98 V70 - Expected long term reliability

Post by **98v70dad** » 11 Mar 2011, 17:30

Question: I bought a used 98 V70 from a friend about 18 months ago and didn't pay much for it. It currently has 100 K miles on it and I live in the southeast which is a pretty easy climate for cars. If you maintain a car here they can still look and drive like new even when 20+ years old. Anyhow, this car was relatively well maintained, but in the 18 months I've owned it there have been A LOT of needed repairs. I've already had replaced two door latches, many electrical parts, modded the trim on the back gate to stop the rattles, replaced both gas struts, replaced both head lights, replaced the shift mechanism, adjusted the hood latch on the drivers side, replaced both tie rods, replaced the heater core and coolant expansion tank. The car is going to need a timing belt and probably a water pump soon. Nothing was broken or not working when I bought it. I enjoy keeping an older car going but there seems to be no end to the part failures. So, I'm wondering is this what I should expect from this car and when will major mechanical problems start working their way into the mix?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Mar 2011, 18:49

The car can easily run 250K miles or way more but it will have problems along the way. If you are handy with a wrench and can change most of at least the minor things yourself it will be a great car for you for years ahead.

The timing belt is not that big of a deal to DIY replace and we have several tutorials to walk you through it.

Here is one that I wrote up should be similar to your '98 that covers the water pump and all of the rollers.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=19831

If you are paying a shop for everything then it might be time to move on down the road. In your future you also have control arms, spring seats, front struts, and rear shocks. They are all very doable as a shade tree mechanic but they are very expensive to have the work done at a shop.

I'm not knocking you at all but if you can't work on these things yourself or you don't have a large trust fund to draw from they can eat you alive with Volvo shop rates.

...Lee

Post by **98v70dad** » 11 Mar 2011, 19:43

I bought the car for my high school kid to drive around in. I also thought it would be a great car for me to take camping. I only paid 1500 for it so it was well worth the risk. I can do most of the intermediate skill level stuff, but my kid is in college now and every time it breaks it cost me a days vacation to go get it and nurse back home and then the weekend is shot fixing it. I had to pay someone to do the heater core (the first big item i haven't done myself) due to the timing of the failure and the cost here in Atlanta was outrageous. Now that the car is miles away I'm trying to evaluate whether I should sell it while everything is working or just keep on with what I'm doing. Finding a reasonable local shop in a tiny college town is doable ... I'm sure there is a reasonable competent mechanic there but it will take some doing to find him from a distance. And thanks for the link to the timing belt/water pump R/R. It is very nicely done. I actually referred to it last week when I suspected my coolant leak was coming for the water pump just to see how difficult it would be. I remember it because of the comment about the rusty snips.

NJ95-850GLT · Post by **NJ95-850GLT** » 11 Mar 2011, 19:59

I can't speak for the V70 series, but I picked up a 1995 850GLT with 194K pretty cheap when I blew a head gasket on my main ride last year mid-winter. I'm ready to turn 205K and she still runs like a raped ape. This site will save you big $$$ if you're handy with the tools, Volvo made them easy to work on with common sense engineering, and savy web-shoppers can get OEM parts at discount prices. Daughter #2 starts driving soon and I'm confident enough to pass this car on to her while knowing I have her wrapped in Swedish Safety.

NJ95-850GLT · Post by **NJ95-850GLT** » 11 Mar 2011, 20:09

P.S. I did the timing belt, tensioner pullies, and pump myself along with cap, rotor, plugs, & wires... cam lock tool and tensioning tool for just under $500.... a little knuckle skin, and the full combination of choice profanities.

Post by **JRL** » 11 Mar 2011, 20:12

These cars need some rebuilding every 100K miles or so.
Do the work, change the oil A LOT and it will go another 100K or so with minimal issues.

Post by **holler1** » 11 Mar 2011, 21:32

98v70dad wrote: my kid is in college now and every time it breaks it cost me a days vacation to go get it and nurse back home and then the weekend is shot fixing it.

