A petrol Volvo S60 is the lower-risk used buy, because the five-cylinder diesels (D5, 2.4D, and the D3 and D4 until about 2014) can throw their timing belt and wreck the engine unless the tensioners and pulleys were renewed.
2 known faults, 1 rated high severity in our database; owners report 43.1 mpg, 81% of the official figure. Everything below is built from that data and the archived owner history, not from a press car.
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Paste the Volvo S60 advert and we read it against its known faults, the MOT history and the DVLA record, then tell you what to ask the seller and what to look at on the day. Free, about a minute, no card.
Check a Volvo S60 advert (free) →A petrol S60 is the safer buy, because the most serious known fault on this car belongs to the five-cylinder diesel: the 2.4 D5 and 2.4D, plus the D3 and D4 built from that engine until about 2014. Its belt tensioners and idler pulleys can fail before the belt's due, throwing it and ruining the engine, with failures turning up between 46,000 and 65,000 miles. There's far less on record about the petrols, and that isn't the same as a clean record.
Early S60s, the cars built up to 2008, have their own petrol weak spot: the electronic throttle module can fail and leave the engine stuck in limp-home mode. A software update sometimes sorts it; otherwise the module has to be replaced. These cars were also recalled for a radiator fan that could overheat and start a fire (cars built 1999 to 2001) and for steering balljoints on cars built during 2003, so don't buy one without proof that work was done.
The later car, sold from 2010 to 2018, came with four-cylinder diesels such as the 1.6 D2 and the 2.0 D4 (VEA), and they aren't trouble-free. On diesels with a particulate filter, fuel from the filter's burn-off can end up in the sump and thin the oil. UK cars with the 2.0 diesel sold from 2014 to 2018 were recalled because the plastic intake manifold can melt and catch fire, so only buy one with the recall done.
The newest S60, from 2018, has almost nothing on record beyond a five-star Euro NCAP rating. That's a gap in the evidence, not proof it's reliable. The one warning is a 'Poor' Thatcham rating for the security of its keyless entry. If you're choosing between eras, the evidence gives no reason to think the newer car is worse, but it gives you nothing to lean on either.
Petrol's the engine with the least against it. The known faults all sit with the diesels, while the other engine trouble on record is the throttle module on early petrol cars and a single report of a timing belt tensioner on a 2.5-litre engine giving out at 50,000 miles and wrecking the engine. That's one report, not a pattern, but it's reason enough to ask for belt history on a petrol too.
A five-cylinder diesel (2.4 D5, 2.4D, or the D3 and D4 sold until about 2014) is the one to be careful with. Volvo's timing belt schedule is 96,000 miles or 8 years, yet the tensioners and pulleys can fail well before then, and a thrown belt ends the engine. Early D5s add injector failures, inlet manifold swirl flaps that can snap off from 3 years old, and a core plug that can let oil onto the clutch on cars up to 2004.
The four-cylinder 2.0 D4 (VEA) has a timing belt due every 90,000 miles or 10 years, with the auxiliary belt and tensioner checked or replaced at the same time. Its particulate filter burn-off can dilute the oil with diesel, and its water-cooled EGR cooler has drawn owner complaints about soot clogging the intake, which the manifold recalls address. One 1.6 D2 owner was quoted for a particulate filter and injectors at 44,000 miles after the dual-mass flywheel had already gone.
The Geartronic automatic on earlier cars was failing more often as they aged, particularly on cars that had towed. Its oil cooler is built from modules and needs extra capacity added for towing, which often wasn't done, so ask whether the car's towed. The Powershift dual-clutch auto on the 2010 to 2018 car needs fresh fluid every 3 years. A manual dodges both, though on an early D5 you'll want the clutch checked for oil.
On any diesel, the timing belt receipt matters more than anything else in the folder. For a five-cylinder it should list the tensioners and idler pulleys as well as the belt, within 96,000 miles or 8 years; on a 2.0 D4 it's 90,000 miles or 10 years, plus the auxiliary belt and tensioner. Ask for Powershift fluid changes every 3 years on a 2010 to 2018 automatic, and for any manifold recall paperwork on a 2014 to 2018 diesel.
