Hi All,

This is my first visit/post here - and hopefully the first of many. I am considering buying a V70 R for my wife. This is the car:

http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/dd...r_id=100030342

The Carfax on it is fairly clean. 2 accidents reported, both rear enders and minor in nature. Dealer serviced on a semi-regular basis. I'm buying out of state, so I'm having a friend (who's also a car nut) go check it out for me. Tips on specific areas? Are these cars prone to wear and tear in certain spots that need attention upon inspection?

I thought about an 01, but having learned of their tendency of transmission failures eliminated that possibility. I talked to a Volvo shop near where this one is for sale who inspected the car a month ago. The guy (who was somewhat of a chump) said they recommended a new tranny. When I pressed him for details as to why, his only response was "hard shifts".

Well, that's not exactly a lot of detail - certainly not enough for me to kill the deal, but also just enough for me to not go forward with the deal either. A new $7500 tranny isnt an option.

Are these models prone to tranny problems as well? Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated, as I'm hoping to pull the trigger (or not) on this car today.

thx!

 

Have patience, another one will come along. Private party with service records is the way to buy a Volvo.

 

Thanks for the advice. The tranny is really the only issue. Frankly, I'm not 100% convinced that the guy at the shop who recommended a new tranny wasn't just fishing for a nice, lucrative job for his shop. Hey, things are tough all over - and people aren't above crap like that. Especially rude idiots in the car business.

I'm not married to it, but the car is listed way below book value. I'd have to expect some imperfection for a deal like this one. If it needs a transmission, I'm walking. If not, I think I'd buy it. Barring someone on here saying "HELL NO, don't do it!"

 

In your opinion, "is the way to buy a Volvo", or, "is the ONLY way to buy a Volvo" - ?

I've never owned one & this is going to be for my wife to haul our 3 kids around in. So I want to be cautious, but also don't want to pass on a good deal on the good car. Decisions, decisions...

 

Depends on your price range...

Volvo dealers will have good cars on the lot, and can usually provide a full history, but obviously they only have cars 5yrs old or newer so they have higher price points.


I've purchased both of mine from private parties, and both came with a full service history. I looked at several others from small dealers in town, two of which had issues which were not disclosed by the dealers, but were found by the local volvo specialist.

 

First of all WELCOME! I think as the Viscocity of the tranny fluid wears down, you will have hard shifts. I wonder if that guy was just trying to to sell you one, in the event of buying the wagon. I will say, check the tranny fluid oil and see how dark it is. Though it's hard sometimes to predict transmission failure. I think like with all cars, if it hasn't been serviced correctly, she will let you know OR if serviced with aftermarket parts, you will also know. One test I do when looking at a Used car on a transmission, is to take it for a ride on the highway and go thru all the gears, then when you get back Stop! Put it in park for a second. Then step on the brake, go to drive but still hold on the brake down and turn the A/C on to tax the system. Keep it in drive and with the brake pressed for maybe 5 minutes. I have looked at cars at acution and have done this. If the tranny is slipping or "hiccups" during this test, it might mean something bad for the future especially if it starts to slip slightly!
Good Luck. Keep us updated if you decide to pass or purchase

 

Welps, I decided to pass on it. My friend, who knows cars well, went and looked it over today. He found a small puddle of transmission fluid beneath it and reported that, once hot, it was having some shift-hesitation issues when decelerating from 2nd to 1st. That was enough for me to kill the deal. Plus it had an aftermarket exhaust that made it considerably louder than stock. My soccer-mom wife isn't going to want to be roaring around town with some loud-**** 3-inch pipes. So, I live to look another day.

 

Have you been checking you local Craigslist? That's where I've found mine. More private party sellers than Autotrader and the like.

 

If you need AWD for your primary car, then buy something newer. FWD 850 and 70 series are great cars - reliable, safe, and practical.

The only reason I have AWD is because I have spares. My V70R will not see primary service.

 

Really? Is this a general concensus among members here? People who own & know Volvos well.

I am just about to pull the trigger on this car:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/1360237521.html

Single owner. 9/10 cosmetically, 7/10 mechanically. I'm having it shaken down by a local Volvo shop as I type this. But this car IS NOT going to be an occasional driver. This will be my wife's car. Our kids are 12, 8 & 4. So there's carpool, soccer games, band practice, etc.... I'd guess that she puts about 12-13,000 miles a year on her car.

I'm not in a position where I can afford a car that's going to be needing $800 here, $600 there - on any sort of a consistent basis. Am I about to make a BIG mistake??

 

Yes. Check it all the time. Here in Colorado AWD vehicles command a pretty good premium. You'll pay about 10-30% more for a Subaru Outback here than just about anyplace else in the nation. (Ask me how I know.) So it makes economic sense to locate a good car in a neighboring state & bring it here. Particularly if the other is a warm weather state (Texas, Arizona, N. Mexico all fairly close) as the cars haven't seen snow, sleet, road salt, potholes,....

 

Call me cynical but that first ad had a lot of typos in it and that raises flags for me.

 

I have had a 99 and 00 V70R. the "hard sifting" from 2nd to 1st was an issue I was having as well. from all the research I did on the car I found that its a common problem with the 5 speeds. there is new firmware out for the tranny and some "conditioning" that has to be done as soon as the firmware is updated. I flushed the tranny and did the update and the car drove almost as good as new.

that being said I prefer the 4 speed in the 99. it is much stronger. look at the performance websites that offer upgraded ECU's. the output for the 5 speeds are limited. not that I wanted to screw up a fine car with mod like that but there must be a reason they limit the motor output when mated to the 5 speed. oh and I never could see any benefit to the 5 speed. same milage, and I could not tell if the car felt any faster off the line.

my 2 cents