Hello all,

First time post here. I live in Switzerland and my wife and I are after a used C70 with manual transmission.

Two cars are available to us in our price range:

A 2007 Momentum 2.4i with the 170 HP motor, 60,000 km.

A 2008 Momentum 2.4 with the 140 HP motor and 125,000 km.

Both are similarly equipped and have been regularly maintained. We have seen neither car (they are both several hours away) but did call the garage selling the 2008 model and were told it is still on the original timing belt.

The 2007 is slightly cheaper than the 2008 (and my wife prefers its colour).

Which of these two sounds like a better bet? And equally, what are the questions we should be posing and issues we should be verifying with either?

Thanks for any and all support - not a great car expert but like what I see in the C70.

Best wishes,

Dave M

 

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum.

From what you've posted I'd say the 2007. The most important thing would be service records. Oil change intervals and repair history. Then get lots of pics and look hard for any signs of wear and neglect. Some people can be real hard on cars.

 

Thanks for the quick response, rspi. As it turns out we have a friend who knows cars who lives about half an hour from the dealer selling the 2007 model, and he went and took a good look at the 2007 model for us.

He says the car globally seems from the exterior to be in good shape. No evidence of any collisions although there is a slight crease (goes in about 1/4 inch and extends front to back about 4 inches long) on the rear drivers side fender in front of the wheel well. So either a fender bender during a lane change, or a whacked out reversing job running up against a low post or something has made some cosmetic damage that has been somewhat poorly filled but according to my friend does not go down to metal.

I am experimenting here as it seems we can add attachments so I am attaching a photo my buddy shot of this crease - hope it comes through.

Other than that tires have a year or so of wear left to go on them and are symmetrically worn, a few parking lot dings and chips, and one or two areas where the rims have scraped a curb. Interior looked good - bit of polish on the wheel which is to be expected and otherwise nothing remarkable, just well kept, and even according to my friend, very well kept.

So as far as he can see looks to have been a well cared for car with a minor bit of body damage that he estimates we could get fixed (if we wanted to) for around 500 Swiss francs and up to a thousand if we wanted to polish out all the chips and scratches etc. All cars here in Switzerland have to pass very rigorous emissions control and general mechanical inspections every 4 years and this one just passed so at face value there is not likely to be a major problem lurking under the hood.

One question I have is whether in 2007 the European market models had a petrol engine running at about 170 HP. This is clearly being marked as a 170 HP model which for me means it has the more powerful of the 2 diesel engines on the European market. To my eyes it cannot or at least should not be the T5 which is a gas engine available on both the Euro and N. American markets simply because that engine puts out around 230 HP. But the listing for the car says it is a gas, not diesel engine. Seems more likely to me it is diesel.

Does anyone know if the moniker 2.4i (which my friend confirms is on the tail of the car) corresponds to a petrol or a diesel engine?

Best,

Dave M

 

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/press/vo...lprod_spec.pdf