Hello and thank you for the great site. This is my first post. I own a '94 850 (150K), but am on the verge of acquiring an '06 V70 2.4 5spd with roof rack. It has just over 25k miles and is in excellent condition, the youngest Volvo I will have ever owned. I have hunted for a 5 speed in this condition for a long time and they are very hard to find.

After my first drive I noted three things and wondered if anyone had any feedback....

The emergency brake handle is high and close to the shifter, is oddly located, or just sort of in my way in between my right leg and the shifter. For those of you with manual transmissions, has this been a long term bother? Are there any mods? Anyone hate (or love) it?

When lowering just the rear windows, not the front, there is a very deep loud wind buffeting inside the car which was nearly unbearable. I imagine this is common with V70's due to the uniformity of the cabin shape. Arguably it's pretty rare to have just the rear windows open without the front, but it struck me as odd. Anyone else notice this?

Lastly, my assumtion is this car will be quite reliable, like my 850 but better. As a basic model the electronics are simple(er), the transmission is more durable than the automatic, and I have the same great in line 5 motor my 850 has (no turbo). Any comments on this theory would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for reading.

 

I would say go for it. The two things you noted you will get used to after awhile. v70's are great cars! Although, you may want to go for one with a turbo

 

My V70 turbo, LOVE IT. It's funny, but I have the same issue with the rear windows down. It is a bad resonance that actually hurts after a while. It's not often, but sometimes the kids put them down and it drives me nuts. I put them back up and lock out their controls.

 

I have a 2002 V70 non-turbo 5 Cylinder and I would advise you to purchase a good extended warranty. My V70 has had lots of electrical problems which the warranty has paid for. The engine and tranny have been fine but the electrical stuff sucks so far, not like older Volvos. Hopefully the 06 models are better than the 02 models. I like mine alot outside of the electrical problems. Good luck.

 

I've had no electrical problems with my "02" V70 turbo! Great car!!!! Be a winner, go for it!!!!

 

The car rides great and looks nice - but after one year of ownership of a 2002 model, we are very dissapointed in the reliability. I had come to expect high reliability from my previous japanese car, but we have had many cripling electrical problems over the past 12 months. We had bought on the premise that Volvo were reliable cars, but evidently this is no longer true.

 

Thank you all for your comments. Thank you very much. I did it. I had to do it. I now have a fairly rare '06 V70 5 speed with a roof rack, alloys, heated seats, etc.. 27k miles, no turbo. I've had it for a month now and got a very good deal on it from Ithaca Foreign Car Service (Ithaca, NY) www.volvonly.com. I am really happy. I also have an '94 850 with 140k which I've had for 11 years. It is running great, is on it's original tranny, hearty and reliable...easily as reliable as any Honda or Toyota. I am lucky I have a good one. I'll post pictures at some point.

It is well established that Volvos can chew up the uninitiated, drain their bank accounts, and leave them totally frustrated. I have always believed a Volvo owner needs to have a certain passion about it, a good ear and other sensitivities to make the relationship work. They also need to be very selective as to which Volvo they buy. I looked for about over a year before I found this V70. It doesn't have a scratch, has the right history, is simple relative to Cross Country(s), turbos, R's and T5's, and of course comes from a passionate Volvo shop. (I have to admit I imagine an R or T5 is awesome and have nothing against fancier Volvos. Simple is my personal bias and, frankly, what I can afford).

People often comment that Volvo has changed so much for the worse over the years, and it has in a few respects (anyone love the '01 throttle body?). But I believe the heart of Volvo is still in the core, the strong body, the in-line 5 (until this year), gracefully simple lines. All the other stuff like leather seats, all wheel drive, TCS are all stacked on top. I wouldn't call it a premium luxury vehicle like BMW or Audi, although some view it that way....I see them much more as elegant workhorses...a well made tool, and a very long distance runner (with the right care).

OK let's face it, they're all great.

I will post comments as I come to them. 5 Speed owners need each other since there aren't that many around. I deeply appreciate what I've read in this forum so far and again, thank you to all.