Whew, what a great choice of cars for an Alaskan guy like me ha-ha. Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster.

To get to the point, I'm looking at a Volvo V70 and I've managed to come across two in my city that I'm interested in.

One is a 2001 V70 T5 with 55K miles and the other is a 2001 V70XC with 85,000 miles and AWD (big plus). Now, both are priced at $10K (each one at a different dealership) and they both come with what I cannot live without, and that's heated seats.

Here's the question, what are the majors differences between them? The only thing I can see/read about is the XC has a higher ground clearance (I cannot get the info on that for the V70 T5) a different suspension, and bigger tires. What else can there be to it?

Also, which one would you guys get? A lower mileage V70 with a higher HP engine or a higher mileage with AWD?

Sorry for the long thread and thanks for all the help!

 

$10k huh? Alaskans really pay a premium. I just picked up a 2002 V70 T5 with 70k on the odometer for $8250.

 

With proper snow tires the T5 will do fine. Plus, without AWD there is less to break, and considerably less mileage. It's not a stick is it?

 

@JT-Man, you should see what people pay up here for Subaru's. There is an 01' LL Bean edition Outback for 14K at one dealership! It seems like every other car in Alaska is a Subaru ha-ha.

@TBM-Yeah, I figure FWD would still be okay, but the extra ground clearance would really nice too. There are a lot of back roads that don't get plowed and medium's that are horrendous on bad snow days for low level cars but I would probably put on some blizzaks or X-ice's. And to answer your question, both are auto matic.

I took a look at one of them yesterday (the T5) and it looks very clean indeed! It even comes with a 12 mo/12,000 miles limited powertrain warranty. The warranty alone is pushing me towards the T5 since it seem slike transmission problems were more common on the early 01 and 02 models. Peace of mind is worth something to me ha-ha.

How do you like your T5 TBM? Are there are major issues besides the TCM/transmission to look out for in the 01?

 

I like it alot. Mine's a manual, so no transmission problems to worry me I have x-ices on there right now, which are excellent tires. It's a comfortable, quick vehicle. Everyone guesses that it's a 2005 or 2006 model year, and they are surprised to find that it is an '01.

As far as snow driving...traction is good on slick roads, but if you are needing to plow through a foot or so of snow don't count on it. That's where my Jeep comes in