My mom had a 98 V70 XC which until recently had served her very well with the exception of some reliability issues. Now that it has beenrear ended by some lady in a Toyota Land Cruiser she's looking for another. I'd like to see her in a new GM vehicle (I'm on co -op with them) but GM doesn't have a vehicle that matches really well with the V70s or the XC70, and she really loves the XC and what kind of son would that make me if I forced a vehicle that she didn't like upon her?

My Dad and I are concerned about the reliability of the 2006 model year. We know Volvos like their maintenance as I own an her old 245DL with 323K as well as an 855 with 183K, while my Dad owns a BMW 3 series with 275K, but her now totaled XC needed a newtranny at 150K two drive shafts in the last 35K, and up until the accident they were trying to convince us that it needed a new rear differential to fix a nasty vibration at 65MPH. We just want to make sure that before we plunk down a nice chunk of cash that Volvo has gotten their act together with thedriveline and that no other major issues have cropped over the years.

One final thing... Are there major upgrades that the 07s are getting over the 06s? The dealer said no, but just want to check.

 

I think that the DSTC system is standard in the '07s. That safety feature has gotten great reviews, and it was previously difficulty to find on the models ordered by the dealerships.

 

Also keep in mind the new xc70's are far superior to the old ones drivetrain wise. I don't think your going to go wrong w/ the 07.

 

We got an '05 right before the -6s came out last year and the dealership took $8K off MSRP. We are very happy with it, and it gets great gas mileage for a large AWD wagon. We typically get 26MPG on the highway compared to 16MPG for our Durango we replaced. We also have a nice amount of size and storage. The ride is very nice and not truck like. You get to sit up a little higher, but not so high that you can't drive it like a sport sedan. Sometimes I really feel like I'm driving the S60, not an XC70.