2004 v70 crosscountry a lemon?

bradmuskrat7 · Post by **bradmuskrat7** » 26 Oct 2011, 04:07

Hello from edmonton canada, ive sold my 1990 740 and im buying a 2004 v70 cross country with about 18000kmh. Any conxrns about the car i should be aware of. Or should avoid the car entirely. Ive heard of engine problems for that year.

Post by **jimmy57** » 26 Oct 2011, 09:33

The 04 xc70 and xc90 2.5T that I see have been very reliable. Engine and trans have been trouble free. The usual spring seat, sway bar links, and lower control arm bushings are the only non-prescribed maintenance repairs that come to mind.

OF course these are cars that have had somewhat regular care, something you may not know about on your car.

The only engine problems I'm aware of on 04's were the wrong valves from factory. If that affected the car you are buying it would have shown a long time back.

Post by **EstVolvo** » 26 Oct 2011, 10:43

What was wrong with the valves?
What happens to the car with wrong valves?
How long were they installing wrong valves?
Was it fixed by 2005?

Post by **jimmy57** » 26 Oct 2011, 11:51

They built a very few engines with the valve seats from CNG fueled engines. The seats are harder and must have the harder CNG intake valves that are harder and matched to the hard seats (natural gas doesn't lubricate valves like liquid fuel does). Wear would occur on the valve faces on any cylinders that had one of those valve seats in it. The problem shows up in less than 20K miles during warranty period. Warranty was 4 years/50K miles so they were handled under warranty. I have seen this discussed before and depending on where you research some of the consumer websites gave the 04's a lowered rating on engine.
Not widespread and no longer a concern 8 years later.

Post by **almostarctic** » 19 May 2012, 22:42

Hi. As a fellow edmontonian I can recommend you get it checked out by any of the three good Indie Volvo shops in town before you buy. As a 740 owner you probably already use one Maintenance records and conscientious previous owners can save a lot of $$$. There are a few used xc70s in town with varying mileage. Some are very low on kijiji.

Post by **steve850** » 19 May 2012, 23:24

Hi fellow Canadian! I bypassed the 2000-2003's in favour of a 04 XC70 because of their better overall engine and transmission ratings, working with a logic that if maintenance records are likely to be scarce on used cars, the "sturdier" model year is a better buy. As a previous poster stated, sway bar links, spring seats, etc - but that's often why people decide to get rid of them; they fear a big "you need all new suspension" bill... I'd rather change out the struts right away on a 2004 than worry about the ETM and transmission on an 01

I know most people say to steer clear of aftermarket, but here in Montreal the state of the roads in the winter will eat up most bushings in a couple of years, OEM or not.,,

Post by **almostarctic** » 20 May 2012, 16:40

But here there are lots of 04-07 coming up off lease etc. i wasn't recommending 01's. Rather, because of the newer platform plus the usual 3-5 year itch there are many "late model" p2 cars coming up for sale for not much more than the 2004's. An 07 is a 5 year old car which isn't much in Volvo years but for many consumers is considered an older car.

Post by **JRL** » 20 May 2012, 17:18

Nothing is coming off lease anymore, the last of the lease returns on the 4 yr leases for 2007 cars was last year, (2011)
2004s in general are fine, but of course the newer the year the better.

I just bought myself a 100K mile 07XC about a month ago and it's as new as they come.
I've not driven an 01-03 that ever felt as good as this does at 100K miles.... even if it was maintanined as well as this one was.
Literally, It's almost like a new car!
Only thing that was a PIA was that it WAS a base XC, Premium and climate only.
I've added: booster seats, a homelink visor, wood shift knob, 850 Dolby sound system!! , tint, new mats, etc.