I'm not a volvo person. I've never owned one, i have worked on a few over the years: timing belts, other light maintenance.

I just moved to Utah and I've been looking for a commuter car. I have a 2001 Range Rover on 33" tall tires and a 2007 Toyota Seqioua on 31" tires and a leveling kit. Both being V8 gas guzzlers. i do a 60 mile daily commute

I was looking for an Audi, VW, Mercedes or BMW for a fixer upper car. But this one crossed my radar and i took a shot at it.

I found a 2000 V70 Turbo AWD. it has 189K miles. The owner is selling it for $700. He said he replaced the radiator and now its overheating. So he has given up trying to fix it.

He thinks it might need a headgasket. I'm thinking it has a bubble in the system because the cooling system has not been bleed properly. Simple fix and it would probably need a thermostat as well.

He has records for it showing most of the maintenance.

I have offered $400 for it and will be picking it up Monday.

Other then looking for a chocolate milk shake in the oil, signs of a blown head gasket. Anything else i should look for in the cooling system.

Expansion tank?
Coolant Level?
Coolant in Oil?


My tools are in storage until i move into my house in a week. so i'm trying to use my tool kit in my Range Rover to get this beater going.

All in all, the car is in really good shape other then the overheating issue.

Thanks

 

This is just personal opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

Beginning in '99, Volvo started adding all kinds of electronic controls. By 2000, electronics had worked their way into all the really expensive parts, like the transmission.

For my money, I'd never touch a 2000 model. Even if I got it for free, I wouldn't put the time, effort, and money into fixing the head gasket because I wouldn't want that to all be a waste when the transmission goes bad.

I think the head gasket is the least of your concerns. At $400, you'll be into the car for a little under $1000 when you're done with the head gasket. That's not bad, until you need a $5000 transmission.

Look for a '98 or older model and you'll avoid some headaches.