Skip advert
Advertisement
Long term tests

Volvo C30 T5

Good and bad experiences this month with our Volvo C30

I’ve had a real love/hate relationship with the Volvo this month. First the love. It’s done the nursery run most mornings recently and my two-year-old son reckons ‘It looks like a sweetie, daddy’. (I think that’s a good thing.) My 60-mile commute each day has been enjoyable too, the odd back-road excursion seeing me arrive at work with a boyish grin on my face.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Now the hate. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation, but I really can’t figure out why there is a hook at the bottom of each front seat that catches the seat belt, dragging it in the path of anyone trying to get into or out of the back seat. It is so annoying!

Also, I thought Volvos were supposed to be solid, but while cleaning the rear window recently the wiper blade snapped away from its arm, even though I was being very careful with it.

A replacement part (£11.75) soon fixed it, though, and in truth these little niggles have done nothing to stop me enjoying the C30 more and more the longer I live with it.

Running Costs

Date acquiredDecember 2007
Total mileage11,307
Costs this month£11.75 (wiper)
Mileage this month964
MPG this month28.7
Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Yangwang’s U9X breaks the 500km/h barrier, but SSC’s record still stands
Yangwang U9 Xtreme
News

Yangwang’s U9X breaks the 500km/h barrier, but SSC’s record still stands

The Yangwang U9 Xtreme is now the world’s first car to go faster than 500km/h, though not over a two-way run average
6 Nov 2026
900 miles in the Maserati MCPura – daily driving Italy’s underrated supercar
Maserati MCPura Cielo
Long term tests

900 miles in the Maserati MCPura – daily driving Italy’s underrated supercar

Maserati’s MCPura is as pricey as it is imperfect, but never let it be said it’s a supercar you can’t enjoy every day
8 Nov 2026
Why 2020 supercars are destined to be the next icons – car pictures of the week
Eras supercars 2020s
Features

Why 2020 supercars are destined to be the next icons – car pictures of the week

More hybridisation, turbocharging, increasing performance and tightening regulations. Did the 2020s stifle the supercar? Not one bit
7 Nov 2026