In my opinion, these are not cars for kids in college a long way from home. My advice is to sell it and buy a 6 or 7 year old Toyota, Honda or Subaru. I got two used Honda Civics for my two daughters the year the oldest one started to college, and never regretted it a day. They drove both for about 7 or 8 years, one across country, and never had a breakdown on the road. I still have a 91 Camry that both kids drove to high school and I drove to work for 6 or 7 years, and I've spent probably $200 on it other than routine maintenance. The Camry is worth nothing and is boring to drive, but serves me as a backup car and has never failed.

Don't get me wrong, I like the styling and safety of my V70, and love to drive it, but it takes a lot of care and feeding, and is not something you can help to fix by phone.

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 12 Mar 2011, 05:50

That may be so, but it's not really a fair comparison - a 6 year old Honda Civic still goes for $7k or more - while a good 850 or V70 can be had for $3-4k or even a lot less. I've owned a number of Honda's over the years, but found that they still need maintenance like anything else - yeah - you can often run them into the ground while doing nothing - but the car is then absolutely done at 150k or so.

Almost everything 98v70dad describes IS routine maintenance - it's just that he bought a car that was at the point of needing a lot of things done - as any car will between 80-120k. Next time try to buy one from someone who has maintained it, and a lot of that stuff will have already been done for you! The good news is that once you have done a lot of this little stuff, the major parts of these cars are generally pretty bulletproof - and you have a heck of a lot nicer car than a Civic or a Camry - still for less money.

Post by **JRL** » 12 Mar 2011, 05:58

Buy ANY Gen 1 from me and everything will be taken care of before a sale!

Post by **holler1** » 12 Mar 2011, 10:11

zhenya wrote:That may be so, but it's not really a fair comparison - a 6 year old Honda Civic still goes for $7k or more - while a good 850 or V70 can be had for $3-4k or even a lot less. I've owned a number of Honda's over the years, but found that they still need maintenance like anything else - yeah - you can often run them into the ground while doing nothing - but the car is then absolutely done at 150k or so.

From a private party, a 6 yr old Honda can be had for a lot less. Yes, they're more than $3K. I paid $5k for a 95 in 2001 with 70K miles, and it never needed anything but really routine maintenance - changing oil, brakes, tires, not things like struts, steering racks, etc. I would never run a car into the ground while doing nothing! I don't know where you got that idea. I certainly did not say or imply it. I always changed oil, checked brakes, tires, steering, safety checks, etc when kids were home on breaks. The 91 Camry I have has always been well maintained and runs like a sewing machine- I could get in it tomorrow and take off across country and be confident it would make it.

Almost everything 98v70dad describes IS routine maintenance - it's just that he bought a car that was at the point of needing a lot of things done - as any car will between 80-120k. Next time try to buy one from someone who has maintained it, and a lot of that stuff will have already been done for you! The good news is that once you have done a lot of this little stuff, the major parts of these cars are generally pretty bulletproof - and you have a heck of a lot nicer car than a Civic or a Camry - still for less money.

A lot of things the Volvos need around 100k are simply not needed for the Hondas and Toyotas. Here is what 97V70dad did -

I've already had replaced two door latches, many electrical parts, modded the trim on the back gate to stop the rattles, replaced both gas struts, replaced both head lights, replaced the shift mechanism, adjusted the hood latch on the drivers side, replaced both tie rods, replaced the heater core and coolant expansion tank. The car is going to need a timing belt and probably a water pump soon.

The Hondas and Toyotas I've owned needed none of those fixes (timing belts excepted which are scheduled maintenance). Those things are not routine maintenance for Asian cars. If you want proof, check Consumer Reports for the last 20 years. Again, I'm not trying to knock Volvos- they are wonderful cars and I love driving mine, and I'm willing to do the fixes needed to keep it going. What I was not willing to do was make a 400 mile trip every couple of months to work on one in the street to get it going again. I think most would agree they do need quite a bit of TLC. If you buy one from JRL, you'll get one with all the fixes done and it will likely go another $100K w/o major fixes, but you'll pay more than $3K for it (and it will be well worth it). One of these days I may try to get one of his "Rs".