Hello,

I am a student planning to purchase a used car. I have come across a used volvo c70 convertible with the 2.3 liter high pressure turbo with ~90k miles on it and what seems to be a clean vehicle history report. The previous owner took it to the dealership for all of the scheduled maintenance (up to 40k miles) and changed oil regularly by a volvo dealership. The car has past state safety and emissions inspections.

It seems that the previous owner did have some electrical issues that were resolved (window) had the Sway bar links replaced and had the motor mount replaced.

I see no record of the timing belt being replaced or any ETM work being done, but I have not asked for full service records yet.

I know that there are some known issues with this car. I am a little worried about the ETM.

Assuming that the timing belt were replaced, could this be a relatively worry free car? I will have some income, but I wont be able to drop thousands to fix my car every few months. I would like to learn some home auto repair, but I would be new to that.

I know many people come to the forums with problems, but is there any likelihood that in the cars forst 90K miles all of the things that were going to fail have failed and this can be a car i can count on?

I will be driving <5000 miles per year and i need her to last at least 5 years.

Thanks in advance!

 

The ETM problem was with the NA models, not the Turbo's. Volvo doesn't recommend changing the timing belt until 105K, which explains why it probably hasn't been done. However, if you read around on the forum that most of us usually change them at 75K, so I would factor the cost to change it into my offer. Maintenance on turbo's is higher that NA engines but if it has been serviced regularly you should be OK.

 

You didn"t mention the year? I have a 2002 C70 and really enjopy the car... As a rule of thumb, you should probably budget about $2K per year for maintenance...

 

ahh im sorry forgot to mention the year. It's a 2003. From what I have read the 2003 lpt seems like it might be a LITTLE less repair hungry than the others... Thoughts?

 

We have had little troubling maintance for over 100K miles. The glue on the rear window gave out and the insurance company paid for a replacement top (It's hot in Texas). The front engine mount (by wheel well) failed and my indy did that and the timing belt kit, water pump and serpetine belt. We also changed out the brakes. All this was done just before 100k rolled over. The positive cable is a common known problem with this model. The dealer caught it before stranding occured at about 65K and I just changed out the antenna mast. It has been a really reliable auto. We plan to keep it.

 

I just had to replace the throttle body on a 2000 C70 turbo 5 spd at 108,000. The left rear window seems loose but still works (I don't open it anymore than what is necessary to operate the top. The dealer told me that the ETM on this model had problems and the warranty was extended to 10 years, but I was past that.

 

I live in DC and drove to Alabama this holiday weekend. my GF suggested I use High Octane and get better milage....so I did. But i wanted a good comparison...so I drove off with 1/2 of a tank of Reg. I refilled with Reg again and wrote down the milage. Short story:

On the way down:
1st fill up 73125-73559=484 I got as close to empty as I could. Filled up with 1.5 gallons. REG
2nd Fill up: 73559-74002=493 REG this is part of the way down....'t drive while there.
Way up:
1st fill up 74002-74545 (74510 Exactly 2 gall left so I added the 35 miles to empty to the total...could be more could be less)= 543 Premium Unleaded 18 gal/543=30.1 mpg

I have currently a lil less than 3/4 to a 1/2 of a tank...got caught in traffic. Total cost round trip was $218.00...

And we hit speeds of 85-90 at times...she has a lead foot!!

 

If you are a student, I hope you brush up on your English. Your C70 "passed" (not "past") the state inspection. Good luck. I have a 2002 c70 and have never had trouble. i do regular maintenance every 8,000 miles at my Volvo dealer. I use synthetic oil.

 

Grammar is important on the interwebz, right guys?

Christopher - I'd replace the timing belt asap if you plan on getting the car. My girlfriends went out at 89k miles and we had no idea what happened, just kept driving it. Ended up paying 3 grand for the shop to fix it. Other than that, it has been an excellent car, and I've got one of my own now too. If you plan to do the oil changes urself, u might want to invest in the exact filter wrench, it's a pain in the butt to get that thing off.