Should I buy this S70?

babelfish · Post by **babelfish** » 19 Nov 2010, 14:21

Gosh, first post and I'm contributing nothing! I guess that's pretty normal, though.

Anyway, looked at a '98 S70 T5 a couple of days ago. Knew it would need a timing belt as soon as I buy it, as they're like 50k past the recommended replacement on that (the car has 118k, never had the timing belt done). Figured that, since it needs that, we'd have a local Euro shop check the car out and see how the rest of it is doing. The laundry list of issues they found is as follows:

Has a leak at the turbo return line, not sure if it's the return line or oil pan gasket.

Oil cooler line is leaking.

Needs at least one motor mount ("dog bone" is what's written on my inspection sheet).

Valve gasket cover appears to be leaking.

Suspension is getting worn.

Needs new fuel and air filters.

The shop recommended doing a tune-up -- new cap, rotor, wires. (Plugs were replaced a few days ago.)

Might have brake fluid leak at a caliper.

And that's about it. No major engine troubles, a few leaks, and aging suspension (it's never been replaced). They'd sell it to me for $4k, but I'm less interested in "is that a good price" than I am in "do any of these suggest other issues." Most of these are things I can do at home, after all, except the timing belt, motor mount, and gasket cover. Any red flags, there? The shop didn't think so, but it's the shop I take my Bimmer to, not the shop I used to take my 740 to. :p

Post by **matthew1** » 19 Nov 2010, 14:33

Any lights on the dash? Do they have maintenance records? Sounds like normal stuff.

But 50k past timing belt says "We don't know much about, or care about, this car. Or both."

For $4k asking price, there are probably other T5s around there that were owned by people who did know about and care for their Volvo.

babelfish · Post by **babelfish** » 19 Nov 2010, 15:30

Nah, no lights, and the shop said they didn't find any history of codes having ever come up or been pulled. They've got records -- only regular maintenance, really, and the guy's done a few jobs himself (water pump, etc.).

Unfortunately, finding cars at a reasonable price in reasonable working condition with reasonable miles is not so, uh... reasonable, at least around here. Been looking for almost three months, since finding out that my transmission was nearing its end on my Bimmer, and this is the first BMW or Volvo I've found even near book without tons of problems or ridiculous high miles. (Heck, last week I saw a '96 328i for $4400. I thought it looked like a reasonable price... until he told me it had 220,000 miles!) In my experience over the last few months, this price is pretty good if the car is in good condition, and the shop did say it seemed to be a decent car. Just wanted to check with the crazy Volvo crowd and find out if there were any red flags. I expect a fair amount of maintenance like this at 120k miles.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 19 Nov 2010, 15:37

Too bad you're in WA and not PA... You're going to put $2000 to $2500 into this to get rid of the problems you mentioned. For that, JRL has a beautiful one that needs absolutely nothing but he's far away (see cars for sale section)....of course, you could fly out and drive the car back if you have the time...still would be worth it.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 19 Nov 2010, 15:52

There's a HUGE advantage to Washington state. No heavily salted roads!
I'll bet that car looks a whole lot better underneath than anything from the east.
My '98 came from the Seattle area and it's near pristine under there.

Sounds like the car is in pretty decent shape.
You might list the problems and their repair costs and see
if they'll come down a little. Good Luck! T-5's a sweetie...

VolvoTurbo850 · Post by **VolvoTurbo850** » 19 Nov 2010, 17:24

why not check autotrader for the average price if available. Seems high for the price and sounds like they do not know anything about Volvo's as stated above.

babelfish · Post by **babelfish** » 19 Nov 2010, 17:45

Autotrader shows $5025 on the '98 S70 T5, heheh.

Not sure what the deal is with the timing belt, either -- their other car is an '06 V70 R, worked on by iPd, and the owners are actually familiar with iPd.

Anyway, I'd ask them to come down, but they actually came down $1k on it already due to the timing belt and just to be nice to me, a recent college grad and first-time car buyer. I'd feel kinda bad about asking them to come down more!

VolvoTurbo850 · Post by **VolvoTurbo850** » 19 Nov 2010, 19:29

Never feel bad about that negotiation!That lesson you will learn after University/college. I still think it is high.

Look at cars.com and see if anything catches your eye

www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action?toggleCpo=0&mkId=20044&mdId=21918&minp=0&prMx=&rd=500&zc=98225&AmbMkNm=Volvo&AmbMdNm=S70&AmbMkId=20044&AmbMdId=21918&prMn=&stkTyp=U&cpo=&searchSource=QUICK_FORM&alMkId=20044&alMdId=21918

ctw · Post by **ctw** » 19 Nov 2010, 19:50

If he did the water pump he would have had the timing all tore down would have been easy to do at that point.

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 19 Nov 2010, 20:08

Offer him 2k to 2.5K. It needs time and money to put it right. Haggle man.