Anyone got a Volvo V70?

[Elvis]

Thinking of buying one for our brood. What's it like? Any drawbacks?

I loved mine! Can't think of any drawbacks I would try and go for leather seats though as my uncle had the fabric ones and were a nightmare to get sick out of, leather was better although I had beige which showed up every raindrop and muddy splash.

We have the older-style one (S-reg).

It's the first car I've ever owned, though I've driven loads of rental cars and I like it a lot. We have the option of the extra 2 fold-down seats in the boot, which is handy if you have 3 or more kids.

Upsides: It's not a people-carrier. It's no harder to manoevre than say a Golf, although obviously it is longer. Lots of cute extras -- the heated front seats in chilly weather! The built-in booster seat is really useful. Nice to drive. A boot the size of Manchester, and with all the back seats down it's practically a van.

Downsides: It's quite thirsty. We have a petrol one, because there weren't any diesel automatics available at the time we were buying. If I were buying new or nearly-new I'd get a diesel for economy, and def go for the automatic. The rear seats are only really suitable for under-12's. If you're getting an older 2nd hand one with around 70K on the clock, remember it will need a cam-belt change at 80K. I've just been stung for an eyewatering sum to have this done, so worth getting one that's already been through this if you're after an older one.

So diesel automatic then? Never had a diesel or an automatic before.
We have 3 kids so more space would be good.

Thanks for the advice.

All kids have phases of being very car sick so wipe clean might be an advantage!

Well, we have one and it's the worst car we've ever had in terms of cost of maintenance.

We are planning to change it this year.

Check out Google about an on-going issue about the ETM - it's a pretty serious issue, but Volvo have been trying to wriggle out of replacing them. I don't know if newer models have been OK.

We have been in dicussions with Volvo for over a year now about problems with our ETM system and they refused to replace it.

BBC have been covering the issue as part of Watchdog see here

And here

another down side is the short seat belts in the back, making some rear facing baby seats difficult or even impossible to strap in safely

Are there 3 three point seat belts in the back?

Yes, 3 3-point seat belts in the back, and I believe most models have an integrated flip-down booster seat in the middle, which is a godsend. But NannyL is right about the seat belts being quite short -- you can't fit a rear-facing baby carrier in a volvo. All other car seats are fine, though.