I've driven plenty but never owned a Volvo before. I was looking for a cheap car and found out my neighbor is looking to get rid of his. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and wondered if there are any specific things I should look for?

I have a friend that had an 850 and S70. Both needed to have the ABS computers replaced around 150k. I was told there was never an issue on this car. I also plan on asking about the timing belt. I plan on going to look at it later this week. I know it's been sitting for almost a year and the battery was taken out at some point. So I know it will need a drive cycle to make sure the monitors set before I can figure out if it will pass inspection.

Other than the obvious stuff, what are the most important things to look for before I agree to purchase it?

All I know about it is that it's a 1999 S70 AWD with around 160,000 on it...

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

couple things I want to mention to you:

- is it a T5? Manual? Auto?
- has the ETM(electronic throttle module) been taken care of ?
- ABS module can be fixed for not too much by taking it out and shipping somewhere to get it fixed for around 250 - 300 I'd say.

There's more but that's what I'm thinking of right now I wish I'd have checked when I bought mine.

Are you in the US or Canada?

 

I'm almost positive it's an auto and by T5 do you mean Turbo - 5 cylinder? I'm not sure yet if it's a turbo or not.

 

T5 is a model. You had a choice of n/a, GLT(soft turbo model), or T5(hard turbo model). That's what he meant.

 

Thanks! Anything else I should keep an eye out for?

 

Add heater core to this list. Since you are mechanically inclined, you'll love this car, if it is turbo.

 

ABS can be rebuilt with a lifetime warranty for less than $100

 

Thanks all for the replies so far. I finally got to look it over today. It's got some issues like the heater core, but that doesn't look like a horribly tough job. It was a light hit in the front and the main issue now is I can't get the hood open to check things out or put it back together.

I can't figure out a way to get the passenger side latch to pop and the cable was broken beforehand. I even got it to the point where it would pass emissions. I shut the car off to have another go at opening the hood and when I turned it back on, I got a P0014 code. The car does start hard when cold. Hitting the gas got it to start quickly. I figure that may just be because it's been sitting over a year and needs a fresh tune-up, gas, fluids, etc. perhaps?

Other than that, everything looked OK... Does anyone have any suggestions on getting the hood released?

 

Any ideas on the hood cable please? I know I'll have to source a new one, just getting the passenger side latch released is the only current holdback...

 

Try this: get one more person, one of you pulls and holds the cable from the inside while the other person undoes the hood.
used to work for me, unless your cable is completely disconnected.

send a pic sometime, how much did you pick it up for?

 

I would recommend one of these cars for a teen. That's where ours went, to my 16 year old. Timing belts another item. I saw one for sale on CL, the guy had a new belt he never replaced. He was almost giving the car away. Make sure to replace the water pump and beware of plastic impellers. I had one that slipped causing overheating. It never caused major damage to the motor. I could probably replace the belt and pump in 2 hours now. Since I've done it twice.

Oh, keep some kind of diagram of the serpetine belt in the car. Because once it's off, LOL! You will never figure out how it goes back without a picture. And there is no view of it under the hood, at least on ours. The belt is two sided also.

 

Did the serp belt, I took pics with my phone first which helped a bit. The next day the starter went, I knew it didn't have much life left in it.

I should have the new starter and heater core by Wednesday. So that'll take up some of my weekend.

The timing belt was done once, around 105K according to CarFax and the dealer I spoke with that replaced it said it won't be due again until 210k??? They also said to forget about the water pump too. I sort of hinted I may bring the car to them for the work and they said nothing needed to be done at this point (basically turning down the work!)

I was barely able to pass state inspection/emissions, but it's got new stickers on it.

I've put a few hundred miles on it and still get P1332 and P0118 codes. I know one is a coolant sensor and the other has to deal with the CVVT. I wouldn't be worried about the codes unless I decide to sell it even though it's legal for another year. I'd want to be honest with a potential buyer as to what it might need. I guess I'm about $900 into it now doing all work myself.

Anyone have any insight with these codes? I've seen quite a few suggestions but no real solutions...