Hi all,

Looking at a '98 S70 turbo with a 5-speed. Seller is a small dealer with some other Volvos, "sort-of" willing to let me have the S70 professionally inspected if it's within a close distance of downtown St. Petersburg.

Does anyone know any good independent shops for this?

Regards,
Joe

 

a list from Cartalk.com:

Allums European Imports
Sam Cooper
St. Petersburg, FL
3.7 miles
2surveys
3comments

Rennen Imports Inc.
Tampa, FL
15.7 miles
2surveys
1comments

Mike's Automotive
Mike Rios - Owner
Tampa, FL
17.2 miles
5surveys
5comments

Swedish Motor Car
Jose Acevedo
Tampa, FL
21.8 miles
2surveys
1comments

maybe someone localcan give agoodrecommendation. Good-luck.

 

Apparently it's being sold at the same address as Allums European at 500 24th St South.

Would you trust a car from a mechanic if he said he didn't know the history or whether the timing belt had been changed? I'm kind of iffy. It's HARD to find an S70 T-5 with a manual transmission, though.

 

If he doesn't know, that needs to be negotiated in the price of the sale. I bought an s70 where the timing belt was new but the tensioner was not replaced. the guy didn't get 1500 miles out of it before it jumped time and destroyed all the intake valves. My guess would be that if he 'doesn't know' that means it hasn't been done.
Trust your gut. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I will say that it's worth looking into. If it's right, it's one helluva car. I can't even begin to tell you how big my grin is in a 2nd gear roll on in mine. Just my 2 cents

 

Run it over to one of the Tampa shops!.

If they get nervous about you taking it
(that would feel to me they are hiding something)
then you may not want it after all.

Good-luck.

 

Rennen Imports has the Volvo Factory Scan Tool. Hours are Monday-Friday 8-6