Hi Everyone,

My wife has always wanted a volvo wagon. And I do think they look pretty sweet. I prefer a T5, but no way can I afford a new one. So we are looking at getting a second car and the wifew was sold when she read heated seats. So I was wondering if all of you as volvo owners have opinions on if we should grab this car.

It's from a volvo dealer and it's a 2001 V70 2.4, it has 77,000 miles on it. It appears to be a one owner car and they bought it in Virginia and moved here to Texas. The dealer does not have service records before they moved here, but said they put in a new timing chain as part of the inspection and ready for sale measures.

I can also get a 3 year 36000 mile (comprehensive) warranty for an extra 3k. They are asking $9900 for it but can probably go a little lower.

Are these good cars? From what I have read on a couple sites they are hit and miss. They are either loved and reliable or money pits. Is this car worth getting? Warranty worth it? Any advice would be great... I dont have a carfax for it, but the dealer has Autocheck and it got a 92 if that means anything. The VIN is YV1SW58D311134065....

Thanks for anything that will help push me towards this to make the little woman happy.

 

Be VERY careful with 2001. These had a horrendous issue with the transmission. I believe it has to do with a part of the transmission software that would shift to neutral each time the car came to a complete stop. Then bump into 1st when leaving a stop. One of those ideas that sounded great, but in practice the gear couldn't handle it. It basically guarantees you a bad transmission.

NOTE: This is what I've garnered from reading tons of threads here and at swedespeed. It is not first-hand knowledge.

I personally own a 2006 V70 AWD turbo and love it. Not great on gas in the city, though.

 

So get the extended warranty, and hope the tranny goes out within 36k miles? heh.... they have a couple 02s as well. one 2002 Volvo V70 2.4 XC, it has roughly 79000 miles on it.

 

At the end of last January, I bought an '06 V70 2.5t for my wife. She loves the car, and of course, the heated seats. I concur with the warnings about the '01 -- a replacement transmission (and it seems that's what's needed, not just a repair) is very expensive. Electrical glitches aren't that uncommon, also, from the issues raised here. Consumer Reports shows increased reliability/less trouble with newer (circa 2004 and forward) for the V70 and the S60 which has the same powertrains and body forward of the
A pillars, at least.

The car we bought had just under 13,000 miles on it (a lease turn in, not uncommon here in Metro Detroit as lots of Ford executives leased Volvos) so it was practically new. Clean carfax and service records. Volvo certified warranty so we have essentially a 3 year new car warranty on the expensive stuff. The window sticker price was just under $40K. Our price? $22K. A good deal for us given the low mileage on this car. So it cost us about what a new Honda Accord/Toyota Camry/Ford Fusion would have cost in a lower trim line.

Be aware, however, that like many Euro cars, maintenance isn't cheap. Volvo insists on lots of inspections. My dealer was even worse, but I read the owner's manual and saved money much to the dismay of the service writer.

Mileage? Per the trip computer, about 24 average, but much of her driving is highway. On the open road, it gets much closer to 30 mpg which given the power of the engine, is quite acceptable. Heavy foot = worse mileage.

She feels safe, she's happy. So I'm happy.

 

I concur. With the turbo engine and AWD, I get about 29MPG on the highway and about 16 to 17MPG in the city. I am pretty easy on the throttle. I'm sure that those number could be pretty bad if I wasn't so easy-going....

 

The forum has provided some pretty good inputs: Thanks guys! My comments will run along similar lines, The tranny is a known weak spot according to the forum. For me I have 104K miles on my 2001 V70 T5a and not a glitch! However on the advice of the forum, I started replacing the fluid at 80K and then at 33K intervals. I changed at 70K and then early at 100K to make keeping track easier. My tranny shifts like new. However, my dealer was quite on top of the neutral at stop issue and they reprogrammed my car at the 30K service. The other known weakness is the electronic throttle. Warranted 10 years or 200K. You are pushing the 10 year. It will fail, and if you follow the forums you can fix this for around $700. Yep, you be without a car while you do this, so factor this in. I'd look for 2003 or newer, but personally would not walk away from a GOOD DEAL on a 2001. Consider your ability to do simple things the forum ca help you with. If you want the best with no work, then go newer than 2002. Just my 2 cents, I hope more members will comment.

Jerry