Hi All,
Former '95 850GLT (5sp man) here looking to purchase an S60 for my teenaged son. This forum has been great in researching everything.. thanks!

I found a well maintained '02 AWD with 99K mikes, timing belt service was recently done too. $5K. What I have learned about the transmission issues for this year has now become a strong concern. My question is, if it got this far without issues (mileage) is it less probable to have the issue? I know a transmission is wear item in a sense, but could not determine a failure pattern from what I read so far.

Should I run? Finding a solid,safe, and reliable but cheap old car is challenging! Can't bring myself to looking at any of the reliable Japanese "toasters".. rather fix something less reliable than have a boring as hell car!

 

My 02 S60 had 112K on it when we sold it (hail damage) and all we had done was have the software for the transmission updated as Volvo recommended. Mine wasn't an AWD but we never had transmission problems.

 

My feeling on buying any is to ask as many questions as you can think of. Have service intervals been met on time? Any issues/repairs outside of normal? Loose parts? Do all electronic devises operate as expected? Does the owner/seller have receipts of work done? Have there been any nonstandard parts installed that may accelerate wear and tear?
A lot of the decision rests on proper care and service intervals.

I have owned a used 2002 s60 AWD (1,333 miles) for two years and have no regrets. It was a lease a lease and appeared to have been well maintained. The transmission does have issues when traffic dictates starting at a slow speed. I attribute it to low a pressure in the valve body causing a hard clunk if the engine RPM is too high. I have been careful not to start too quickly from a dead stop or slow takeoff, and so far so good. I also changed the A.T.F. last year and will change it again next year.