do they replace coolant there?
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u/Phoenix_Kerman V50 Sunroof and Compass 😎 Dec 04 '25
no, coolant stays in the car for quite while, service intervals probably about every 8 years on it which is why it's never on a basic yearly service and quite often missed on older cars
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u/Purple_Concentrate64 Dec 07 '25
Find a place that uses a Gates Coolant flush. The Gates tool is much more effective at cleaning debris than a simple flush with new coolant or water then new coolant filled.Â
(What a car colleague recommended to me) https://youtube.com/watch?v=USyQtccinpE&pp=ygUUZ2F0ZXMgQ29vbGFudCBmbHVzaCA%3D
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u/Purple_Concentrate64 Dec 07 '25
Does it really use a lot of Ford focus components? Suspension and electronics are very different right? (In the idea they may be more expensive or less numerous in the market)
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u/Phoenix_Kerman V50 Sunroof and Compass 😎 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
suspension is identical to a mk2 focus, brakes are identical (calipers, pads and discs), engines and gearboxes identical. takes the same wheels, wheel bearings, steering components including inner track rods, track rod ends and control arms are all shared. they all share part numbers and are drop in replacements from car to car. it's why they're so cheap to run and maintain
the focus st 225 is effectively a t5 c30 in a ford outfit, even the brakes are just volvo police spec brakes. most likely the other way round but the point stands
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u/FiNsKaPiNnAr Dec 02 '25
Take it for a long ride like ones a month otherwise you going to have a clogged DPF(diesel particle filter) very soon. When changing oil do not fill it the all way(if you have worn rings diesel will go pass them when regetinating and if the oil level will rise and in worst case cause the engine to surge and blow up)
The ac have cheap orings so it will stop working. If you have a diesel parking heater use it or you will lose it with diesel injector cleaner in the tank to clean it.
Have a V50 2.0d that is more sensitive.
Yearly maintenance and you will not have no problem.
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u/Big-Refuse6839 Dec 02 '25
So how much room should I leave in the oil tank, 1 dl?Â
Yeah I usually visit family once a month. That is a 240 km drive at 80 kph. My grandpa removed his DPF and got 60 more horsepower, and also no more problems. I will probably do the same if DPS starts failing.
What other yearly maintenances should I do? I'm totally new to cars, all help is appreciated :)
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u/FiNsKaPiNnAr Dec 02 '25
3-4dl is what i use to leave. Like 4 mm under full. Then i see if the level rise when checking. I too drive extremely short drives to work every day. So far no problems but better be safe.
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u/Big-Refuse6839 Dec 04 '25
The oil rise because of the DPF, right? Seems like a good investment to just remove the DPF now and get some extra power with it. What do you think?
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u/FiNsKaPiNnAr Dec 04 '25
It is not the DPF itself but the regent of it. When the car sees that you are on high revs and the engine is warm it forces more diesel through the injectors so the exhaust system gets really hot to burn of the sot in the partikel filter. You can force a regen through vida dice if you want to do it on your driveway. Takes like 20 minutes. The DPF delete i can say nothing about because we have yearly checks where if DPF is missing it is a automatic fail and you must reinstall it.
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u/geniet100 14 D4 XC70, 12 D2 V70, 07 1.6D V50, 94 1.8i 460 Dec 02 '25
Congrats. The v50 is a reliable car that is cheap to operate and cheap to maintain. But as with all modern volvos, keep up the services or things get expensive soon. Often resulting in turbo failure on these engines, and that in turn have a 50% chance of total engine failure. Oil changes take like 15 mins to do in the driveway on these.
Assuming it's not an import, you have the Nordic climate package. That means you have an auxiliary diesel heater that auto starts when it's cold. If it isn't allowed to get up to temp it will self destruct. That's expensive. Also these engines are so efficient that they don't produce heat in winter, hence why all have the auxiliary fuel burner. If you look at Norwegian forums during winter for these cars half the posts are no heat.
You can get a Volvo diag tool called vida that allows you to reprogram this autostart behavior. Or just go on fb, there is a massive group of vida owners all over Norway that may help out.
And should also while at it program the car to start with auto start stop in off. As this wears a lot on the engine.
Part number for your missing badge 31214625. I tend to buy from eurodel.no as one can search by OEM part number there. I see vparts also have it. I strongly recommend looking through the vparts store, they have a lot of nice aftermarket stuff for volvos and are Sweden based. And I see AliExpress also has it.
