There is a 2001 v70 for sale, near me. It’s very clean and 126k on the odometer. Manual transmission, red, T5. They claim it’s mechanically perfect and they’re asking $5700, which seems high even with a manual turbo. What’s your opinions on that price? I’m in Southern California. Thanks.

 

If you go by KBB.COM, this is overpriced by $2000 and they suggest a $3700 listing price. That said, manual T5s are pretty rare so what I'd do is use a national listing service like autotrader.com and see if you can find any other 2001 T5 manual V70s to compare. I did a quick look and didn't find any MTs and the nice cars were in the 4K+ range so it seems the current market is well above what KBB is quoting. You can always do a KBB report then show it to the seller as a negotiating tactic, but given the rareness the 5K+ price seems justified. One last thought, if you are willing to pay in the $6K range for a used car, a used S60R can be found.

 

thanks. I drove it today. It was very strong, engine and tranny. Everything seemed to work well. Engine looked dry. Will need a mechanic to look over.

but the body had been repainted and their is over spray on some of the trim and drivers window. Also the rear trunk part interior plastic cover was missing in one corner. And there are lots of stickers, it’s dirty and the front seats are cracked with seat covers. I’m thinking 3000-4000 is fair. What are your thoughts?

im debating between a 2008 xc90 with a 3.2 front wheel drive or a v70 wagon. Something to put my bike in for cycling. I like the manual quite a bit and I don’t see any others for sale. But wonder if I’d be happier in the with the SUV. There is a $4500 xc90 2008c, 112k miles and very clean with dvd entertainment and third row seats. But needs about 500 in repairs and new tires.

 

sounds like you have some good negotiating points since 5700 would be a car in perfect condition. I'd say you are on the right path in the 3-4K range. Its a very desireable car choice, particularly if you want to drop an ECU tune and a few bits to get the V70 up to 300 HP... I'd drop on some IPD sway bars, bilsteins and nice 17s and then invest in cleaning up the interior, ie new leather seat covers can be found etc, which would give you nice ride for 5-6K.

 

Beyond a tune what else is possible to make more power?

 

ECU tunes are the most cost effective way to add hp to a turbo car but the major tuner shops all offer blue prints for stage 1, 2, etc which give a target hp range. you can shop around to see what is in a recommended package. To your question, airflow is key to hp gains, with the ECU controlling the turbo boost. I'd work the exhaust side first - 3 inch downpipe, free flow cat, 3 inch exhaust are all good. Higher boost makes more heat so adding a larger intercooler and an oil cooler help. Volvos use the Mitsu turbos - I believe the V70 T5s have the 16T (16 refers to the turbo's pumping capacity) so that can be upgraded to a larger turbo ie 18T, 20 or 21T etc. There are impeller kits to swap out the guts if you are into rebuilding the turbo. Of course as you add boost you are committing to running 93 octane. As you can see there's a law of diminishing return here. 300 HP is an easy goal for under $1500. You can run 400 HP through a manual tranny and smoke the front tires or you can add a Quaife differential to drive both front tires. Now you'd be in the $5K+ range...

 

Wow that gives me a good intro. I’ve always dealt with naturally aspirated Buick muscle. First foray in forced air.

what kind of power can the tranny and the engine itself take and still stay reliable? Thanks again.