My wife and I have found a 2004 S60 R AWD with the twin intercooled Turbo engine. What are some of your thoughts on this car? It has 34,000 miles and they are asking $19,500 for it. Are there any things to beware of on these cars? I have a 99 S70 and it has 137000 miles on it. That S70 is my only other experience with a Volvo. Does the AWD activate only in the Advanced mode or is it for traction control? Is the AWD driving the car at all times? What is the fuel mileage for the 2004 S60 R? Sorry for so many questions but want to know some things before dropping the cash.. Thanks.

 

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2004 S60 R engine compartment.

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The Volvo AWD system is only good up until 30MPH. After 30MPH it is strictly FWD.

 

I have never heard of the AWD system shutting off after 30 MPH. Just wondering where you got that info???
That doesn't seem right that the AWD shuts off. I would want AWDALL the time.

 

Reading around many Volvo forums. Tech can back me up on this.

It does quit after 30MPH and is strictly FWD, that is how the Volvo AWD system works. It isn't Full-Time AWD.

 

Well first off, I absolutely my S60 R, but I recently bought it and can't offer a whole lot of watch out for this or that, b/c I haven't run into any real issues. The price for the mileage is un-beatable as long as everything is right with the car. Mine had 32,000 and I paid 23,500. Also The better a warranty you can get is always a better, b/c like any newer volvo's these cars can be quite expensive to fix(mainly labor). I get 20MPG around town, but I do have a heavy foot, on a recent trip from PA to NC I got 26MPG doing all highway driving. Be prepared for tiring rubbing on the wheel wells when you turn the wheel the whole way it's normal and will not cause any harm. The AWD system works in all three suspension settings and is not just for traction control but many other aspects of control as well, as for the other posts about cutting off at 30MPH, I as well have never heard it, but can't deny it either. I will say this--this winter in PA, the AWD system kicked *** even having max performance summer tires on through the whole season(yes I know thats really stupid) I never got close to getting stuck. If you have any other questions, let me know, I'll help anyway I can.

 

I was just curious S70driver because I haven't heard of the AWD system disabling. I would like to see what tech has to say about it.

 

It's RED, it's an R and it's under $20K. What else do you need to know.

 

This is wrong. The S60R (and I assume most if not all current Volvos) ismostly FWD until slippage is detected. Then power gets set to the rear.From personal experience, I can tell you it works above 30 mph.

Please post thelinks that gave you this insight...


The AWD works in any suspension setting. Traction Controlcan be deactivated by pressing the DSTC button five times quickly. Do it too slowly and you need to start over.

Without looking at Edmunds/KBB, the price sounds good. As with any car, make sure the scheduled maintenenceand updates were done. I get about 20 mpg with some highway. If you are not careful driving, the front wings will scrape on everything!! I almost always back in everywhere so I don't cub them.

I absolutely love mine too!!

 

well??? did you get it? thats such a great deal. it took me forever to find my s60r. i finally found the 6 speed i was looking for, it had 51,000 miles and i got it for 21,000.

 

I've been told that the 2004 and 2005 R's have a potentially serious engine problem. I'm afraid I can't remember the specifics. Someone here should know the details, and about what percentage of cars tends to be affected. Probably not a high percentage.

Edit: see below; actually a semi-serious AWD system issue.

 

I haven't heard this one yet. No indication on your website what the problem might be?

 

I don't think so.

I've had email exchanges with a couple of people. I'll try to find them, but the problem is that R isn't easy to search for...

Edit:

Here's what I found in one email (I thought an earlier person had informed me of an engine problem, but here the problem is with the AWD system):

The common problem to which you refer is angle gear failure. Check out http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=50601 for a really good and concise explanation. In so far as my own non-empirical observations are concerned, angle gear failure is uncommon among high mileage ’06/’07 R cars, and more prevalent in high mileage conception-’05 R cars, but that could easily be a function of skewed sample size. Here is a link to an informal, terribly skewed poll that some of the R-car loyal put together a while back: http://forums..swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=50627

The transmission issue is less complained about because Volvo Cars of North America is good about authorizing the repair, so it is hard to know how common it really is. There is an internal Volvo directive (often referred to as a “TNN�) which instructs every dealer how & when to replace the valve body (http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=94154). In theory, anyone should be able to go to any Volvo dealer and get the repair for free if they can demonstrate that their car is symptomatic. However, things don’t always work this way since service at Volvo dealers in North America tends to be incompetent, argumentative, discourteous, and highly variable from dealer to dealer –good dealer service repair departments are rare, but good Volvo-only-independent mechanics are common in the NW and NE…

 

Wheww,I got worried there when you said potentially serious engine prob.The angle gear does seem to be the weak link in pre-06 models but is part of the AWD system, if I forgot to mention that.

I have a manual tranny and can't remember reading about problems with it. The auto may be a diff story, but I haven't paid much attention to that.

 

I do remember an engine issue from another email. But I can't find that email now. I could be misremembering. Or the person who emailed me might have been off. If no one here is aware of any such problem, I wouldn't worry about it. Truly common problems EVERYONE would know about.