Aside from normal wear and tear, standard maintenance neglect, and accidents, what causes the majority of P2 s60s to go out of service, permanently?

Lack of Maintenance is #1, whether its affordability or just dismissing recommended repairs. Then they just snowball into the recycle yard.
Many seem to believe an older car doesn't need to keep on a maintenance schedule and MANY Car Service Providers either don't see enough Volvo's or Don't want to work on anything past an oil change and brake pads.
Any vehicle can be kept forever if properly maintained.

 

Lack of Maintenance is #1, whether its affordability or just dismissing recommended repairs. Then they just snowball into the recycle yard.
Many seem to believe an older car doesn't need to keep on a maintenance schedule and MANY Car Service Providers either don't see enough Volvo's or Don't want to work on anything past an oil change and brake pads.
Any vehicle can be kept forever if properly maintained.

I recently watched this video:

And basically he replaced all of the front subframe bushings and the ride got worse. He noted that pretty much all of the bushings were shot up front. So, I became curious about the maintenance items that appear at very high miles which become exceedingly more difficult to address.

I know this isn't an S60, but, the subframes are similar.

 

I have seen 250k-300K P2 for sale....
So, if well maintained, it can go to 300K.

Usually ppl get rid of the car bc of bad engine and/or trans bc they are so expensive to repair

Sometimes, the car can be perfectly functional, but the costs of some items + labor turn off the owner:

• Wheel bearings
• Radiator
• Seats worn out
• PS rack
• AC evap
• Bushings, engine mounts

etc. etc.

These are heavy duty jobs...

 

Yeah I almost forgot that the leather seats get obliterated at high mileage.

 

One I parted out seemed to have gotten water incursion into one of the computers. It would work fine unless it rained, then it wouldn't turn over. There might have been a DIY way to fix it, but my dealer tech said it needed a new computer to make it right. I had bought it cheap in that condition for my wife as a toy car that we'd keep in the garage, but she didn't like the interior color, so it became a parts car instead. So I'd put seals on the list of things to watch... keep the rubber in good condition.

 

Not true. Leather seats will last very long if they are cleaned and treated bi annually. And of course sunlight is a killer. I garage my 07 but window tint and a windshield sun shade helps a lot. My leather looks like new! I use Lexol products on them.

 

Cars I typically see in JYs have engines coated in oil. So, they ignored the PCV system until the oil seal blew. Got $3k+ repair estimate, so dumped the car.

The bottom line is they tend to get needy by 125k-150k miles and people don't want to pay dealer prices to address the issues.

 

The bottom line is they tend to get needy by 125k-150k miles and people don't want to pay dealer prices to address the issues.

Yeah, the most common cause of death is an owner who bought something for cheap that needed major maintenance, and then didn't do the maintenance. PCV, cats, and serpentine are all pretty expensive at a shop, but can kill a car if left undone.

 

Volvos take a ton of mechanical understanding and care, and should be driven by a person that is monitoring the car by feel, unusual sounds, as well as systems lights obviously, and repairing things as they occur, not waiting for snowball effects and big repair bills. Dump money into quality parts and replace. They can last a long time.

I don't know much about P2 electronics but I did visit the Xemodex office in person when working on my P1 electro ordeal, and one of the seniors I talked to for a while there did say they are more familiar and have gone deeper into P2 electronics than the newer volvo stuff. Warehouse full of Volvo electronic components. So the good here is of all the volvo platforms they know common points of failure in them the best. I do think there was a break in 2004 P2s for or something when the CEM or some modules changed (gray/green?) and he was saying to get a P2 either before or after that year for lower chance of electronic faults. Can't remember completely, maybe somebody knows, something about ford...

The point here is being ready for about a $1500 expense, according to them, module wise on most cars that end up with multiple components sent to them, and then there are wiring and grounds and other things which are your responsibility, not Xemodex as they don't accept full cars for service, only modules.

I'm thinking of getting a P2R as a forever keeper at some point so following this thread. I have no problem with crazy mechanical stuff and expensive parts, but to add questions to OP:

How are the P2's with sunroof drain issues and seals letting water in? Are there ground and CEM consequences like P1's if this is a thing?

Not the hottest topic to discuss but if people willing to post short summaries of resolved or unresolved (scrapyard) electrical gremlin episodes with their P2 and final costs associated would be appreciated...

 

I am the original owner of my 08 2.5t. Other than regular maintenance the car has been trouble free. It is nearing 200k miles. I am very diligent with maintenance and decided I would follow a reasonable fluid change interval with the trans, power steering, coolant, brake fluid and it has paid off. I keep the cowl drains clear of debris and spray a cosmoline like substance on bolts, under-hood ground points, seams various lines and fittings each fall. I added things like plastic strut top covers and salt spray deflectors wherever I could to keep winter salt spray off of things that would corrode.

Things that have failed that I consider normal wear items:

Rear muffler
one brake caliper
Brake pads 4 times
Rotors twice
Shocks
Struts
Front control arm bushings
Strut top bushings
Headlight bulbs
Battery
Tail light bulbs
Engine mounts
And the upper torque mount bushing like 4 times.
Two tinibg belts and related pullies
Spark plugs
Ignition coils
One cv shaft

The car looks pretty much new and drive like it did when we bought it because I have kept up with its service since it came home from the dealership. I would rank it up there with my w124 Mercedes in terms of its overall build quality and longevity. My p3 S80 feels cheaper in comparison.

This car will be passed on to my daughter in a few years when she is ready to drive.

 

w124 Mercedes

Quick side note, are w124 window regulators still available from dealers?

 

I have a 2.4D s60 and yeah its not like you will buy a 22 year old car and it will be as reliable as when it came out evn if its a volvo . Alot of things had to be done in the 4 years of ownership: rear disks,pads, parking brake shoes, front wheel bearing, shocks because they sat down but they did not break (replaced them because i had complete shocks at home), tie rod ends, stabiliser end links... Basically alot of suspension components from normal tear and wear. But also some under the hood parts: Power steering pump (because of drifting in the snow), later on also the HP powersteering line (this was the most frustrating job and it was done at home), main seal at the gearbox side (was the most expensive) +-500e, 2 radiators because of crashes (both done at home), main pulley+serpentine belt+rollers/tentioners, and yeah regual services every year or at 10kkm. Alltogether i think theres about 3-4k e thrown into the car including the price of the car which was 600e and that does include labour cost which i payd because i couldnt bother doing some of the stuff at home with basic tools As for the look of the car so exterior and interior, not much gets done about that because its a daily beater gets flored everyday on a cold engine. Also because i learned to drive fast in this car the transmisson is a bit sad, and also the clutch+flywheel. driveline coponents wont get replaced until the car is still driveable. So they can last a long time if youre willing to learn how to work on them and that will bring the maintenance costs down. Also some things to add. The car starts everytime no matter cold,hot,damp... has character and it never gets boring like a new car.

 

I have a 2005 S60 2.5t FWD Geartronic with 440k+ (270k Miles) on original engine, trans and interior. You have to keep up with maintenance and as long as you do...they will last. 3x timing belt, 3x PCV, just finished my second round of trans drain and fill over 4 oil changes (first set was 8 years ago) and the standards (brakes, oil changes; I do every full synthetic every 7500km, etc.)

 

IMHO it's important to find a good shop/mechanic beyond the dealership. I adored my 02 S60 2.4T from new, but moved on in 2018 at around 160k miles due to intermittently glitchy electronics (trouble starting, reduced performance mode, random stuff) never conclusively diagnosed. When it was right, the car still ran and drove perfectly.