Need opinions 98 V70 wagon with valve issues. Fix or walk aw

[Spiney]

Thanks. He did replace the water pump when he did the timing belt. Not sure why he didn't do the pulleys. He's waiting on the cost of a head but gave me a ballpark labor quote of $800.00. He's a very good guy, so I may use the why didn't you replace the pulleys to have him sharpen his pencil on the repair.

It has had cv joints, tie rod ends, a half shaft, and a few other items. I have everything well documented. I'll show your feedback to my wife. She loves the car.

I did find something I'm going to check out tomorrow as a possible replacement . I was Hopi g and praying for the proverbial little old ladies car at a fair price. I open our local weekly merchandiser and find a 2001 Continental with 70k miles for $4700 obo. It's an old couple who are moving, probably into an assisted living home. KBB is $6000 for a car with 140k miles. Has power everything and the same engine as our Cobra. 281 DOHC 4V. 275 HP, OUR Cobra with mods has about 325. I could dig a cruiser like this, and generally older people really take care of their cars, my dad did. Oil every 3000 miles, new tires and brakes all the time etc. so I'm going to look at it tomorrow . We have enough saved we could pay cash, but I hate to put the V70 to the scrap heap.

If I don't fix it, I guess I could try to sell it as a fixer upper, try to get at least $1k for it.

I'll let you know what happens. Either way, I don't want car payments. I hate car payments.

[rspi]

I wish the V70 was AWD, I'd try to work something out with you for my mom who lives in Pittsburgh.

If your wife likes the Volvo I would keep it. The cost to keep that Lincoln on the road will be much higher at this point. And pllleeeeaaaasssssseeeeeee don't assume an older couple is taking care of the car. Dementia is brutal on cars. People in their 60's are suffering with it and they have no idea when and if things have been done. Without receipts with a vin, I'd say far from it.

A replacement head may be cheaper than fixing that one with all the valve damage.

[abscate]

KBB is $6000 for a car with 140k miles.

There once was a publisher named Kelly,
Whose ethics were somewhat smelly.

The car dealers show you the blue book,
Because they are true crooks

But smart car shoppers say NADA or no selly....

Www.nada.com for real pricing

[erikv11]

+1 on the irrelevance of KBB.

Edmunds.com also gives prices that are much closer to what used cars actually sell for.

[precopster]

The only time I want a blue book valuation is when my car has been written off and I want that market value from the insurance company

As a matter of fact this is what happened when my project P80 Volvo was written off last year.

[osman]

I have owned both the NA V70 and the Lincoln Continental. I actually would rather drive the Lincoln than the V70 without the turbo. Make sure the air suspension is operating correctly as if the suspension airbags are bad they are very expensive to replace. On the 01 I believe only the rear has airshocks and the front are regular springs. Sometimes people convert the suspension to springs when the airbags fail but the car wont ride as smooth and an error code will stay on. Make sure the suspension is still original.

[johnhon]

I would fix your car. I did this on my 98 XC and it wasn't hard, just time consuming. I love these cars.

http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-xc70 ... ves-18322/