hello VF,

despite both my mother & father driving Volvo 240s in the 1980s & 90s, i am looking at acquiring my first now (XC70)

i would love your feedback on the pros & cons of getting a '07 with 59k versus '08 with 83k or '10 with 47k (the latter is 20 grand, the other 2 approx 11 grand)

thank you

 

As with buying any use car, the key is to get an inspection done by a trained eye and to see if you can get the maintenance history (talking about the prior owner or dealer not CarFax - which is useful for other info like where/when it was registered). All of those are fairly young and shouldn't have any major issues outside of normal wear parts. The big maintenance items are timing belts (see https://www.volvotechinfo.com/index....ltInterval.pdf) most 2007 and newer are 120K miles or 10 years. Then I'd research price. Try sites like Auto-trader.com to see how many similar models are on the market and what they are asking to give you a sense of the market for that model. If you go with the 07 or 08, I'd probably treat the car to a full fluid flush - ie brakes, transmission, coolant to baseline unless you saw the car was maintained to factory specs. Also check the AC to make sure it blows cold and stays cold on the older 2.

 

thank you for rapid response.
i've been SCOURING every car site 24/7 for a month, calling, emailing and visiting dealers & used lots -- i hadn't really considered anything older than '08 because of higher APR & mileage, but a used dealer near Boston informed me today he ONLY buys '07s and older because of the 2.5T rather than 3.2
hence my joining forum today... i wanted the inside scoop from people with nothing to gain.