Odd question. I just bought a 2011 XC70 T6 with 111,000 miles from a friend. I bought it without really thinking about it, because the price was good, and I was looking for a more powerful SUV than my Nissan. He had the engine replaced with a new factory engine ($15,000) at 79,000 miles and last month, to prepare it for sale, he spent over $4000 to replace an engine mount, HVAC motor, all the radiator hoses, the battery, and had the turbo gone through and replaced a few belts or something. The car seems to run great, the interior is good, except for a significant tear in the rear seat, one mirror turn signal is broken, and the paint is just OK, with lots of little scratches, but no dents. My impression is that he did OK maintenance, but spent a lot of money when stuff went wrong over the years. He sold it because it was his daughter's car and she left the nest and he didn't need the car. My question is: based on how much he has spent over the years (more than I have spent on all my cars in the last 20), I'm getting the impression that I might have bought a money pit. I drive only 5000 miles a year, and reliability is my #1 priority, followed by performance. I only paid $7000 for the car and could flip it for at least $10,000 (probably more) where I live. I am thinking of doing that and spending that, plus some extra for a much newer, well maintained rig. My friends tell me it is a great car, and that I should just drive it and not worry about it, since I invested so little. I am picky about how my car looks, and the bad paint bugs me, so I am thinking of at least having the hood wrapped or re-painted, since it looks pretty crappy. I know that it is impossible to predict major repairs coming up. Any opinions?

 

Three months on.
Have you been driving it?
Which engine is in that year's T6? One of the straight sixes? Had the "reworked 5-cylinder white engine" been introduced by then?
Servicing the AWD / bevel gear should be done too.

 

It was the T6 300 horsepower engine. I did not keep it. When I bought it, I was thinking that I might flip it because I only paid $7000. I figured I could get $10,000 for it. I liked it alot, but it had one feature which I cannot tolerate....it was black and after a good wash, was dirty-looking in two days. I live in a dusty, windy city and have to park outdoors. So, just for fun, I listed it on Craigslist for $13,000 and sold it within a week. The guy who bought it is a certifiable T-6 nut. He already owns one, and has jacked up the engine to over 350 horsepower. He lived 3 hours away so had me drop it off at the local European mechanic, who did a complete inspection ($395 at buyers expense), gave it a thumbs up. Only issue was cracked ball joint. The guy drove over with his son in his other T6, handed me $13,000 cash without even test-driving it. He only wanted it for the engine (factory replacement with 33K miles). I found a 2016 S60 T5 Inscription Platinum at a used car lot, for $10,000 (original sticker was around $48K) with 50,050 miles on it. White, top of the line, with way more tech than I can understand. I got it for $7200. Immediately took it for a 800 mile drive in the mountains. It was flawless, just about as fast as the XC70, corners a bit better, sprung a bit softly for my liking and I got 38.5 mpg driving fairly aggressively. and, it is White! The interesting thing about the Inscription is that it is the first Chinese-made Volvo. Apparently had some piston ring problems with early production numbers, but this was built in November of 2016, so should be OK.