Used Car of the Day: 2005 Volvo V50 2.5T AWD

by Tim Healey

Published: August 10th, 2023

used car of the day 2005 volvo v50 2 5t awd

Today we have another manual-transmission wagon. What can we say? We're automotive journalists. At least this 2005 Volvo V50 2.5T AWD isn't brown.

This Wisconsin-based Swede is a red-on-black car with 165,300 miles on the clock and factory options such as Bi-Xenon headlights with headlight washers, heated seats, and premium audio. It also has 17-inch wheels and apparently is in good mechanical and cosmetic shape.

The seller says the car is rust-free and lists the maintenance in the post. Aftermarket features include extra snow tires, Bluetooth audio, a trailer-tow hitch, and a Yakima roof rack.

Click here to give this one a look.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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5 of 18 comments

Theflyersfan on Aug 11, 2023

There are two Volvo wagons parked in front of the house two doors from mine and they are immaculate. I really like Volvo wagons. And I really want to like this one being a manual, and a real color, but this one just looks used up. The leather, the plastics, pretty much the entire interior shows Lindsay Lohan-levels of 18+ years of some major hard living here. They can last a long time - the XC70 Cross Country we once had and sold to a neighbor's son to take to school - still looks good and still going strong. So I don't have any doubts that this one will continue to run, but it's going to take some serious money to redo the seats and clean up the interior.

The owner writes that he got the car last year and here's the maintenance done:

Summer 2023 - Oil filter housing/PCV, timing belt, water pump , serpentine belt, full reman turbo & exhaust manifold with new studs and gasket
Fall 2022 - New tailgate shocks, new floor matts
Summer 2022 - New front struts/shocks/top mount, new rear shocks and mount
Summer 2022 - New rear brake calipers, new rotors and pads all around, new brake fluid
Summer 2022 - Timing belt/water pump, upper and lower radiator coolant hoses
Summer 2022 - Replace both engine mounts
Summer 2022 - New tires on stock wheels, Kumho Ecsta
Spring 2021 - Headliner replaced, rear sunroof drains unplugged
Fall 2020 - Front sunroof drains unplugged, replaced 'trunk' drain at cowl, drivers side
Summer 2020 - Rear wheel bearings replaced
Summer 2020 - Battery replaced
Fall 2019 - Replaced 6x ignition coils, spark plugs. Installed H11 fog bulbs.

Timing belt, water pump, shocks and struts, brakes...and is that two timing belt changes in a year? Guy's sunk some serious money into a car he's selling a year after getting it. There is either some major lifestyle changes going on or the theme from Jaws is playing each time this car is turned on.

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- See 2 previous
- 28-Cars-Later on Aug 11, 2023
  
  The seller seems to be mechanically inclined so I read that as, I the seller did the timing belt/water pump/coolant hoses in Summer 2022 and something wasn't done correctly so I had it done again by a professional in June/July. Reman turbo isn't filling my heart with joy either, someone hooned this example at some point. Not sure what he paid but he's probably -$2-4,000 into this as it sits.
  
  1
- FreedMike on Aug 11, 2023
  
  It's like a relationship, FlyersFan...at some point you have had enough. My bet is that's what is happening here.
  
  Like
- Ajla on Aug 11, 2023
  
  Aside from the headliner everything until Summer 2023 doesn't seem too bad. That's about what I'd expect on a 15+ year old vehicle.
  
  1
- 28-Cars-Later on Aug 12, 2023
  
  @AJla
  
  I agree, but the seller may not have understood this.
  
  Like
The Oracle on Aug 12, 2023

Spend not much more and get a V60, and if you’re smart you’d save up for the 3.0 T6 model which is splendid with a Polestar Optimization.

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