04 XC70 items to check on new buy

mikeamondo · Post by **mikeamondo** » 26 Mar 2014, 09:03

Sorry if folks hate these kinds of questions.... buy my son is looking to find an XC70 in the $6500 range that will last thru grad school and his phd... so about 60k to 80k left in her. He really likes the XC and after riding in one this weekend, I myself a long time Subie driver am thinking about switching as well!

Anyway... I can see he should avoid the 01's and 02's for tranny issues. He's looking at 04's with around 100k to 120k. What specifics, other than a good service history, should he look for. I've told him the timing belt should have been done, or a $1,000+ adjustment to the price given to have it done. What else would you personally suggest to watch out for or double check prior to buying?

Thanks! (I did look for a buyers guide on the XC70, but I only found the one on the S60....) Any advice greatly appreciated!

Mike (potential new Volvo convert)

TCKibe · Post by **TCKibe** » 26 Mar 2014, 09:19

Hi Mike. I just picked one up for $2700.00 that needed the following beside timing belt. lower control arms, ball joints, front struts and bearings, Pads and rotors all around, needs engine mounts and the passenger front window regulator crapped out this Am. It has 168k on it runs and rides great and I'll have around $4000. or so when I get it all done. Make sure you get all the keys and remotes that will set you back $3-6 hundred. Good Luck in your search. Tim

mikeamondo · Post by **mikeamondo** » 26 Mar 2014, 11:27

Thanks for info! That's exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for. How about the turbos? Are they a non-issue in these cars, or should he expect to replace it before 180k to 200k?

Post by **JRL** » 26 Mar 2014, 14:29

If the car was well serviced, nope
The first thing to look for is the car's service history

Post by **oragex** » 26 Mar 2014, 16:55

I think the transmission and AWD system have a reputation of costing a mortgage and be fragile on this vehicles. So if the one you are looking at has any issues with those, move on, even at $1000 selling price. Once those items fail this kind of vehicle is ready for the salvage yard. The XC70 had awd and tranny issues also after 2003.

Turbos don't pose problems on this models no matter the miles

All in all, it's better to see these vehicles a very risky buy. Even for someone with a stable income. They are very fragile after 100k miles, cost a fortune to repair and Volvo dealers are among the worst when it comes to make you pay.

mikeamondo · Post by **mikeamondo** » 27 Mar 2014, 11:57

Well... that's MUCH more negative than I've read on here or any other Volvo forum. Does anyone else concur that the 03-07's have similar transmission issues to the earlier ones?

To find out how they compare, I did a quick, super un-scientific survey.... I searched threads on this forum that contain the word "transmission" and found 232 threads (17 pages worth). I then with thru the first 6 pages and recorded the number of each model year where a transmission problem was the issue addressed in the thread. Here are the results...
2001 - 24
2002 - 12
2003 - 5
2004 - 6
2005 - 4
I consider the 03-05 results to be statically equal.... so that says to me the tranny issues were really bad in 01, slightly improved on the 02's and fixed by 03. What do you guys think?

Any other thoughts on the turbos?

Post by **precopster** » 27 Mar 2014, 14:43

The AWD system was Haldex commencing 2003 on XC70s and 2002 on the S60 AWD.

These are very good AWD systems which should give good service. They don't suffer from tire mismatch stress like the earlier ones and if fluids are replaced they will last.

Transmissions are better by 2003. I have a customer with a 2003 XC70 who just completed 350, 000 country kilometres on the original transmission and it still shifts perfectly.

Also a Bosch throttle has replaced the Magnetti Marelli.

She did have ECM contact problems causing a variety of throttle misdiagnosis on the car adding up to over $2,500. Removal of the engine ECU and cleaning of the contacts was all that was required.

ryanmcgrim · Post by **ryanmcgrim** » 31 Mar 2014, 10:43

I own an 04 XC70. I purchased it in 2010 with 60K on it (150k today). The following is just one man's opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

You are correct in that the transmission issues are primarily before 2003, but they do require proper drain / refills to keep clean.

The question you need to ask yourself is, if you / your son are able or interested in doing maintenance and some service work yourself, or if you will be going to a dealer or independent mechanic exclusively. Also, If you go to an independent, whether or not they will allow you to provide your own parts or will force you to use their parts (their price)

I think it is reasonable to expect the following anywhere north of 100K miles / this is what my current repairs are:

Timing Belt
Water Pump
Tensioner / Pulleys
Auxilary Belt
2 ignition Coils
Exhaust Bracket (2)
Front Passenger drive Axle (CV BOOT Shredded)
Coil Springs (I had one snap at 80k)
Struts
Control Arms + ball joints (balljoints come pre installed now usually)
tie rods
Sway bar bushing
Upper and Lower Engine Mounts
Climate Control Blower Motor
Multiple Drain and Refill of Tranny - (no flushing, although this is debatable)
Brakes and Rotors
ENTIRE PCV system Clean out and breather box replacement
Cracked Power Steering reservoir
Alternator Bearing (have to replace whole alternator)
Tires every 25-30k MAX
Spark Plugs (every 30k)
Windshield washer pump replacement
Ignition Tumbler Rebuild

So lets take a few of the examples above.

