2000 V70R parts car - worth buying and fixing up? Topic is solved

[j-dawg]

if you're going to run it as an FWD automatic, start with a working T5, and spend the time and money on making it faster instead of making it a working car.

Yeah, I've come to the same conclusion with the help of you guys. What you suggested is definitely the better approach.

Well, to backtrack a bit, I guess it depends what you're looking for.

If you wanted to dump money into a ground-up build of an R to keep - plan on replacing the engine/trans/suspension/brakes anyway, make it a big-turbo power wagon with the handling bits to keep up - then the chassis you start with is just a bracket for those parts, and any one that isn't rusty or dinged up is as good as any other. It'd be nice to have the factory brake parts, I guess, but if you're committed to thousands of dollars of Volvo build, you can afford a couple hundo on brake parts.

But it sounded like you were looking at this as an opportunity that had cropped up. There is never an opportunity. All car-related opportunities are traps. The best you can hope for is to own and enjoy a car for a while, then lose less than $1000 upon sale. The least I ever lost on an impulse-buy car was when I made $100 (including maintenance, repairs, registration, etc) on my Mercedes 240D after owning it eight months.

[eee]

if you're going to run it as an FWD automatic, start with a working T5, and spend the time and money on making it faster instead of making it a working car.

Yeah, I've come to the same conclusion with the help of you guys. What you suggested is definitely the better approach.

Well, to backtrack a bit, I guess it depends what you're looking for.

If you wanted to dump money into a ground-up build of an R to keep - plan on replacing the engine/trans/suspension/brakes anyway, make it a big-turbo power wagon with the handling bits to keep up - then the chassis you start with is just a bracket for those parts, and any one that isn't rusty or dinged up is as good as any other. It'd be nice to have the factory brake parts, I guess, but if you're committed to thousands of dollars of Volvo build, you can afford a couple hundo on brake parts.

But it sounded like you were looking at this as an opportunity that had cropped up. There is never an opportunity. All car-related opportunities are traps. The best you can hope for is to own and enjoy a car for a while, then lose less than $1000 upon sale. The least I ever lost on an impulse-buy car was when I made $100 (including maintenance, repairs, registration, etc) on my Mercedes 240D after owning it eight months.

I get what you're saying, but I disagree. I'm still a university student so I can't just drop 10 grand to rebuild a 20 year old Volvo from the ground up. Through the course of this thread, I've learned that there's still the possibility of finding a decent shape V70 that won't need as much work. Y'know, something that's not missing a turbo, brakes, propshaft, etc. Obviously the car I saw isn't suited to be anything but a parts car. That doesn't preclude the chance that I'll find another one that could be stage 0'ed for a reasonable amount.

I agree with the idea that cars are traps, but I'm not looking for a car to turn into a 350whp track monster that I'll profit off of, I'm looking for a decent car that I can drive 5,000km each summer. Not the end of the world if I sell it at a loss.

To this end I've found a '98 R nearby for a decent price that is driveable. Going to check it out today.

[j-dawg]

It sounds like we more or less do agree.