Hey all, I am planning on buying my aunts old Volvo but could use some advice as it’d be my first Volvo ever. It’s a 2000 V70 XC AWD with only ~75k miles (my grandma has been using it the past years and she doesn’t drive much anymore). She has always taken it to the local Volvo dealer and has done every service they recommended, so everything should be taken care of.

I’ve been reading through this forum a little and understood that it’s mostly the timing belt (incl. idle pulley & tensioner), serpentine belt, water pump, AC and electronic throttle control to look out for, as those would be expensive to fix/replace. Going through the service records since ~2015 however, I couldn’t find any mention of a timing belt replacement. I know the car has very low miles, but given its age, isn’t that something that should’ve been replaced by Volvo recently? I read every 120k miles / 10 years in this forum somewhere.

The AC was recharged recently so I’m not too worried about that, but I’m wondering if the timing belt (and water pump?) could be overdue? KBB values the car at ~3k which sounds like a good deal to me, but knowing Volvos can be expensive to maintain I want to estimate what major work might be coming up before making the decision to buy it. Thanks for your help!

 

using the 10 year rule, the car should be on its third timing belt! Look under the hood to see if there's any stickers or sharpee writing that notes when the timing belt was done. If you don't have any service records and don't have any markings, then I'd just have the service done. A $600 maintenance item is a lot cheaper than being stranded with a $3000 head rebuild. Volvo water pumps are pretty stout - but you may want to pop off the timing belt cover to see if anything is going on there - ie any front seal oil leaks? any weeping from the water pump? does the timing belt/tensioner look older than 2-3 years (hard to tell but if there's any signs of cracking in the rubber and if the tensioner has tarnished due to moisture then its probably overdue. I'd also check the PCV system by doing a simple rubber glove test (see google) - usually this is a high mileage car problem so it may not be a concern - but note if you have oil weeping from the cam seals then that's be the first thing to test.

 

Good idea testing the PCV, will do. And yes, if I can’t find proof the timing belt has been replaced recently I’ll just have it changed - better safe than sorry. Is that something I should insist on deducting from the purchase price? I want to pay a fair price, neither too much nor to little given the age and miles of the car. KBB really is the only indication I have so far.