V70 Reviews and terminology

Good day to you all. I have always had a "Utility" car, you know, sensible for family use, lots of room etc. and now its time to buy a car for me. I am looking for comments on the C70 convertable about 2000/2001. A fine looking car but I read a lot about stability, "scuttle" and handling issues in reviews. Anyone like to illuminate on the meaning of scuttle and its seriousness? Will I notice the stability issues that much? As you can tell I'm not that knowledgable about cars, up till now it's been just for getting from A to B (usually with a load of kids,family,clutter or all) so not much experience of slghtly different cars.

Google says:

Sorry Niloc, Nil pointes there, no mention of scuttle in relation to cars as in "Scuttle shake" ????

Hi Mike the "scuttle shake" is a result of the road surface vibrations being transmitted through the car body.The roof of a car is a major stabilising factor with the regards to the structural integrity of a car, remove the roof and it is not as rigid and hence can flex more and this can be felt as vibration through the car being more evident than in a hard top version of the same . Yes the C70 has shake but all convertibles do even the latest Audi A3. Apperently the 3 Series is pretty good from this aspect. The"Gt" C70 handles pretty well and the strut brace helps,it is a super long distance cruiser which is what i feel it does very well and seat 4 in comfort. The best advide i can give is test drive them all then decide Steve

Hi Mike, Just bought an 2001 2.4 about two weeks ago. I read all about scuttle shake and yep most convertibles have it to some extent. Having changed from a large 4x4 which had all sorts of shakes it doen't bother me particularly but it mainly manifests itself in the steering wheel. As you drive the wheel does it's own thing and moves or shakes gently in your hands and is perfectly normal, just a little disconcerting the first time you feel it. If you have ever experienced a mild shimmy due to out of balance front wheels you are getting somewhere near to it (I do mean mild). The rougher the road the worse it becomes, though it is over quickly, big ruts tend to shake right through the car. On the positive side the ride is generally very good, surprisingly quite for a soft top and the handling is supple rather than taught. It is a fairly large car (just a tad shorter than an old style mondeo) and quite weighty so the car is effortless and very rewarding to be in. Mines a 2.4 auto which is quick enough though many reviews I have read suggest the 2.0 is a bit underpowered and the 2.3 a bit unruly unfortunately 2.4s seem to be on the rare side. Very pleased so far, nice to be in something that isn't a SAAB or 3 series though people keep telling me how much they like the look of the SAAB but it is tiny in the back and the Volvo will take a six footer in the front with plenty of room for another behind. If carrying 'stuff' around is important then check out the boot, very large but no height due to soft top.... Loving it at the moment Keith