Volvo C30. Learn me please

Looking at a 2009 base model for a 3rd car. I'm tall, and Volvo's seem good for this ailment.

Any known trouble spots on these? Looks like this is a turbo 5 cyl with automatic.

I always liked the little unvolvo coupe'. Watching this thread

Me too.

I never owned one, so this is nearly useless, but I was really interested in them. Then I saw the gas mileage and decided they didn't make any sense.

Suspension is virtually identical to the gen1 mz3/ms3. Tons of options.

pres589 wrote: I never owned one, so this is nearly useless, but I was really interested in them. Then I saw the gas mileage and decided they didn't make any sense.

mileage per specs is 28/19 .. on premium gas. That's not Mazda RX-8 bad, but it's not real good. Good contribution!

Further clarity; http://www.fuelly.com/car/volvo/c30

It's a Mazdaspeed3 without the blam-prone engine or the rust-prone Japanese shell. And you could get it with an automatic.

I found it hilarious that the C30/S40/V50 is ranked as the most rust resistant modern car and the Mazda 3 is the least resistant, and they're the same chassis, just built in different places.

Maybe Adrian will chime in, he's been offline traveling for a while. But I borrowed his for a few days some years back, it's a fun little car. The turbo 5 is very torquey for it's size, the seats are very nice, as you'd expect, and the rear seat holds normal-sized adults. Ride/handing balance is a whole lot more biased toward ride than the MS3, and it's much quieter, too. Much better DD, in my opinion.

OHSCrifle wrote:

pres589 wrote: I never owned one, so this is nearly useless, but I was really interested in them. Then I saw the gas mileage and decided they didn't make any sense.

mileage per specs is 28/19 .. on premium gas. That's not Mazda RX-8 bad, but it's not real good. Good contribution!

my wife had one and averaged 24-25 in mixed driving, nearly the same as I got in my mazdaspeed3, but she refused to run premium in it...

things that went wrong on it... - it had a janky alignment and she corded a pair of front tires in like 10k miles because she never paid attention or thought to dodge potholes. various parts of the interior either just cracked along the mold part lines or like on the piece on the back of the handbrake, the tabs broke off and they fell off.

Mechanically, it wasn't too bad, but it had a couple of odd problems that luckily were fixed under warranty. The PCV valve is apparently part of the oil filter housing or something and when it lets go, it leaks vacuum and starts making a whistling sound at idle. i looked up parts for it and it was going to be like 450 for parts plus the time replacing it. luckily the car was just inside its 60k warranty for this. another time, right after a service, the airbag light came on so she went back. turned out that the airbag module decided to give up the ghost randomly, which would have been a grand just for parts, warranty fixed it up again.

Post warranty i had to change a CV axle, which interestingly enough don't click when they go bad, they start binding under power and kinda feels like a slipping trans.

Hers had the 5 speed auto which as auto transmissions go, was a pretty nice one. the converter locked up at a low rpm and it had a manual mode that would lock into any gear (within reason) that you requested. that plus the torque from the turbo 2.5 made it lots of fun to drive.

My wife only has 17k on her 2013, but she loves it. 30+ mpg on the highway, lots of power for her, small enough to park, big enough for Costco.

We have a 2010 C30 (auto) which we bought new in October 2009. It has ~98k miles on it, and so far, it has been a pretty decent car. Mechanically, it has been solid over the years with no major issues. The biggest issue we currently have with the car is that the headlights are dim, and after some research, I will pull the headlights apart and clean the reflectors which should help with brightening up the headlights. I did replace both drive axles, with non-volvo axles, and I do have a slight shake in certain situations. It seems like the C30 doesn't care for non-volvo axles, so I may bite the bullet and spend the money on Volvo axles.

I did the timing belt and water pump at 90k miles, and that process was what I expected with nothing tricky involved. Even with 98k miles, I'm looking to spend a little money to keep it around for another 90k. This includes Volvo axles, new shocks\springs, new front brakes, new wheels\tires and a good detail.

Vivaperformance and kahlephenke carry things for them that make my pants tighten. I love the look and see them developing a cult following, causing values to hold or inflate, within the next 10 years. Though for practical reasons I'd opt for a T5 V50, which was available in AWD as well.

You can search through for some of my posts on the car. Make sure you can stand the brakes on them. Poor pedal feel and always felt like some thing was wrong. I wanted to keep mine for longer than I did but the brakes were just so bad for a sporty car.

I haven't driven one since they were new and in the press fleets, but I always enjoyed my time with that car. It's seemed like something that would make a good daily.

A MINI/Volvo club friend has one. He bought a used one(2008, I think) about 5 years ago to replace his 2003 MCS. His general thoughts over the years: more comfortable & reliable and gets better MPG than the MINI (he gets low 30's, but is mild hyper-miler type). More power than the MINI too, but handling is not in the same league as the MINI.

kellerscobra wrote: We have a 2010 C30 (auto) which we bought new in October 2009. It has ~98k miles on it, and so far, it has been a pretty decent car. Mechanically, it has been solid over the years with no major issues. The biggest issue we currently have with the car is that the headlights are dim, and after some research, I will pull the headlights apart and clean the reflectors which should help with brightening up the headlights. I did replace both drive axles, with non-volvo axles, and I do have a slight shake in certain situations. It seems like the C30 doesn't care for non-volvo axles, so I may bite the bullet and spend the money on Volvo axles. I did the timing belt and water pump at 90k miles, and that process was what I expected with nothing tricky involved. Even with 98k miles, I'm looking to spend a little money to keep it around for another 90k. This includes Volvo axles, new shocks\springs, new front brakes, new wheels\tires and a good detail.

If you can find a set of the newer, articulated headlights, they are amazing. They turn with the wheels, shades of Tucker, and are pretty bright.

bmw88rider wrote: You can search through for some of my posts on the car. Make sure you can stand the brakes on them. Poor pedal feel and always felt like some thing was wrong. I wanted to keep mine for longer than I did but the brakes were just so bad for a sporty car.

They're the same cruddy brake design that Mazda3s, Focuses, Contours, E30s, etc. used. The pins don't slide too well and the springs and bushings allow the calipers to flex and move around under pedal pressure.

I do miss my 11 Mazdaspeed3. But you can't find them that haven't been trashed. 

Thinkin of picking up a 2011+ C30 MT.  Read about some coolant hose and PCV valve issues. Other than that pretty solid? Been wanting a Volvo since the Canary Yellow T5R Days, but never had the balls to pull the trigger. 

These days, too old, who cares, part in life, so thinking of rolling the dice (if I can find one), most seem to be in NC/NE 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I've been pretty happy with my new-to-me V50 (same P1 platform). I bought mine with 200k miles on it, and high mileage seems quite common, which has to say something. I'm still learning about all the quirks, but so far most stuff seems to be pretty well documented, and parts availability seems to be fine (though I've heard some P1 parts are NLA, but I don't know what).

I say go for it. I always liked the look of the C30, just never had occasion to buy one.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Thanks! This one seems pretty mint. Too bad not R design. Let's see if it stays within budget. Thanks for the note.