Hi William,

Yes, as Volvos are generally well made and solidly-built cars, but you need to watch a few things. That 1.6 diesel uses a diesel particulate filter (DPF) that gets clogged if the car is used for only short hops around town, so don’t go for it if you’re not planning to do plenty of motorway miles. Secondly, it has three weak areas – the oil pump, which can leak (and which can sometimes leak onto the timing belt!), the water pump (which is notoriously fragile) and the fact that if you don’t keep it topped top with a regular feed of high quality oil, the head will clog up with an oily, gungey residue. Other than that, door locks and ignition systems can be troublesome, but if you make sure to buy one with a full service history, you should be alright.