Hi, good to be here,

I’ve just signed up. Hope I’m in the right place. I had a ’71 1800 for 20 years. Wish I had another one. Sorry this might be long. I hope you’ll tell me whether I made a brilliant or idiotic choice.

I just bought a 2000 S70 SE. A 14 year old car but with only 58,000 miles. A salvage to boot. Only the the hood, which I saw, was scrunched in the last year. I bought it from a dealer who buys only newer salvage Volvos and repairs them himself for resale. He only bought this older one because of low miles/condition - says he.

Everything looks almost new, engine is clean, new serp belt - runs good, it’s had the throttle software recall and 3 others, everything works, 4 new (regular) Bilstein struts, leather - no cracks, all rubber looks good, no leaks so far, steering seems tight, it had to pass smog and lighting check for the transfer. Very low emissions. No smoke. Previously changed to synthetic oil. Haven’t been underneath it yet. California car.

What I’m wondering is... did I make a big mistake? I had a ’98 Camry (180k miles - totaled) . What I’ve read about S70s so far is a lot of scary, expensive repairs and mystery problems. From the service records I tracked down, it’s on its 2nd alternator, 6th battery, headlights twice (recall?), pads (15k - rotors recommended already).

The records ‘accuse’ the first owner of doing something to kill the electrical multiple times. Dealer was saying it wasn’t started enough. Towed in at least 4 times. They only drove it 2k miles a year. The dealer (Santa Monica) charged for, while under warranty, 3 batteries and an alternator before 20k. The dealer declared the charging system perfect then 30 miles later had to replace the alt/battery (15k). The service note said the new 100 amp alt was putting out 146 amps?? 2 more batteries. I came across complaints of voltage regulator/faulty actuator plate in the alternator issues causing all kinds of intermittent problems. ’90s electronics.

Only 4k miles between ’06 and ’12 - no records. 35k miles in its last 2 years with the second owner who got a rotor re-surface/pads (25k), trans/ps fluid change 30/50k, drive belt and a second complete fuel system cleaning (56k - first one at the dealer 15k). He crashed it a week later.

The seller said it would need a timing belt at 100,000 but I’ve seen posts urging doing it at 60-70,000? And he would do it for $250 - 500 with water pump, idlers, etc. A good deal? The Carfax the seller gave me only had records from the second owner - strangely none of the dealer records which the dealer still had. And they had a major service listed incorrectly.

So, is this a reliable car or a money pit? Seems to lean toward the pit. What’s worn out after 14 years even though it’s so low mile? What was badly designed? ABS module comes up? Electrical problems? Electronic Throttle Module? MAF sensor? TCM? Fragile front end components? Frequent brake jobs? First year for CVVT and the 5 speed and ETM and front drive? Didn’t realize there were so many firsts. Was Volvo consistent during that period or were there gremlins and lemons? This model lasted only three years. This place has a long list of bad things: Rent, Lease, Sell or Keep: 1998 Volvo S70 | The Truth About Cars

I wanted another Camry but, with my budget, everything was over 110k miles. Compared to the Camry, everything seems so gross. The engine/gearbox is loud, it rides very stiff - makes lots of things rattle inside although the interior looks amazingly new, the shifter/lock makes loud claks when I shift. Brakes groan and are grabby - can’t make my limousine stops. And take my foot off the brake for a second and it’s right away at 5 mph with no throttle. I’m wondering if all this is the normal?

And the worst thing I overlooked is there’s “no” second gear. Guess I’m old but I never saw a car I couldn’t manually put into second - 3k rpm before it will shift out of first and no 3-2 downshift but I do get an unwanted 2-1. Is that a feature? Am I missing something? Lots of hills where I live. The manual says the trans ‘adapts’ to one’s driving but it’s not doing well so far. Seems clunky and always in the wrong place. Putting it into gear feels like I ‘ve got my foot on the gas instead of on the brake - clank, aggressive idle. I’m having to do a lot more braking without a second gear. First year blues for the AW 50-50 5 speed? Haven’t yet found any praise for it. It was changed to AW 55-50 the next year?

I was without a car for a month before the insurance finally paid when I saw this one. I admit I didn’t research it and more trusted the seller who has been at it 20 years. It was hard to even get to prospects from my location so I took a chance on low mileage and Volvo and a guy who works only on Volvos. I was looking at entirely different cars.

Keep it or sell it? Do you like yours? After all my too late reading I think I’m answering my own question. So many electric demons.

This video will scare you into selling all your ’99 + cars:
youtube.com/watch?v=t-IzX8NOfkY and
youtube.com/watch?v=V7Iqx66S-zo

Hope I'm wrong.

I’m retired so there isn’t a lot of money for repairs. I’ll probably drive 2-4k a year. If I could get 50k low cost miles out of it that would do. They’ll probably rescind my license before then. Everyone keeps cars so long these days there are hardly any low mile cars under $8k. I kept $1k for emergency. I’ve done a fair amount of work on my cars but would like to minimize that and I probably don’t have the right eurotools. It was $4,600 with smog, lamp inspection, tax and license. About $400 markdown.

Thanks for any advice.

M

 

Cars don't get a salvage title from just needing a hood.

I wouldn't worry about the charging system unless the battery light is on. It will be hard to keep any battery charged driving the car so little.

The timing belt should be done right now based on time.

That transmission didn't see a lot of problems. Not sure what's happening with yours.

If it wasn't for the salvage title, I would buy a 2000 S70 for that price with those miles in a heartbeat if it was clean. I strongly suspect it needed more than a hood though.

 

At your projected 4,000 miles per year you should be fine. I have put about 20,000 miles on my car since May. Since then I have changed the oil twice, fixed some issues with my turbo, and replaced a water pump. The water pump had 258,000 miles on it.

You should be able to have the timing belt changed and drive it into the ground in 10 years. If the dash is making noise it will only get worse over time and drive you crazy.

 

Thanks for your advice.

I guess all my reading boiled down to: “The cost of repairs are insane, beware if you can barely afford the vehicle - don't purchase it if you think you can't afford to fix it.”

"When everything is operating they are a joy to drive but they certainly don’t have the reliability of a Japanese or Korean car. Unless you are a serious DIY’er, these vehicles can be expensive to maintain."

“Without DIY garage mechanics, these cars would have hit the crusher long ago. There is a reason 850s and S70s sell for less than 240s and 940s.”

How much is true - don't know? But a lot of people felt this way. Most were pissed about the way Volvo handled their recalls esp the ETM, and the way dealers couldn't solve problems.