So as the title says, I'm a newb here and to the whole Volvo scene. Been into cars for a long time, know my way around a FI and N/A car no prob. On this latest issue though, I got nothing.

I'm looking into buying an S70. Maybe even a S80 but I know that's another section. What I don't know is, basically anything about what to look for when it comes to V's. I know every car has it's typical issues. (My Jetta started some rust bubbles in the "typical Jetta spot") Things like that, what goes bad first, what's a notorious Volvo problem I should be looking out for.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks a million in advance.

 

If you lookfor an s70, look for a 1998 first. Then 1999. 2000 was a tough year -Electronic throttle recal andsuch.

A lot of peolpe will sayVolvo did it best in 1998 - first year.

Rick

 

The 98 V70 or S70 is basically the same car as the 850 which came in both a wagon and a sedan. The S80 is a pretty big car that has had it's problems especially the 99 model. My daughter has a 99 S80 T6 and it is one nice car and is very fast, but she has had problems with it. You can get these really cheap though because they have had problems. Once she had everything fixed on hers, she has been pretty problem free for about two years now.

The main thing to look for on any Volvo is the maintenance record. My suggestion to anybody is to get a prepurchase inspection prior to buying any of them. The timing belt has to be changed every 70K or five years whichever comes first. For the most part these cars stay relatively rust free. They do have some problems with oil leaks and are known to have problems with the A/C evaporator going bad and it's expensive to fix. Try and find one that's already had that done. If somebody tells you they have to put a can of R134A (Freon or refrigerent) in the A/C every so often, do NOT buy the car cause chances are you will need to spend $1500 on the evaporator.

Search around the forums and you will see many threads about what to look/lookout for. But remember many people just come here when they have a problem, and not to just say how much they like their Volvos. We have seven of them in my family and I probably will own another one if I find what I'm looking for. All in all they are a great value for what you get for your money.

 

What year is your jetta by the way because I heard many of the more mordern VW's have a 12 Year rust warrenty. I wouldshop around on ebay also for S70's because i have seen many nice ones on there. I would definately stay away from 99-01 S80's because they are known to have transmission problems. The Transmission on my 99 S80 went bad last summer at 114K miles and i ended up paying $3500 pluss tax for a new one. But I like the S70's I had a 98 TURBO one drove it 100K miles with no problems until it was totaled in a bad adcident. I wish Ihad just bought another S70 after that instead of the 99 S80.

 

My Jetta was a 97. No rust warranty Maybe, I bought it used but I don't think they had that back then...


I did some looking on EBay and did some pretty nice S70's. I'll have to check into a 98. They're very few and far between though.

Are Volvo's the super safe car that some people say?? I have a two year old and would like to know we're not in a rollin death trap!

 

Yes they are very safe.
In the 850 section there was a post about someones Daughter going off the road and rolling her 850.
She only had minor cuts.