Hi all and thank you for taking the time to read this and help out!

I'm looking at purchasing a 99 volvo v70 for a grand. The owner says the turbo is bad. I'm mechanically inclined and could grab one refurb off ebay for cheap and bolt it on IF this is indeed the issue. The car is about an hour away and I don't really want to waste the time if everyone thinks this is a more serious issue. Now of course i know it's impossible to know what is going on for sure without testing it yourself but the seller describes what is happening as this:

"The turbocharger does need
replacing; the car drives fine at normal street speeds, but during
rapid acceleration, deceleration, or above a certain speed, it can
start to feel shaky."

Now i can understand a lack of power under load, even smoking etc... but shaking during decelerations seems like it would be something else. I've read a bit about cv joints etc... going.

I've emailed the owner back and asked more specifically what is going on, if the CEL is on and how he went about diagnosing the car and finding that it was the turbo.

Thank you for your input!

 

Maybe engine mounts are weak as well.

 

Also - the vehicle has 157k on it. He said he had a mechanic check it out and claimed it was the turbo. I'm wondering, can you disconnect the actuator on the turbo so it won't engage? He also said the car will shimmy under hard acceleration and over 40mph.

 

No you really cannot bypass it.
Maybe and axle for the vibration.

 

the '99-'02 have the dreaded ETM high failure rate.

Be careful, but the $1k might look cheap now, but afterwards .....$$$$$

 

Thank you jda - that pretty much sums it up... I think I will stay away.