Proof of recall work counts on the older cars too: the radiator fan on 1999 to 2001 builds, the steering balljoints on 2003 builds, a 2003 recall that swapped a return-line fuel T-piece that could let a pipe blow off, and a fuel injection leak on diesels built in 2006 that could drip fuel onto the engine. If the seller can't show them, get a Volvo dealer to confirm before you pay.
Pull the dipstick. If the level sits over the max mark, or the oil smells of diesel, the filter burn-off has been thinning it, and a service or check warning on the dash can come with it. Start it from cold and listen for belt squeal or chirping. Look behind the air filter box too: a lid that's only half clipped on bends the box, can crack the lid and damage the air mass sensor, which shows up as surging at idle.
On the drive, a D5 that's slow to start points to injectors, and D5s often needed a new set around 100,000 miles. On an early petrol, sudden limp-home running is the throttle module. Anti-skid warnings on the dash were traced to a failing steering angle sensor in one owner's report. Check both rear wheels turn freely, because the parking brake pads can part from their shoes and jam a wheel, and try every button on the lower climate panel.
Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.
Yes, as a petrol, or as a diesel with receipts for its belt, tensioners and pulleys, because the five-cylinder diesel's belt drive is the fault most able to finish one of these off. It's a solid car that handles and grips decently. The back's tight for headroom and legroom, the middle seat worst of all, and on cars with a pale dashboard top it reflects in the steeply raked windscreen.
Belt trouble on the five-cylinder diesel shows between 46,000 and 65,000 miles. The warning signs are a squeal from the belts when cold, a battery or power steering light if the auxiliary belt comes off, and an engine that cuts out and won't restart. Diesels from 2007 with a particulate filter can collect fuel in the oil; Volvo's 2010 bulletin for the D5 gave it new software and had the oil drained back down.
Early D5s carry most of the other problems. Pre-2003 cars have had injector failures, cars up to 2004 can push a rubber core plug into the bellhousing and soak a manual's clutch in oil, and one owner's 2006 2.4D lost its throttle body at 68,000 miles. The lower climate control switch panel can stop working, which reconnecting its wiring has fixed, and a dead satnav has sometimes come back after cleaning its disc.
On the 2.0 D4 (VEA) diesel, the EGR cooler has been blamed by owners for clogging the intake with soot, and that engine's the reason for the intake manifold fire recall on cars sold from 2014. One owner reported the infotainment system repeatedly blowing fuses and partly disabling the car. On a Powershift dual-clutch automatic from these later years, check its fluid has been changed every 3 years.
Real-world economy on this generation: Volvo S60 40.5 mpg, Volvo S60 46.0 mpg.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
Paste any Volvo S60 advert and we check it against the faults, the MOT record and these figures in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Owners report 43.1 mpg across the Volvo S60 engines with data, about 81% of the official figure, from 562 submissions.
Volvo S60 Real MPG by engine →A petrol Volvo S60 is the lower-risk used buy, because the five-cylinder diesels (D5, 2.4D, and the D3 and D4 until about 2014) can throw their timing belt and wreck the engine unless the tensioners and pulleys were renewed. Our database holds 2 known Volvo S60 faults, 1 rated high severity, and the sections above say which generation and engine carry them.
On any diesel, the timing belt receipt matters more than anything else in the folder. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories and ask for invoices for any work the seller mentions. Then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against every known Volvo S60 fault before you travel.
Owners report 43.1 mpg on average, about 81% of the official figure, from 562 submissions. Belt (2.0 D4, D4204T): 90,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first, so budget for it if the history does not show it done. The known faults page lists a rough repair cost against each fault. Volvo S60 Real MPG by engine.
If you used the Honest John car-by-car reviews before the site closed in 2026, this is where the Volvo S60 buying advice now lives. It is written from the archived owner reports and model notes (archived page, 40 items read for this model), our own known-faults database, the confirmed service intervals and the Real MPG figures. Every number on the page comes from that data, not from the text. The same data feeds our free advert check.
CarAdCheck is not affiliated with Honest John or Volkswagen Financial Services. What happened to Honest John, and where each feature lives now.
The Volvo S60 is one decision. Reading the advert, the history and the seller are the rest, and these cover them.
Looking at a Volvo S60 right now? Check the advert before you go and see it.