I recently chose a used R Design, less than 8K though. I would say it depends on what you want from the car and how you intend to drive it. It should have warranty regardless.

 

Any car base or top trim could be abused in more than one way (e.g. low grade fuel, poor maintenance habits, etc.). Maybe give us more information on said S60 R-Design that you are looking at? I had a 2012 S60 R-Design and it was flawless in terms of anything major going wrong; just a few software bugs in the beginning with SENSUS, but those were ironed out with the 3.0 update. You can't go wrong with the 3.0L I6 Turbo that the R-Design has under the hood, it is also one of the most reliable engines that Volvo has in its line up next to the I5 (T5).

 

I thought the base warranty wore out at 50k miles. Could always request to bring the car into a Volvo shop and have it looked over. Or see if you can buy an extended warranty, which requires a dealership to give it a once-over anyway.

If the dude/dudette has all the records - every maintenance, oil change, tire rotations, etc... - I'd at least consider it.

 

Dealers dont know jack , when you open the gas tank , it says polestar premium fuel recommended. That should be a good enough sign that its not a car that you use 87 in
I always these tools on bmw audi merc forums saying " can i use 87 in my turbo car" , my answer is if you cant use 93 go buy a camry

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As others have said I would be more worried about the previous maintenance, more than if it was driven hard. Modern cars have all kinds of electronic safe guards to prevent real damage, such as too high of RPM and neutral drops etc. Most of the abuse is taken by the tires and brakes from being driven hard, both of which are easy to inspect and relatively cheap to replace.

 

As is the case with most modern cars, especially with sportier trim, you kinda need to take them to the track to properly "abuse" them. I wouldn't worry about that. RD is just a different class compared to T5.

 

I would argue the opposite - that folks with RD's are more meticulous about maintenance than, say, the average Joe driving a T5, because the car is a limited edition which appeals to a buyer who might be more knowledgable about car mechanics and such. Even with hard driving, a RD owner will spend more time thinking about when to change oil and what type, what gas, etc. The average Joe T5 owner is more likely to blow off maintenance, etc., cuz it's just a source of transporation to them, even if they like the car.

 

There probably aren't too many Volvos "driven hard" out there period! Seriously, just take the car to an independent shop for a full evaluation. Shouldn't cost you more than $130 (that's what I paid for my inspection in the crazy expensive SF Bay Area). The main thing I was concerned about was some kind of hidden accident and had them focus on that search.

Everything turned up clean (as it should, given the car had only 10k mi at that point) but the peace of mind was worth alot to me. It slightly annoyed the sales guy at the dealership but at least he understood the issue. He actually joked, "What, you don't trust a used car salesman?!"

 

I baby my R design and don't drive it much differently than my other cars that were not R design so I would say should be fine. Just check the particular car carefully for accidents etc.

 

ok maybe Baby isn't the right term... however she gets premium only and I take good care of her....

 

Are you asking about an S60 R or S60 R Design? What year is the car you're looking at? Want to make sure you're in the right forum.

 

I always wonder what people say when they say they drive the car hard? Driving around corners without braking? Taking it on mud roads? On the track? Drifting? I can't imagine doing anything that would damage a car unless you intentionally drive it into potholes.

 

Just driving hard/fast isn't abuse.

Abuse would be offroading that crashes the suspension against the bump stops, or doing a 6000 RPM neutral drop into Drive on the transmission.

Volvos do fine at track days or autocross or ice racing. The only "sign" of such use would be in the wear items/consumables like tires/brakes. All stuff you have to replace eventually regardless...

 

I wouldn't fear a car driven hard at all. More likely that the R owner will take better care of it due to being a car guy. Far more likely to let it warm up in the morning before driving it and let it cool a moment before shutting it off. Also far more likely to get regular oil changes and pay more attention to creaks and rattles and have them fixed. I always say the worst car you can buy is something that someone who doesn't care or know about cars drove...... like a camry or accord. My mother in law is the classic example of that buying a Chrysler Sebring bran new and not changing the oil in it till the oil light came on somewhere around 100k. I make it no secrete that I drive my car hard, But I always let it warm up before I drive it, I always let it cool for a few min before I turn it off, when at home I pop the hood to let the heat out. It gets fresh expensive Synthetic oil every 3k. Trans fluid changed at 5k. I'm overkill on the maintenance. Cars are met to be driven. If you grandma em it's worse then driving em like they were met to be. I put 140,000 miles on my old M3 driving it like that. It never used a drop of oil between changes and still passed a leak down test near perfect when I sold it, also put dyno numbers down near or better then it did new. At the same time I wouldn't buy the same car now because they've have dropped in price to the point where kids can afford em. And a car owned by a teenager is almost as bad as one of those accords or camry's that never got maintained.

 

I agree with this premise in general, for those who own and expect to keep the car for extended periods. I think all bets are off for leased cars...certainly off for rentals. Regardless, get a 100K extended warranty for peace of mind.

