2003 V70 N/A Test Drive

Post by **rmmagow** » 03 Apr 2013, 18:18

I took out a 2003 V70 tonight. I'm impressed, I had no idea the P2 cars rode and drove so much better.The car has 102000 miles. Road fantastic, very quiet with a nice little growl when accelerating. For an N/A it felt pretty strong. The dealer (non-volvo)is asking $6500.00 for the car. All ain't roses however, on a longish slow uphill entrance ramp the car started accelerating a bit erracticlly, sort of like I was pumping the gas pedal up and down. Am I correct in thinking this is the ETM rearing it's problems? Also the car is a 5-sp automatic. Can that tranny be made to last with TLC and clean fluid or is it a disaster waiting to strike. Overall, I really liked the car and am raising my sights to a very nice P2 car. If the ETM issue can be resolved, is $6500 a decent price for this car? I will probably pass this one up and keep looking but wow, the P2 is a nice riding wagon.

Japedo · Post by **Japedo** » 03 Apr 2013, 18:55

Well, i baught my 03 v70 2.5t awd last December for 4200$ only needed breaks..
Had 120miles.
Your price seems high, especially if it has an etm issue.

You could bring it to a Volvo dealer, get a good analysis of the cars condition.

Best of luck!

Post by **jimmy57** » 03 Apr 2013, 22:44

2003 NA has ETA, not an ETM. The ETA on DENSO 2003 and later has the Sacer style throttle sensors that do not wear out since there is no contact of parts.
Other things could make it surge like fuel pressure sensor.
2003 AW55 trans is good. Fluid changes make it live a long time.
Price varies with location. Used car prices in most of US are up from the past 2-3 years.

Post by **rmmagow** » 04 Apr 2013, 06:29

I'm going to do some reading up about surging then, fuel pressure sensor wouldn't be a major issue. Happy to hear there's a Sacer style throttle sensor here. Seriously, the car just rode so much nicer than my 98 which isn't too shabby that I may push forth for a P2 car for my wife. I'm going to do a searching around and see what pops up since the 6500 price seems way out of line. Private party is probably the best price-wise and I don't mind needing to do a little work myself to bring it back to its glory days. Thanks folks.

Post by **chrism** » 04 Apr 2013, 09:49

I have the exact same car - 03 2.4 NA. I bought it two years ago after some arm twisting by family members that said I needed to get something a bit more modern than the 745 that I had just totaled.
It was high mileage, about 155,000 miles, so after purchasing it from a private party for $4200 I had to dump about $1000 into a new cooling fan, replacement DIM, front control arms and one rebuilt front axle. I really was apprehensive about going with FWD, but the good gas mileage and smooth/quiet ride have sort of won me over. Plus the interior was in excellent condition.

I agree with the other respondents that are saying the price may be a bit high for what is now a 10 year old car. Try to work that down especially if it's a dealer and they want to tack on tax, doc fees, etc, etc.

nnn4865 · Post by **nnn4865** » 04 Apr 2013, 09:56

sorry if this is off topic but jimmy57 pointed out the fact that 2003+ have eta not etm. i've read a lot about the etm problems of pre-2003 model p2 cars and was wondering if upgrading to an eta on those cars (2001,2002)would eliminate the etm problems those cars seem to have. also would the ecu need to be re-programmed and if so where could one get that done.

been looking for a v70 myself and seem to see mostly '01,'02 cars, an occasional '03,'04 and the prices are usually in the mid $4000 and under. some people have told me to stay away from a non turbo, in their opinion 'boring'. but i also found the n/a vehicle i drove to be sufficiently powered for my driving style and in my opinion its just one less thing to worry about as these cars seem to have a lot of things that go bad on them.

john

Post by **rmmagow** » 04 Apr 2013, 10:40

I'll be driving 2 more this Saturday, both are about 58~5900, one's a V70 NA, the other an S60 With a turbo. Both under 120K miles. My fall-back test drive is a 1998 S70 N/A w/122000 miles. I'm wanting to get my wife a car while I have some bucks burning a hole. She drives either a 2003 GMC truck or an 89 Mazda 929. Time to get her a real car, hell, we've only been married for 21 years

The 929 Mazda has been her car for as long as we've been married with a little 10 year break in a Subaru.

Post by **precopster** » 04 Apr 2013, 15:03

Going a little off topic here but I researched the '03 to '04 ETAs fitted solely to the NA cars as stated by jimmy and they were indeed a different beast to the Magnetti Marellis and the later Bosch throttle bodies. They were Japanese made (probably by Denso)

In response to John's question about swapping them in it may be possible with an NA car with an ECU change but that would mean wiring modifications. Putting them in a turbo would be too much work as the programming for them was only designed for non-turbo cars. In any case a Magnetti Marelli ETM is VERY easy to remove from an NA car to replace so it would almost be a waste of time retrofitting a different throttle body in.

ctrobk · Post by **ctrobk** » 04 Apr 2013, 19:10

I have an '03 base 2.4 NA. I now have 182k on it and still love it. I can usually get around 28 mpg on the highway if I keep it between 65-70mph. I had to replace the cat just after 80k. It was real sluggish going up hills. The bad cat didn't cause the cel to light. Its a great car. I hope to keep it until they bring the V60 to this country.
Just keep in mind that Volvo recommends the timing belt change at 105k. A light to normal use 10 year old car will be right at that mileage now.

jh_on_the_cape · Post by **jh_on_the_cape** » 05 Apr 2013, 12:12

FWIW I just went through this replacing my 94 850.
I decided I wanted a V70 from 05-07 due to many issues being resolved.
I am near you and bought a 06 V70 FWD n/a for 6000 with 140k. CL private party. I preferred that to something like an 03 with 100k.
I will have to fix some wear items, but wanted the newer car. Hopefully it works out. When I was looking there were some good cars near Swansea MA at a few small dealerships.
Be patient.
I think FWD and non turbo, while boring, leads to less potential problems.