What's up my fellow Volvoians? I have a '98 S70 (auto, N/A) with 120,xxx miles and a bunch of stuff wrong with it (pass. door won't open, both front lock actuators are broken, gear shift button broken, antenna won't go up or down, shocks/springs busted, etc...). My grandmother is getting rid of her '00 S40 (auto, 1.9T) with 44,xxx miles and as far as I know the only thing wrong with it is that is has a broken gear shift button (is that a common Volvo thing?) and it doesn't have a CD player, though that's easily fixed.

So after researching KBB/NADA, it looks like I'd be trading my car + roughly $1500-2000 for the S40. Now, for that amount of money I could easily fix all the crap that's wrong with my S70 and maybe get a good tune-up. So I guess my real question here is, which would yall spend the money on? Fixing up the S70? Or getting the slightly newer, much lower mileage S40?

BTW, I do not really know much about the S40's (or S70's) so I dono if they are any more/less reliable than what I have now, and seeing as how this is my daily driver, reliability is my main concern.

 

Sounds like your S70 is falling apart. Also, it's not turbo. The miles do not mean much to me but if your grandmother is going to give you a deal/steal on the S40, go for it. I went about 4 years without playing any cd's. Who plays them anymore???

 

Not being turbo isn't really a big deal to me. Honestly, that's just one more thing that can break and I've heard that those 1.9T motors weren't the most reliable, though the people I heard that from may have been talking from a modified perspective. And I love CD's. I'm not real big on the i-pod while I'm driving thing. I kick it old school (kinda).

 

not much of a fan of early S40's, BUT your S70 sounds rather neglected and I would suspect some more major things may be around the corner for it. ie. if I saw it for sale I would think " This guy never fixes anything! What else has been ignored on it?" so I would be inclined to offer you very little for it. Just me.

Hopefully grammy has taken car of the 40, buy it.

 

Sorry but have to disagree w/others; '98 S70 is essentially a refined 850; IMO the best car volvo ever built. For that your gonna get an early MY of a new body style? The S40 have more than their share of issues too...

 

stick with the s70, @ least it drive.

 

I wouldn't say I've neglected it, though it has taken a backseat to my T/A. I've taken pretty good care of it for the past 2 years I've owned it, always gotten tune-ups at Volvo specific shops, always put quality tires/gas/oil in it, etc... (a lot of the stuff was broken when I got the car). It seems like most people who I've spoken to who know stuff about Volvos are sayin to stick with the S70. No one has really explained why though. Are the S40s unreliable?

 

The rap on S40's? Basically the first series were built on a Mitsubishi platform. Not 100% Volvo. (But hey, then Ford screwed them all up!). Also new models always have issues and the early 40's are no exception. Still, by 2000 they were nearing the end of the run and were as good as Volvo could make them.
All things equal the 70 is a better car. But not with lots of broken stuff on one.

 

IMO s70's drive better than s40's. Bigger platform also. No right answer here except what you want.

 

I agree with bulldog. I was looking for a car and I ended up settling for an S40 against my friends better advice. I have not driven an S70 but I know that they drive better than an S40. The S40 is basically a smaller and cheaper version of the S60. I would take any S70 over any S40 anyday.

 

Alright, well I guess I'll stick with the S70. It's in the shop right now so I guess I'll go ahead and start gettin stuff worked on. It started making what sounds like a valve ticking noise the other day so hopefully that's not anything big. Appreciate the help everyone.