 

I think the OP is probably more concerned with the condition of the engine, trans. To mayne help put some ease, Volvo, well, it isn't a Honda. That being said people who buy them are much more respective to the brand. Even if they had some fun these cars were designed for it and after having "fun" it can be almost guaranteed it was properly pampered. It falls under pride of ownership. And I haven't seen more of that with any other brand.

I would definitly take the advice of everyone else and take it in for a looksy. I did with mine and the only thing I found was a bent rear pass wheel.

 

The Hertz T5's are cheap at auction. I tell people go buy one of those it's a great bang for the buck. The guy at the rental counter that's gonna be jumping curbs and off roading his rental car isn't gonna pay for the upgrade for the Volvo... he's gonna get the mustang GT.

 

yeah, still risky... it's not the curb jumping and off roading i'd be concerned with, it's the warm-up time, shut-down time, reversing then slamming into drive before the car is stopped, competent and regular maintenance..

 

Anything you buy used has some degree of risk regardless of the cars style. An idiot is capable of driving anything. If it's got regular maintenance records and the price is what you're looking for, you have a pretty good chance things will be OK.

 

Agree with pretty much everything except letting a car warm up. The way you warm it up is to put it in gear and go once the oil has been initially circulated. But letting it idle on a cold winter day, for example, for 5 minutes to "warm it up" is not a good practice IMHO. Bob Sikorsky says so too.


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Agree with pretty much everything except letting a car warm up. The way you warm it up is to put it in gear and go once the oil has been initially circulated. But letting it idle on a cold winter day, for example, for 5 minutes to "warm it up" is not a good practice IMHO. Bob Sikorsky says so too.

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You will notice that your car has a very pronounced interval just after the cold start when the idle speed is higher. Your manual explicitly states that you should allow the revs to drop before putting the car in gear. That is all. after that, just like you said, taking it easy for a block or so will be better than letting it idle for five minutes

 

http://esd.volvocars.com/local/us/2014-Volvo-S60-Owners-Manual.pdf

Page 119 Note, and footnote therein:
If the gear selector is in the D or R positions and the car is not moving, engine speed (rpm) will be lower and it will take longer for the engine to reach normal operating temperature.

 

+1 I always let my idle drop on a Cold Start with every car I've ever owned before I drop it into gear. This was actually one of the first things my dad taught me when I first got my license .

 

The manual also talks about proper cooldown, particularly for proper care of the turbo and turbo fins. Where this would apply is the following scenario: Let's say you're driving in the middle of Nevada where there's very little traffic and it's 100+ out. You exit for a rest stop which only takes a few seconds and so you're essentially going 75 to 0 in 15 seconds, or conceivably so in my scenario. In that kind of heat, the manual says to idle for a minute or two to cool off and that makes complete sense (I don't have a citation to the manual right now but it's there).

This scenario doesn't apply as much in an urban area where you might exit the interstate and then drive through a lot of traffic and residential or whatever at lower speeds, and the engine cools down naturally without having to let it sit for as long in your driveway. But the Nevada scenario would be harmful if you just shut it off right away at the rest stop.

 

The manual also talks about proper cooldown, particularly for proper care of the turbo and turbo fins. Where this would apply is the following scenario: Let's say you're driving in the middle of Nevada where there's very little traffic and it's 100+ out. You exit for a rest stop which only takes a few seconds and so you're essentially going 75 to 0 in 15 seconds, or conceivably so in my scenario. In that kind of heat, the manual says to idle for a minute or two to cool off and that makes complete sense (I don't have a citation to the manual right now but it's there).

Your engine will run hotter just sitting and idling than it does cruising at 75 MPH, out of boost. The reason is you have tons of airflow at 75 MPH and none at idle. Those radiator fans don't move anywhere near that much air.

Basically, the "cool down lap" at a track day is just cruise around at 55-75 MPH. There is a reason we do this after hot lapping rather than just pull in the pits and park...

 

I noticed that even if it isn't too hot outside, fans tend to come up when I park the car and shut it off, so I am not too concerned about that.

 

I finally found where I saw it - it's in the Warranty and Maintenance Booklet (p. 13 on the '13 S60 version), under turbocharger tips:

Before switching off the engine, let it operate
at idle for a short time to allow the spinning of
the turbocharger compressor's turbine vanes
to slow. After hard driving, this idle time
should last a couple of minutes, during which
the vanes will slow and the compressor will
cool down while still receiving oil lubrication.
If the turbine vanes are spinning at high
speeds when the engine is switched off,
there is a great risk of heat damage and/or
turbine seizure due to lack of lubrication.

 

That's hilarious. The turbine vanes don't need "minutes" to slow. Just coasting at idle up your driveway and into your garage is plenty of time for the turbo to spool down.

 

The turbo is liquid cooled with engine coolant. You basically want it cool enough that
any oil sitting on the bearing won't 'coke' (build up deposits). Liquid cooled turbos
go a long way with avoiding this problem (as well as modern or synthetic oil).

 

Letting the engine's idle drop before shifting into gear seems like it would be easier on the driveline as well.