Volvo Newbie here!
I'm going to take a look at a 1999 XC70 with 122k miles for sale by a private seller on Craigslist in the next few days and will probably purchase it if it all checks out. The asking price is $3900, which seems pretty fair, but the check engine and airbag lights are currently on. The seller just took the car to our local Volvo dealer to get it inspected, which makes me feel somewhat better about the dash lights. I know there have been plenty of threads on these cars but I just wanted to tap into the resources of this board since I'm new to Volvo.
To give some background, I live in the Inland Northwest and love to ski/fly-fish/camp so I've been very attracted to AWD wagons for a long time. Subaru's are practically the official car of this region but I have been drawn to the Volvos for their functionality and also safety (I have a 3 & 1 year old to tote around). My current ride is a 1998 Nissan Altima that has been very reliable and extremely low maintenance, so I'm fully aware that I will be putting far more work into maintaining an older Volvo. I've done quite a bit of reading over the last week or so on this model but I would love any advice on what to look for when examining this car. Ideally I would love to drive this car to over 250k miles, does that seem reasonable? Any advice/tips/feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
99 XC70 Purchase Advise
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tryingbe
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njutila wrote:The asking price is $3900, which seems pretty fair, but the check engine and airbag lights are currently on. The seller just took the car to our local Volvo dealer to get it inspected, which makes me feel somewhat better about the dash lights.
Base on that alone, I would look for another car. High price, air bag and check engine light both on, BAD SIGNS!
Whatever car you decide on, make SURE you take it to YOUR trusted mechanic to have him check it out before buying it. It is the best $70-130 you will ever spend on that car!
85 GLH, 367 whp
00 Insight, 72 mpg
00 Insight, 72 mpg
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Ozark Lee
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The warning lights may be a big deal or they may not be a big deal.
The SRS light is worrisome since you mentioned safety as one of your motivating factors in considering the car. When the SRS light is on the entire air bag system is defeated so that is something that you would want to address. Often the light can simply be reset but for a '99 Volvo you need a special scan tool to do it. For that matter nearly everything on the car needs that same scan tool it is the DICE interface and the VIDA computer program. The official Volvo versions are thousands of dollars but you can buy DICE clones along with a cracked bootleg copy of the software for around $100 through Alibaba or eBay.
The same thing applies to the Check Engine light - it may be nothing but it may be something big and I would want to know before I opened my wallet. Although car pricing is regional the price is at the upper range of typical so I would want things pretty perfect for that money. If you do buy the car be sure to get all of the keys and the remote keyfobs. They are dealer only programming and a new key or a new remote will set you back $250 to $300 each by the time you get the programmed to work.
...Lee
The SRS light is worrisome since you mentioned safety as one of your motivating factors in considering the car. When the SRS light is on the entire air bag system is defeated so that is something that you would want to address. Often the light can simply be reset but for a '99 Volvo you need a special scan tool to do it. For that matter nearly everything on the car needs that same scan tool it is the DICE interface and the VIDA computer program. The official Volvo versions are thousands of dollars but you can buy DICE clones along with a cracked bootleg copy of the software for around $100 through Alibaba or eBay.
The same thing applies to the Check Engine light - it may be nothing but it may be something big and I would want to know before I opened my wallet. Although car pricing is regional the price is at the upper range of typical so I would want things pretty perfect for that money. If you do buy the car be sure to get all of the keys and the remote keyfobs. They are dealer only programming and a new key or a new remote will set you back $250 to $300 each by the time you get the programmed to work.
...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
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1986 740 GLT
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'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe
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matthew1
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It was just at the Volvo dealer, and the dash lights are still on. That says something to me.
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1998 V70, no dash lights on
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1998 V70, no dash lights on
1997 850 T5 [gone] w/ MSD ignition coil, Hallman manual boost controller, injectors, R bumper, OMP strut brace
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kahl
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The owner should have been given by the dealer what is going on with the airbag and CEL. Let us know!!
As Tryingbe implied at that price the car should be close to perfect. Ditto on spending money for a condition inspection.
As Tryingbe implied at that price the car should be close to perfect. Ditto on spending money for a condition inspection.
I really appreciate everyone's advice here. I should have clarified a bit more, the lights were on but the owner has taken it to the dealer to get everything inspected. At this point I'm waiting to set up a time to view the car once the owner gets it back from the dealer. My hope is that the issues should be resolved but I will most definitely get it thoroughly checked out before considering purchasing it.
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