I’m now a first time Volvo owner (and generally not yet very knowledgeable on cars) after taking over my late father’s 2002 S60 (Benzine/LPG manual, 2.4NA 140HP).
It has seen a fair amount of use considering the mileage has now exceeded 400K KM, though generally runs well and I’ll be scheduling an appointment with a mechanic very soon to get an inspection done and fix some smaller issues I noticed.
The car holds great sentimental value to me, and I’d like to invest some money into it.
Having lurked around on the forum for the last few days, I was hoping to ask some specific advice to achieve my goals:
Reliability
My primary goal for the car is to ensure longevity (and restore the slightly worn state).
I can likely get the full service history after consulting the mechanic soon, but are there generally things I should keep in mind that other owners have noticed for the same or similar models as they got into the high mileage territory my car has?
Perhaps there’s parts that I should consider upgrading to prevent issues down the line? I do think my dad had certain things revised/rebuilt already, I’ll be able to say with more confidence soon.
Further, it seems my dad used thicker oil (valvoline 15w-40), but online I am reading this might be too thick? I’d love some insights on this.
Mods
Secondarily, I’m also trying to figure out if there are some adjustments I can make to further improve driving pleasure.
Beyond practical matters like replacing the head unit that I’ll be exploring, there’s honestly not all that much that I can tell that bothers me (aside from the interior which could do with some reupholstering). However, after searching on the forum I did find people discussing a range of options that I’m interested in learning more about, such as springs and sways (braces?), endlinks, and engine tunes.
Are there more I’m missing that can make an impact? As someone fairly naïve when it comes to cars I don’t yet fully see which of these mods hold significant value.
Engine Tunes
Specifically for engine tunes, it seems the potential of the NA engine is fairly limited from the info I can read here on swedespeed.
Local shops are quoting 140->170/180HP, for their chip tune. Does that sound right? It seems more significant than what I read here on the forum (although perhaps people were speaking about the 170HP base version).
I have fairly low expectations with regards to increased performance (car feels comfortably fast as is for my use-case), and reliability is a bigger concern for me than power, but it might be fun avenue to explore if this is realistic. Even if just making overtake maneuvers on the highway a bit snappier.
(P.S. I’m in the EU in case it matters.)
Cheers