My cousin swears by the V70 and it's previous incarnations. His latest is a diesel but all the others have been petrol, he usually gets rid at about 175k miles!!
Pay more and get a diesel i had a 1999 2.5 manual and she averaged 47mpg solo and 30mpg towing a 1200kg van,and don't worry about one with high miles if it has a good service history.
Take a look at Volvo forums uk website. They have sub-forums on each model of Volvo and one on towing. Free to join, its part of the Volvo owners club UK, but you don't have to be a member to join.
Pete.
------------- Don't panic!
Hit it with a pointed stick!
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
Hi Bigtimz,
I tow with a V70 2.4 D5 and i'm very happy with it. Ok it's a diesel and one of the best engines around but we have friends who have a 2004 petrol version and they're more than happy with theirs too. Yes, you lose fuel economy but as long as you have a well maintained car and don't try to tow more than 85% then it's a powerful comfortable reliable long distance cruiser. The SE version should have cruise control and we've just done 150 miles back from the lake district and hardly knew we'd done it.
The only downside i can think of is when we've been to damp grassy campsites where i've struggled for grip. But that's very rare!
Oh! take a look at www.whattowcar.com. A really good site with owner reviews on loads of cars including Volvo.
Hope this helps!
I've had both petrol & diesel, excellent tow cars but i would opt for a diesel over petrol any day. 2.4 D5 would return 30 plus mpg whilst towing, the 2.4 petrol would be lucky to return 20mpg with the same van on the back.