Hi everyone,

What are the main things to look out for when buying one? I see one posted in my local classifieds for $600. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated.

 

First is to assess your skills in maintaining the car, second is to assess your goals for the car (daily driver etc). For $600, you need to fully expect there's some major cost maintenance or repairs to be made and your decision to buy will be on whether they keep the car from being safe and from being reliable.

Safety things to look for during a test drive: Any check engine lights or ABS warning lights? If yes, you need to scan for the fault codes. Do the brakes function normally - panic stops - does the ABS kick in? Stop straight with no noises, thumps? Any suspension noises going over bumps, turning full lock at low speed? road speed related noises? Does it steer correctly? Does it start and idle smoothly? does it appear to have normal power or does it hiccup?

Visual inspection: Any chassis rust? Do the rubber bushings in the chassis and suspension look whole or are they cracked or torn? Does the motor move around when revving? Are the fluids clean and full - brake reservoir, power steering, oil, coolant? Any signs of leaks in the front cover (timing belt area)? transmission? front/rear cam seal areas? Is there any smoke coming from the dipstick at idle / any positive crankcase pressure (glove test works)? Exhaust in good shape? any leaks? is there sooty black carbon build up in the tailpipe or is it a tan-gray? If the coolant is oily, it may be signs of a head gasket issue so pay attention to that.

Common expensive repair areas worth reading up on: PCV / oil trap replacement, ETM faults (electronic throttle mechanism contacts can wear out), ABS computer faults (cracked solder joints may require the board to be rebuilt), CEM faults (internal relays fail from time to time), FWD trannys are solid, early 200x AWDs have issues typically in the bevel gears. VVT gears can get clogged (oil driven so if the prior owners didn't change oil regularly this may need to be replaced to clear a check engine light). Engine Coils tend to start failing after 100K miles.

Generally, I think the V70 is a solid car and pretty straight forward to work on so if you are reasonably skilled at doing your own repairs, you can make even a $600 car last for a while, particularly if you know what needs to be addressed from the start.

 

I think your experience will vary a lot based on the year you pick. The V70 (in name) came out in 1998 and was made until 2016. The technology changed a lot during that time. The 98 is the last year of the 850 engines and as a result it's bulletproof. The 99 then is the first year of electronic throttle and was not the most reliable. After that lots of variations occured as variable valve timing was added and eventually they began to add more gears to the transmissions. Up through 2007 it's a pretty similar car, all 5 cylinders. The third (and last) generation is a very different car. Like any car, they have become much more complex, and they're newer, so there is good and bad with that.

so, getting back to the $600, if it's a 98, it's easy to fix. If it's a 99, maybe not. I assume for $600 it's probably not a 2010.