Used Car of the Day: 2013 Volvo C30 Polestar

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Today's UCOTD is a speedy Swede with a stick.


Yes, that's right -- for $17K, you can get a stick-shift 2013 Volvo C30 Polestar with a six-speed manual.

The seller does say the car has a rebuilt title but he or she also says this C30 -- number 143 out of 250 -- is in excellent condition and has just 68,000 miles on the clock.

Factory equipment includes blind-spot monitoring, a moonroof, 17-inch Styx wheels, a black-and-tan interior, and an R-design body kit. Aftermarket equipment includes a KPAX racing exhaust, subwoofer, Thule roof rack, and tinted windows. The seller thinks the previous owner may have tuned it.

Within the past 2,000 miles, the seller has serviced the brakes, tires, timing belt, water pump, and, for some reason, the cylinder head.

Apparently, the car was purchased from an insurance auction and the right rear quarter panel has been repaired.

So there are some yellow flags here, but on the other hand, this is not an easy car to find. If this is your kind of thing, check it out here.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 25 comments
  • Fred Fred on Feb 17, 2023

    I looked a plain C30 back in 2009, as other have mentioned it seemed like a nicer more expensive Focus. I got a used Audi A3 for less. When ever I saw one I was reminded that I made a better choice.

  • Peter Peter on Feb 23, 2023

    speaking as a Volvo technician it is not at all uncommon to see a P1 Volvo (C30,C70,V50, and S40) in need of head work. In their infinite wisdom Volvo designed the P1 chassis with a washer fluid level sensor, but no coolant level sensor. P1 chassis a cars also had two notable weak spots in the cooling system once they get older, a leaking reservoir and a lower radiator hose with several bonded connections that tended to leak. Combine all this together and cars run low on coolant very slowly and then one day as your stuck in traffic on the I-10 your car informs you that it’s overheated. Very rarely does the head need replaced usually a gasket replacement corrects things.

  • Joe my family personally dislikes SUVs and there are plenty of others like us. It’s getting to the point that buying a good looking sedan or coupe is difficult. What do me my wife and two kids drive… CT5-V, Charger HEMI, Mustang GT and A Sentra.. (one of my kids is not a car enthusiast ) where do we go next? BMW? Audi? Would like to keep buying American when possible
  • Lou_BC Nah. Tis but a scratch. It's not as if they canceled a pickup model or SUV. Does anyone really care about one less Chevy car?
  • ToolGuy If by "sedan" we mean a long (enough) wheelbase, roomy first and second row, the right H point, prodigious torqueages, the correct balance of ride/handling for long-distance touring, large useable trunk, lush enveloping sound system, excellent seat comfort, thoughtful interior storage etc. etc. then yes we need 'more' sedans, not a lot more, just a few really nice ones.If by "sedan" we mean the twisted interpretation by the youts from ArtCenter who apparently want to sit on the pavement in a cramped F16 cockpit and punish any rear seat occupants, then no, we don't need that, very few people want that (outside of the 3 people who 'designed' it) which is why they didn't sell and got canceled.Refer to 2019 Avalon for a case study in how to kill a sedan by listening to the 'stylists' and prioritizing the wrong things.
  • Lou_BC Just build 4 sizes of pickups. Anyone who doesn't want one can buy a pickup based SUV ;)
  • Jor65756038 If GM doesn't sell a sedan, I'll buy elswhere. Not everybody likes SUV's or crossovers or is willing to buy one no matter what.
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