Edmunds Answers questions

Can my Volvo C50 T5 routinely handle forest service dirt roads?

ellene000 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:11:11 GMT

I live in Arizona, and have discovered there are lots of forest service roads to camping and lakes. The roads are generally in good shape. I am not talking about 4wd roads. The roads sometime have little "wave" bumps (and the faster i go the less i feel them). I am wondering if the suspension and tires should be beefed up or if I should get a small SUV. I like the V50 on paved roads, it is reasonably fuel friendly (if I do not gun it) but it has power if I need it! The run is fine for me (I go a rocket box).

Volvo V50. Anyone had problems with the car rolling forward despite the handbrake being fully on?

Tateypan — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:05:02 GMT

Despite the handbrake being fully on and the car in reverse gear, it has twice rolled forward down the slope on the drive and crashed into the house.
When I phoned the garage they asked if the car had been cold, and this was the case on both occasions. However, they have not accepted any responsibility.
Of course, it may be that the handbrake was not on fully ... except I believe that it was, plus it was in reverse gear.

I have a 05 Volvo V50 automatic that makes a droning sound when the torque converter disengages. Is this serious?

rkt5 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:21:30 GMT

This occurs in or between gears 4 & 5 at low speeds (25 - 40) with light or no throttle pressure, on level roads when the cars not under a load.

2005 Volvo V50 experienced advice wanted.

john1234 — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:34:36 GMT

Hello Ladies/Gents....
I'm reasearching the above vehicle.
My wife likes the Nissan Murano Se, I like the volvo V50 2005.
We are comparing the 2 for both known/common problems and regular maintenance costs. We are located in Canada.
We are both not the self fixing type when it comes to vehicles. At the same time we don't want to get into a vehicle with huge maintenance/repair costs.
A few mechanic friends have seen a few Murano's in their shop after 100,000km for tranny trouble CVT.
I was told that the Volvo, was a pretty solid vehicle and if cared for can last a long time.
We don't want to get into a situation where we are paying $1000.00 everytime we open the hood.
I was told by the Volvo sales rep that its around $60 for an oil change(synthetic) and needs to be changed every 12000km.
She wasn't able to tell me if this vehicle had Xenon Headlights and or what the costs would be to change somewhat simple things like headlight bulbs etc.
Can anyone care to comment on the costs of regular maintenance to expect on the V50 2005, and also the costs of such things as headlights/rear lights etc?
Thanks greatly

Can anyone tell me why the 2005 Volvo V50 wagon seems to have lots of recall problems? Are they not as reliable as a V70?

iapetus2009 — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:42:20 GMT

Reliability of a Volvo V50 Wagon vs V70, especially 2005.

Bought a 2005 Volvo V50 (not T5). Car drove really great during test drive Would not start after.

iapetus2009 — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:44:14 GMT

Just bought a 2005 Volvo V50 (not T5). Car drove really great during test drive and after signing papers we attempted to start the car but it wouldn't and the dash board displayed a "Key Error."

I ended up paying for a extended warranty since I read about these nightmares and had spoken to a lady who had a similar situation occur where her ignition system failed and it cost 1200 to fix it or she could bypass the computer and start the car manually.

Is there a California Law that can get me out of a used car purchase, should I start experiencing buyer's remorse? Car is still at the dealers.

Seat belt lockup on 2005 Volvo V50.

iapetus2009 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:14:16 GMT

Has anyone experienced the seat belts randomly not releasing. Both driver and passenger do not release when attempting to put the seat belt on. My warranty on the seat belts expire in November 2009 and I discussed this issue with service dealer after dropping the car off because the CD deck failed. They said there was no issues with the seat belts.

Any advice?

I have a 2005 Volvo V50 T5 AWD that revs high on starting from cold, but no codes on computer. Thoughts?

fred96 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:27:35 GMT

I have a 2005 Volvo T5 AWD that for about 6 months would rev high for a few seconds on starting. It happened enough that codes showed up on the computer and a control sensor was replaced. This was in April. It was fine for about 3 months. Now it is revving high again, but hasn't done it enough (how much is enough??) to show as a code(s) on the computer. The warranty is running out and I concerned that codes will not show until after that time. My mechanic is excellent, but hasn't seen this problem before. Any thoughts, comments?