As the title says, I'm in the market for a used car, my budget being <$3500, but I'd obviously prefer to spend less. I'm mostly looking at 98-01 models, because they're mostly in my price range. I've been doing some research, but I don't feel like I know enough yet.

Are there any glaring issues to be wary of, or any reasons I should be looking at something else? I need something that I can perform maintenance on myself to keep costs down, and something with decent gas mileage. I'm no mechanic, but I can learn.

Any other knowledge you can share is always helpful. Thanks everyone.

 

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Maintenance records are worth GOLD. Post '98 models have issues with electronic throttle control. Try to find out it they have been replaced.

 

Having had a dozen Volvos now, and the simple fact that for whatever reason, I prefer the older models more, particularly the 850/S70 series, I wholeheartedly agree with the prior thread regarding the ETM, but also I would look to see when the ABS module was replaced - that particular part was in a Volvo Series recall and up until a couple or so years ago, was replaced for free at the dealer, however the recall has now since run out...........the ones that I have had either had them already replaced prior to my getting it, or in the case of the one I've had now for about 4 years, had never been replaced, but since the recall time period had already run out for me, and that it didn't give me any trouble until about a year ago, it was a non issue.

Those two items in particular, in my humble opinion, are definitely what you should look at - yes, having all of the maintenance records is hopeful and helpful, and a dealer can always run the VIN number to find out if it had been serviced by a Volvo dealer, in which case, you will at least have some clue about it's history, but if nothing else, have the car systematically looked over by someone who really knows Volvos, (not just any mechanic), before you buy it............

there is a difference, and I mean that - I've learned the hard way through the years, but since you want to do much of the stuff yourself you're that much further ahead...... A typical mechanic may mean well, but there are certain little things about the Volvo, and it's parts that the average mechanic may not be aware of, such as I recently moved to another state, and hadn't secured a good Volvo tech, so I had my oil changed at a AAA spot.

Well to make a long story short, they thought that not only was my turbo oil return gasket leaking, but also that my front/back struts/shocks were leaking - in a nutshell, neither of which was true, though no fault of the mechanic necessarily - it turns out that all of these items were just fine, and that what the mechanic thought was leakage, was actually only the fluid that is normally supposed to be expeled during usage.....so that was a big $900.00 difference there, but the guy just didn't know that about the car..........................hope this helps!

 

Was the recall on the ETM (TCM) or ABS module?

As for having the car checked out, I usually use a certified (licensed) car inspector to check cars out before I buy them. A lot of times, just looking a car over will tell you a lot. someone that lets the cosmetics go will also let repair items and maintenance go. However, a good car inspector can find more in an hour that you'll find in 3 months.

Most mechanics do not like working on Volvo's. I really don't think it's the cars fault, I think they just don't like the owners. Volvo's are engineered to be easy to repair by mechanics so there is really no excuse for them to shy away from them. The only thing that has gotten me from time to time is chasing wires, not sure why they choose the colors they decided to go with. Also, back in the 80's, Volvo decided to use recycled rubber on their electrical wire coatings which deteriorated in about 7 or 8 years. Once the coating of the rubber turned to dust the cars had a lot of electrical problems and some actually burned to the ground. Not sure why it was never a recall, maybe the years and the cost of replacement had something to do with it. In the late 80's they realized the problem and stopped using the rubber but there were millions of cars on the road by then. I till put over 400,000 miles on the one I had but I wouldn't let no one go under the hood to touch my wires.

The S70 is one of the most comfortable cars I have ever driven. There are lots of suppliers out there to help you with parts and lost of help here to DIY. If you can, have a car inspector check the car over. Here are the things I would worry about:

1. Bad transmission (for some reason people though these transmissions were maintenance free).
2. Low compression (I would have the inspector do a compression test).
3. Bad head gasket (just to much work to do for the average person).
4. Leaking steering rack (more work = hard for DIY).
5. ETM
6. Door locks (usually in the heat).
7. Remotes
8. Front suspension worn.

Just about anything else with these cars are easy to fix. The things listed above can usually be detected with a good test drive and are NOT that common (except for 6 & 7).

 

New guy here and just bought a '98 S70 for my son to drive. The car checked out nice enough but after approaching a dealer about obtaining service records I was informed that Volvo doesn't hold a national database on service records for their vehicles. I find that very hard to believe but more than one SoCal dealer has told me this. Is this true or is it a racket just to get you into their service bay? The dealer can only pull records from your VIN if it was serviced at that particular service department.

Hopefully one of you savvy veterans can offer some advice on how to counter this and possibly begin a more accurate compilation of service records, more than what I presently have.

 

While not necessarily a veteran with my own do-it-yourself repairs, I have had (12) Volvos, and can only tell you my exp with primarily the state of Florida - I just recently moved from TN (3 yrs there), to NC, and while I haven't tried to research my VIN at the local dealer here as yet, (just for kicks), I did try in TN at a volvo dealer, and it wasn't very helpful.

That said, since the car originally came into the country into south Florida in October of 1998, and had "lived" there all of its life, when I bought it from a dealer in south Florida, (no, not a volvo dealer either, another 3-4 car brand dealership since it was used as a trade-in for one of their cars), when I brought it back up to Orlando, the Volvo dealer there could easily see it's prior history becasue the prior owners, an elderly couple, had religiously had it maintained at the volvo dealer in south florida...now whether that is a particular in-state thing, (since TN volvo couldn't tell me like FL did), or perhaps the volvo dealers are on a WAN type system in Florida, or ???

I really don't know, but it is interesting to see the differences in the states..........typically though I have been told by insurance companies, that you should be able to run a car's VIN at least for the typical items of it having ever been wrecked for instance - that is in a national database for ins companies......and there isn't anything preventing you from obtaining a CARFAX, or similar report, for "X" amount of $$$ (Consumer Reports offers one also) - they can be a little helpful.

Perhaps, our esteemed moderator can provide additional light on this? I just speak from personal exp......I've yet to see how N.C. is....ha! Good luck on your purchase.....this forum is fabulous....don't hesitate to use it!

 

I have been told the same thing about service records not stored by Volvo of USA. They do however keep records of recall service. When we purchased our S70, I found out that there was a warranty/recall service made on the car when it had 121,060 miles on it. That was pretty interesting since the odometer now read 85,724. :O So I knew we were dealing with a car that had an odometer rolled back (or replaced with one with much less mileage). Dealing with a 5+ year old car that is out of warranty, service records are nice however, the service history of the past 5 years or 30,000 miles is the most critical. Also a car inspection would be your best bet with a compression test. Good luck with anything less than that.

If a car doesn't have the service records with it, it is likely because there are holes in the service history. That simply brings the price of the car WAY DOWN. It can be the difference of you paying $2,500 and $4,500 for the same car, just because someone did not keep receipts. I recently picked up this wagon with 187,000 on the clock which drove as strong or stronger than the sedan I sold with 113,000 on it.

Once you have it, take care of important things that you do not know the history of. Example: If you don't know the timing belt history, replace it ASAP. If you don't know the history of the PCV system, replace it asap. Same goes for the tranny fluid. If you see the timing belt was replace 15,000 miles ago (2 years ago), it will be safe to say that you don't have to worry about that for a while. You can see the dates on the plug wires so if they are 9 months old, you can assume that plugs and wires were replaced 9 months ago, no need to worry about that. Again, a good car inspection is probably better or as good as maintenance records. Cars older than 8 years are time bombs, things break at any time with little warning.

I did not get this wagon inspected because I was getting such a good deal on it, and it had a clean AutoCheck. My deal was, at this price, I'll push it 1,500 miles home if I have to.