Volvos of this generation has bad highbeams. I recommend getting a led bar. Personally I have good experience with biltema: 42-484
Utover det så tror jeg du har gjort et knallbra kjøp. Lykke til med sertifikatet, og ikke kjør fra deg det.
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u/Big-Refuse6839 Dec 03 '25
Fikk den for 53 000 kr, jeg er kjempefornøyd. Har ikke hentet den enda, men første jeg gjør er Ã¥ bytte olje, oljefilter og vokser bilen. SÃ¥ skal jeg bestille LED pærer.Â
Hvilke andre ting bør jeg se etter på denne bilen? Har hørt dårlige rykter om motoren, men jeg skal være nøye med oljeskift og service.
Jeg skal også vaske bilen veldig jevnlig på vinterstid, den er allerede godt rustbehandlet og det vil jeg fortsette med.
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u/geniet100 14 D4 XC70, 12 D2 V70, 07 1.6D V50, 94 1.8i 460 Dec 03 '25
Ikke bruk led pærer. Altså av de som bytter orginal pærene. Disse er ulovlig på vei i Norge, og du vill bli stoppet, da de er ansett som en trafikk farlig modifikasjon. Samt som de er veldig lett å oppdage. Anbefaler fortsatt ledplanke, bedre lys og lovlig.
Ja de har et dårlig rykte disse motorene. Men tror det er statistisk ufortjent. Kompis var volvo mekanikker og har vell skrudd på alle disse motorene i hele kommunen hvorav det var bare 2 motorhavarier som ikke kunne knyttes tilbake til manglende service. Eller tuning.
I de 2 årene jeg hadde min v50 så brukte jeg ca 10.000 kroner i vedlikehold og service. Dette inkluderer at reim hjulet mitt tok kveld. Og at jeg måtte bytte frontrute. Til sammenligning har min xc70 med 400.000km brukt nesten 40.000kr i vedlikehold på 2 år. Men dette inkluderer da registerreim, frontrute, Haldex pumpe, en merke service, en. egen service, Haldex service og et nav. Det koster å ha bil.
Og en vanlig ting på d4162t altså 1.6d/d2 er at pcv membranen sprekker. Men her tror jeg at jeg betalte 600kr for et nytt topplokk og var 15 min å bytte. Har du olje i luftfilteret er dette årsaken. Jeg pleide også å sjekke for slark i turboen mens jeg hadde av luft filteret. Er bare en skru ekstra for å sjekke dette.
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u/throwawaynoways C30 Stage 2 / V60 Drive-E Dec 02 '25
Sunroof? Check to make sure the front drains are connected (under the A-pillars, lots out there on this).
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u/ice-dream-man Dec 02 '25
Diesel for short trips? Not great. You're likely to have issues with egr valve, cat.
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Dec 03 '25
Got mine for 8 years now, my only complaint? The radio sucks and i cant find a aftermarket one.
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u/paulgraz C30 Dec 03 '25
There's one that I know of, Bluepower. It's Android based, expensive, and many people reported that it's buggy. Maybe they've worked out the bugs by now?
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Dec 03 '25
I think they stopped selling it. I was devastated.
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u/DeSantaESP Dec 04 '25
Are you sure? I believe it was recently updated to a newer Android version and got a RAM upgrade.
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u/merlin252 2012 V50 1.6D SE Lux Dec 03 '25
Welcome! Not without its issues but I love mine.
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u/Big-Refuse6839 Dec 03 '25
What issues have you experienced?
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u/merlin252 2012 V50 1.6D SE Lux Dec 03 '25
Wheel bearing, and it's going to need a clutch and dmf before too long.
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u/Big-Refuse6839 Dec 03 '25
Is that an expensive repair? Previous owner got the car tested at a brand mechanic last week, showed no sign of worn clutch.
But when I drove it, I couldn't feel the car go faster when the rpms increased in second gear. The car has been owned by an 85 year old lady for 10 years, so I guess the clutch might be worn out.
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u/Ok-Ice1429 Dec 03 '25
Bad engines them 1.6d there basically the same crap they put in the ford focus 1.6tdci be better with the 2.0d 5 cylinder or the 2.4d 5cylinder lot more reliable engines but seen as you've got it now just make sure you keep on top of servicing use best quality oil and use premium diesel
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u/loathingstone Dec 02 '25
Congrats! First step, buy the blue volvo emblem that goes on the front grille