850 or v70?
 

I noticed how the 850 forum is chock full of threads and the v70 forum is pretty empty. what's up with that?

Do people here prefer the 850 over the v70?

I have a basic 850 wagon that I really enjoy owning and driving. Me and my son both love the built in child seat. It is kind of slow but was maintained very well by the PO.

I have been looking at v70s and noticed that they are hard to find with the built in child seat. A 2000 v70 GLT would be a lot quicker than a base 850 right? How rare is it to find a v70 with a manual transmission? There is one for sale by me but it doesn't have a child seat. I can't find a v70 with the child seat. What is the consensus here about v70s? You all like your 850 much more? Something about the boxier design, it is more traditional? thanks and here are some pics of the GLT:

http://www.use.com/images/s_2/2000vo...nd=35630058988
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/2000vo...d=456262377153
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/2000vo...d=177017724902

I think alot prefer the 850 over the V70's. Actually there is not all that much of a difference between them. The body got a little face lift and the interior got a make over. But the main body is pretty much the same.

The manual V70's are pretty rare. The 850's did not come to the U.S. in a turbo manual transmission. If you were to find one it would have been converted to a manual.
If the deal is pretty good I would buy that GLT. You might be able to find a used child seat to install in it.

thanks, from what I have read here the turbo v70s did not come here with a manual either.

a dealer wants $4K for the 2000 v70 w/only 87K miles.
a private seller wants $5.5K for a manual 2001 v70 w/150K.
the dealer might give me something for my 97 850 w/185K miles.
how hard would it be to swap in a child seat?

4K for a v70 with 87k sounds pretty good to me.
My buddy just bought a base passat with 138k for 4 grand.
Id take a v70 over the passat anyday.

I do favor the boxier design of the 850 tho.

My heart really belongs to the 740's tho. Boxy and RWD is the best!

I don't understand? Of those 3 I would definitely keep the 850, even though it's sans a turbo..

If you want a V70, go with '98 MY, or 2004 and newer.

A big difference too is the 850 seems to be a bit more user friendly when it comes to home repairs. They weren't all controlled by one computer that seems to be the bain of everyone's life......LOL

That is good advice and what I should do. I would like something with better acceleration though and maybe a sunroof.

I had the tire on rear wheel on the driver's side checked for a slow leak the other day and the guy noticed that the wheel has a lot of play. It wiggles around. What could that be, the bushings and bearings? I drive my kid around in the car and don't want it to be unsafe. I am not much of a greasemonkey either and don't know of a good volvo mech around here.

I don't believe 850's are preferred over S/V70's, just sold more of them when Volvo made the change. Also, you see more of them on here becuase more people are getting run down 850's for next to nothing and coming here to try to fix them. S/V70's have not quite reached that stage of roughness yet.

I'd keep the 850 and buy the V70 GLT if you can have 2 cars.

Your 850 likely has some worn suspension part like a worn or torn bushing in the delta link or something. Most suspension shops (places that do alignments) can tell you what's needed and/or fix it for you.

The V70 is a newer car with a lot of interior improvements. You will find the V70 to be quieter and have a more solid interior.

I hear you; but frankly volvo changed a lot of technologies on the S/V70 line in 1999 and that caused high incidence of ETM problems, Transmission problems, and other issues. From what I've seen they didn't really get those things sorted out until sometime around 2004 MY.

What rspi said.

BTW: i take offense to use of the term greasemonkey; it refers to someone who can R+R an oil bung and handle a grease gun (which are pretty much all in the antique shops by now..); it does not refer to someone who is a skilled tech, and more importantly, understands how automotive systems work. FYI. ;)

There was some turbo V70's brought here manual. The 70 series is not really an easy swap to a manual. The 99 and up cars are nearly impossible at the moment to do. Or would cost about 1 to 2K in computers to make it work.

I kind of like the 850's better because there is less inside breaking compared to the 70 series. The 70's the door panels come apart all the time. Other stuff breaks as well.
The 850 has it's issues as well but I like the 850 style over the 70's.

Yes, but he is talking about himself, his skill level, his knowledge of the automotive systems and his ability when he says greasemonkey and not any of us. He even says he would like to find a good Volvo mechanic but apparently presently doesn't know of one.

A1Engine Repair
A2Automatic Transmission/Transaxle
A3Manual Drive Train & Axles
A4Suspension & Steering
A5Brakes
A6Electrical/Electronic Systems
A7Heating & Air Conditioning
A8Engine Performance
C1Automobile Service Consultant
F1Compressed Natural Gas Vehicle
L1Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
P2Automobile Parts
S1Body Systems & Special Equipment
S2Diesel Engines
S3Drive Train
S4Brakes
S5Suspension & Steering
S6Electrical/Electronic Systems
S7Air Conditioning Systems & Controls
T2Diesel Engines
T3Drive Train
T4Brakes
T5Suspension & Steering
T6Electrical/Electronic Systems
T7Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning
T8Preventive Maintenance & Inspection

This is just ASE and not any of the factory GM or Chry TECH training or aftermarket certifications. If I can handle greasemonkey, I think you should be able to let it slide too. ;)

FYI: I only made the comment to illustrate that there is a distinction between the term grease-monkey and an automotive tech or mechanic, which may, or may not, have been lost on the OP and the audience here.

And it was made tongue-in-cheek; hence the wink emoticon (;)). I.e. when i said i was taking offense, i was being facetious. Not trying to start anything here; just trying to clarify.

BTW: I am a fan of your posts, despite all your certs. ;)

Well ...... there is knowing how to do it and then there is the challenge of getting those 10 thumbs in there to actually do it !!

And thanks.

Actually by gdog's definition of of greasemonkey, I am a greasemonkey and proud of it. I handle a grease gun on a regular basis and own three of them. I have been looking for a reasonably priced pneumatic grease gun locally on craig's list that uses 5 gallon buckets of grease. I maintain and use some machines that were made in the 1950s and 60s. Those machines put food on our table. I have busted many a knuckle freeing up rusted nuts and bolts on those old contraptions.

I meant no offense and really did not think that I offended anyone anyway. When I have taken cars apart I always wind up with more parts left over when I put them back together. That is not a good sign, so I leave it to the pros.

what is R+R'ing an oil bung though?

LOL, I wish there was a way to grease a few things on these old creaky, dry bearings Volvo's. If someone figures out how to grease a idler roller bearing without R+Ring it, please let me know.

R&R = Remove and replace
Oil bung = Typically it's the plug in a barrel.

As for the "greasemonkey" we are just poking fun at each other over that one ;)