Volvo C30 experiences?

My mom is looking to replace her '02 9-3 SE, which they bought newish (dealer demo, I think) and which she's really liked. But it's getting up there in mileage and starting to become less-than-Mom-reliable, and a C30 is very high on the list.

Probably looking at a year or two old, off lease sort of thing. They have a decent relationship with the Volvo dealer, who used to be their Saab dealer, and to whom they've been going for service since they got the 9-3 when it was newish.

Of course, that last bit now depends on how they deal with what may be a mis-diagnosed water pump failure on their part. Oh and the Saab got flooded a couple days ago while sitting in their service lot - freak flash flood. We'll see how they deal with that, too.

Anyway, dealership concerns aside, anything to know about the C30? She'd be getting the auto, BTW. (I know, I know, but...Mom car.)

I'll just leave this here

If I can swap it to a manual after she's done with it, I'm all over that.

There are quite a few stick cars up here, but I've not seen a turbo/stick car yet. May not exist.

I like them.

I thought all US market C30s had the turbo five.

Here's one on fleabay that is a 6 speed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volvo-C30-T5-R-DESIGN-LEATHER-6-SPEED-SPORT-PKG-XENONS-SPOLR-/161661998892?forcerrptr=true&hash=item25a3ce572c&item=161661998892

I've had a jones for these cars for a long time. They look fantastic.

In reply to iadr:

Mazda3. We never got the Focus that shared this chassis.

If you can tolerate a SAAB then you'd either love or hate the Volvo. They have Swedish "feel" without the horrible SAAB interior quality or electricals.

We have had a few threads on this one. Owned one for 4 years.

Pluses: Lot of parts bin engineering. (probably not important to your mom)

Very comfy seats if the ergonomics work.

Can seat 4 adults

The T5 is a solid and proven motor and mine never burnt a drop of oil.

Minus: Build Quality on the Body sucked at least on mine. I had to replace: Windshield Gasket Both door gaskets Sunroof seals Hatch seal Rear Calipers Right front Caliper Master cylinder In just 40K miles

Stock it's an understeering pig. It can be fixed cheap if you want. The doors are heavy.

Overall, I found it over-priced and not really worth the premium. Also, my dealer experience with Volvo was worse than bad. Never again for me.

I have nothing really useful to add except that the ergonomics are great IMO. I've never driven one, but every year I sit in one at the car show, and my butt, back and knees all agree that it fits just right. The overall interior feel ( the layout, sight lines, ect, not the materials ), is a lot like a SAAB c900 coupe, which also feels just right to me. YMMV.