At $4,800, Is This 2004 Volvo S60R A Well-Priced Swede Indeed?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Volvo has enough miles to show it’s been enjoyed but not too many to imply that said enjoyment is all in the past. Let’s see if we can get past its price tag.

Cover bands never have the same draw as the real deal, and as a result, typically offer more affordable ticket prices. I mean, nobody is going to pay five figures a ticket for “The Taylor Swift Tribute Experience.” A similar situation faced yesterday’s 1988 TEAL Bugatti Type 35. What it was presented to be was a fairly faithful emulation of the Type 35 experience, with some subtle changes for efficiency and safety. At $38,888, it was also a tiny fraction of the cost a real Bugatti would demand. Many of you considered that to be comparing pommes et oranges, which, in the end, resulted in a 78 percent No Dice loss.

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Adding an R to the S60’s badge brings a lot of heat to the mid-sized sedan’s game. Under the hood sits a 296-horsepower edition of Volvo’s 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder, sitting sideways and sporting a stylized “R” on the intake cover. It reaches that dizzying horsepower through the application of a big KKK turbo (that company needs a better name), dual intercoolers, and an aggressive cam profile abetted by variable valve openings on both the intake and exhaust sides. That’s matched with the choice of a six-speed stick or five-cog automatic and standard Haldex AWD.

This car has the automatic, and as such, is limited to 258 lb-ft of torque so as not to blow the gearbox up. The manual gets the full 300 lb-ft. According to the ad, the car has enjoyed some recent — and likely pricey — maintenance work. That includes the timing belt and water pump, along with some refreshing of the front suspension and sway bar links. Additionally, it rides on a set of coilovers and sports IPD strut and torque mounts. The seller says it runs and drives great and still has cold A/C for the hot summer nights about which Neil Diamond warned us.

A couple of common bugaboos on these mills are the PCV system and head gasket failures. The ad notes that both have been confirmed to be in working order. That’s good because both suck to fix.

Visually, the car shows off its heavy weight mileage, although not to extreemes. The bodywork looks good, although there is some curb rash on the stock Pegasus wheels. Countering that, the tires on those alloys are said to offer plenty of tread. The biggest issue with the exterior is the gray trim, which is turning ashy and shows weird ribbing — not for anyone’s pleasure. That’s something this era of Volvos tend to do. The answer is some trim rejuvenator applied regularly.