V70 T5 upgrade: XC70?

gregorymatthews · Post by **gregorymatthews** » 01 Nov 2012, 21:23

My 2002 v70 T5 has 212K and I'm getting to that point where I need to consider
replacing one of the Volvos. We've been out of the market for 10 years; my wife and I
both bought Volvos the same year, and they are still running.

I'd like something comparable to the V70, but the crossover wagons look a bit large and boxy,
and I've always been a small wagon guy. Is the XC70 comparable?

Can someone tell me their experiences with the XC70? I'm mostly interested in:

* Engine - T6 is an unknown to me. The T5 was speedy, and I've had no major problems.
How reliable is the T6?

* AWD. Never had one. The front wheel drive on my V70 wasn't very useful in MN winters,
time to get some better traction. Any problems with these? Suspension on the V70 was
problematic.

* Turning radius - It always seemed to much on the V70 frame. Safer I'm sure, but U-turns
are a bummer.

* Maintenance - Any gotchas I need to know about?

Any thoughts/advice on buying an XC70 are greatly appreciated. This forum saved my bacon
many times!

- Gregor

Post by **jimmy57** » 01 Nov 2012, 21:46

The new volvos are less maintenance intensive than the one you have. All that front suspension stuff is history on these new ones. Turning radius is much shorter on newest platform models. AWD system is invisible and about zero problems.
The 3.2 and T6 have both been giving good service. A lot of 07 S80's with way over 100K on the 3.2 with no issues.
I think the new XC70 is a bit too "cushy".
I like the XC60 T6 best followed by xc60 3.2. The new S60 is a great little sedan but little is a key word here as it relates to more than two front seat passengers.
I know a few dealer techs and they aren't feeling any love from these new cars. Brakes last a long time and the items with opportunities to upsell, like sway bar links, bushings, front spring seats, have not developed on the new platform.

gregorymatthews · Post by **gregorymatthews** » 12 Nov 2012, 16:33

Very useful info and opinion, thanks Jimmy. Amy very glad to hear that the front suspension stuff has been taken care of, it was one of those buggaboos that drove me (and the techs) crazy.