Quote from Volvo Dealer for Alternator: $1100 (including $750 for Volvo Alternator (rebuilt)). Quote from my INDY $800 including $600 Rebuilt OEM BOSCH Alternator.

Actual cost of Bosche Alternator $250 without a core charge(I got the same bosh rebuilt alternator off amazon as the indy was suggesting) and put it in myself in about 2 hours.

Front Passenger Drive Shaft: Volvo Dealer quoted $880 ($700 for Re-manufactured Volvo Drive Shaft. Indy Quoted $375 installed (A1 Cardone Drive Shaft)

Actual Cost of Drive Axle: $68 and 3 hours of my own labor (Napa / Cardone Axle rebuild).

Upper Engine Mount: Volvo Dealer quote: $350
Actual: $40 part plus 20 min of my labor.

Control Arms: $800 quote from Indy, Actual: $330 for Genuine Volvo Cotrol Arms with ball joints + 3 hours my labor.

Now if I had to do all of the above list at a dealer, or an INDY that didn't allow customer supplied parts, I would NEVER EVER EVER be able to keep up with the maintenance with an XC70.

However, if you track down your own high quality (usually OEM Volvo) through sites like FCP or some of the sponsors of this site, you will see parts prices of roughly half of that at the dealer. For me finding an independent mechanic to put in Customer Supplied Parts was impossible. I literally couldn't find anyone to put my parts in, so feeling handy I started researching the different work that needed to be done on this site and others like it, and slowly became confident enough to give it a shot. As things needed to be done, I researched here and taught myself how to do it. At the end of every install I was blown away by how intimidating it seemed and how easy it was in actuality. Without sites like this I would have had to sell my volvo long ago. Diving into repairing myself has kept maintenance costs somewhat reasonable, and allowed me to continue a love affair with this vehicle. I love it. I would recommend the car to anyone who isn't afraid of either buying the parts themselves and having a trustworthy indy put them in, or to do it themselves. People that need to drive their car into the mechanic the moment something doesn't sound right (don't want to poke around on google to narrow the source down) have to be willing to spend TONS of money on repairs. If you are a little handy, you can bring maintenance costs well into normal people land.

One thing I will mention, assuming you have checked all the other big stuff is to not forget about the PCV system. It has a tendency to clog, causing positive crankcase pressure which will show itself by oil leaking out the seals and causing damage to the CConverter among other things. This is a $800 job for a shop to do for you, parts total $250 if you have a full day in the sun and have researched the procedure to clean it out yourself.

You can test for PCV system clog by noting smoke coming out of your dipstick, or by attaching a rubber glove to the oil filling port (oil cap removed) . If glove gets pulled inward, towards the inside of the engine you are fine. If the glove begins to blow up you need to get the system replaced before other things start to go.

With all that said, this is the best car I have ever owned. It is a pleasure to drive and I hope that I will have her for another 150k.

mikeamondo · Post by **mikeamondo** » 31 Mar 2014, 12:18

Wow, thanks ryanmcgrim! GREAT post.... tons of useful info! I'm passing it on by son right now. He's quite capable of learning and he's turned a couple wrenches here and there.... but nothing quite as in depth as the list you provided. We changed out the alternator on his Subie, but it sits right up top, dead center on that engine.

The things you mentioned that would have intimidated me are the control arm / ball joints and the axel... how bad were those if you've never done one?

Thanks again for the great post!

ryanmcgrim · Post by **ryanmcgrim** » 31 Mar 2014, 15:28

No problem, it's my first real post, so it's nice to hear it helped.

Well I HADN'T done control arms or CV Axles before I attempted, and can say it was all pretty smooth. The main thing to keep in mind is that without air tools, you should definitely have a 1/2 inch breaker bar (plus a pipe for extending the leverage) and a set of strong sockets and wrenches. The control arm's weren't bad, but I didn't realize you have to "Load them" before tightening everything down. Meaning if your car is off the ground (on jack stands), you don't want to torque all the bolts down fully on the new control arm without jacking your knuckle / control arm setup, up slightly until the control arms are about horizontal. I caught it soon after discussing the install with a friend, so it was no big deal, but I hear that you can tear up the bushings fast that way.

The axle was a dirty job because I had a shredded and spewing CV boot that got grease on all of the suspension parts, but aside from it being dirty and raining, it was a pretty easy job that made me feel manly at the end of it all.

Basically the main thing you worry about when undergoing a new project on your daily driver, is whether you have all the correct information / tools, and whether you are going to run into a hangup, such as rusted and seized parts.

I found that my Order of Operations is to find the applicable PDF for the shop manual (From Volvo's Computerized shop book / tool) on a forum, for the work I am trying to complete. Read through it to see what I understand and don't understand. Then I'll search youtube for videos on the process that will hopefully fill in the details for anything I was foggy on from the PDF. Then I will browse this site and some others sites like it for the right parts, and some tips and tricks for the job, such as necessary tools, and creative tool substitutions.

Harbor Freight / Northern Tool will become your friend. I would be willing to bet that for $200 there you could set your son up with everything he would need to do all of the repairs I mention above, or close too it.