Should I buy a 1999 v70?

EarlyMorningRiser · Post by **EarlyMorningRiser** » 23 Mar 2006, 11:54

Hi All,

My name is Chuck and this is my first post to the forum

. Actually, this is my first time thinking about owning a Volvo. I hope you don

Post by **pfeener** » 23 Mar 2006, 19:52

There were some issues with the 99s. Volvo made a number of major changes. One of the major changes was to the throttle system. Volvo went to a "drive by wire" system called an ETM. Basicly all of them failed to the tune of $1000 to repair. Good news is Volvo has stepped up to the issue and will warranty for 10 years or 200K miles (I think those number are correct) In the beginning of this forum there's a whole section just on the ETM system. Also timing belt and tensioner comes up for change at $105K miles.

If it's had a good service history and been well taken care of, I wouldn't shy away from it, but if you can't do a lot of the repairs and maintenance items yourself it will be more expensive to maintain than say a Nissan or Toyota.

EarlyMorningRiser · Post by **EarlyMorningRiser** » 23 Mar 2006, 20:25

pfeener wrote:If it's had a good service history and been well taken care of, I wouldn't shy away from it, but if you can't do a lot of the repairs and maintenance items yourself it will be more expensive to maintain than say a Nissan or Toyota.

I'm pretty sure it has had a good service history, though it wasn't through the dealership - they used a BMX/Volvo shop for that. They have all the paper work though.

When you say "do a lot of the repairs and maintenance items myself,

silver99s70 · Post by **silver99s70** » 25 Mar 2006, 23:46

Hi Chuck,
I have a 99s70 with 105K miles- owned from new.
Some things to consider / ask about.
- Tires: Michelin MVX4 plus: shopping for 4th set (of 4)- get ~35K miles per set- I'm told that's good- some only get 20K-30K miles per set. Tires are V rated and cost ~$125-150 each installed.
- Wheels: Have 4 new steel rims on order; just had a wheel balance and 3 of 4 rims are bent. This may be contributing to the steering wheel vibration that seems to be getting worse.
- A/C: Had to have the evaporator replaced- it's buried under the dash and cost $1200. Also afterwards the dash rattles- some of the plastic tabs may have broken when the dash was removed (at a dealer). They also put the steering back on off center- they corrected at no charge.
- Lightbulbs: numerous failures early on- (turn signals, parking, brake, headlights)- seemed to get better after some warranty work on sockets or wiring.
- Brakes: Am told need rotors at every brake job (multiple dealers). They say rotors are too thin to turn. $275-$350 per axle for pads, $425-$500 per axle with rotors.
- ABS control unit: Have had warning light and Brake warning lights come on a few times. Could be controller going bad or defective ignition switch, I am told. A guy online fixes the ABS controller for ~$130, a new one at the dealer runs ~$710.
- Ignition switch: electrical portion- heavy overloaded key rings can allegedley contribute to ignition switch failure, which can cause ABS / Brake warning light, flickering lights, loss of odometer. I read if you shut off engine, wait a minute, and restart- the errors will sometimes clear. I've had all the symptoms except the flickering lights. Replaced the ignition switch yesterday.
- ETM (Electronic throttle Module): ETS warning light can come on while driving, and suddenly you're in a rough running mode capable of only 20-30 mph. By shutting off engine, waiting a minute or two, and restarting, you can sometimes clear the problem. A dealer supposedly replaced my ETM with a new one, following the new extended warranty on this component, that Volvo's now honoring. After ~1000 miles I just got the warning again, horrible rough idle at a stop light, was able to pull over and shut off engine. Wait a minute, restart, everything fine. I'm thinking maybe they tried to clean the unit, instead of installing a new one. When they put the new unit in, they're also supposed to upgrade some software, so the car doesn't freak out so much when this error occurs. My dealer worksheet says the software was updated. The symptoms don't seem to match what was done.
- Oxygen sensors: Two of them, ~$200 each, a local indy charged me another $100 or $200 in labor while chasing the emission error codes leading to their replacement.
That's all I can think of. Hope this helps.
Silver

silver99s70 · Post by **silver99s70** » 22 May 2007, 11:08

Followup to previous post:

After some additional erratic operation, I checked the ETM, and it did have a yellow part tag on it (implying it was a replacement part- the original part allegedly had a white tag)- so it appeared the dealer did change this out. Continuing the troubleshooting, I ended up replacing the ABS control unit, (bought the part at the dealer for ~700), and all the electrical problems went away. It's been over a year now, with no electrical issues!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 22 May 2007, 14:40

Just a thought...no need to replace the ABS control unit (module)....instead send it off and have it repaired. There a couple of reputable guys doing this now, all for much, much less than the cost of an entire new one.

zenmervolt · Post by **zenmervolt** » 22 May 2007, 15:59

MadeInJapan wrote:Just a thought...no need to replace the ABS control unit (module)....instead send it off and have it repaired. There a couple of reputable guys doing this now, all for much, much less than the cost of an entire new one.

Or just disconnect the ABS unit. It's not like ABS or traction control are even close to being vital systems.

silver99s70 · Post by **silver99s70** » 23 May 2007, 00:14

Good points MIJ and ZV,
At the time I didn't consider driving without the module, and a local dealer had one, and my patience was spent with the ETM mindblow (nothing like the car suddenly sputtering and/or shutting down while your cruising), so I opted for the quick switch. I had planned to send my flaky ABS to one of those online independents- figuring I would then have a backup. That idea got pushed to the back burner, though from what I've read those independents really do a nice job, so we'll see.

As far as the necessity of ABS, I can only recall two or three cases in 8 years where I thought it really made a difference. Could I have stopped without it ? Maybe ? Maybe not. It's a normal day, heavy city driving, monotonous, a red light, you wait, second in line, then green, guy in front accelerates nicely, you follow (not fast but not crawling either); then for no reason he slams on his brakes in the middle of the intersection, no pedestrians, no animals, no emergency vehicles, nothing, you can't be ready for this at all times, but you react after some delay, 100ms, 500ms, 1 second ?, and stand on your brakes, and the car does not skid, and you don't make contact. ABS- not bad.

Post by **pfeener** » 23 May 2007, 05:04

Bottom line Chuck; this seems like a nice car, but if you're not prepared or able to do some of the work yourself I would advise you to pass. These are expensive cars to have someone else work on.

zenmervolt · Post by **zenmervolt** » 23 May 2007, 09:59

silver99s70 wrote:Good points MIJ and ZV,
As far as the necessity of ABS, I can only recall two or three cases in 8 years where I thought it really made a difference. Could I have stopped without it ? Maybe ? Maybe not. It's a normal day, heavy city driving, monotonous, a red light, you wait, second in line, then green, guy in front accelerates nicely, you follow (not fast but not crawling either); then for no reason he slams on his brakes in the middle of the intersection, no pedestrians, no animals, no emergency vehicles, nothing, you can't be ready for this at all times, but you react after some delay, 100ms, 500ms, 1 second ?, and stand on your brakes, and the car does not skid, and you don't make contact. ABS- not bad.

ABS does not shorten stopping dtstances on most surfaces. There is a slight decrease on dry pavement, but this is typically smaller than normal measurement error in testing, so it's debatable.

In most cases, ABS lengthens stopping distance compared to fully-locked wheels (in fact, ABS doubles stopping distance on ice). The benefit is that ABS allows you to maintain steering control instead of sliding. It really only helps on things like snow and ice where most people would lose control in a skid because they don't know how to modulate the brakes.

In short, ABS prevents skids, it does not make the car stop faster compared to locked brakes.