Help me decide

[tryingbe]

If you can't work on the car yourself, an old Volvo is not what you want.

[June]

June, thanks much for your post. There is nothing like first hand experience and I am sorry for you that you had to deal with that. I think that about sets me straight on the XC70 and an older AWD system. I'll stick with the straight FWD and perhaps just keep looking for another S70. Thanks!

You're welcome! I believe the 98 was the first year for AWD. As with any model it takes a few years to iron out the kinks. June

[SuperHerman]

The owner is buried in that car money wise. It is high mileage. But it has a new top end and a ton of new parts - that is why I say he is buried in the car.

When I did my head gasket on my 2001 V70 XC at around 180k, the bottom end looked great and I could still see the factory hash marks on the cylinder walls. Once I had the car back together it ran outstanding.

I would first test drive the car and see how it acts. If it passes this test move forward. From there I would find out why and when the head gasket/top end work was performed and by which shop. I would look at the paper work to see exactly what was done and hopefully what brand parts were used. A new turbo is not cheap, even a Chinese turbo cartridge is around $200 with rebuilts being around $350. You would want to see at least 10k miles on the car to feel safe since said work was performed. After 10k second rate work or parts would already have manifested themselves. With all that top end work and turbo replacement most of your maintenance items have been taken care of - check on water pump and timing belt - they should have been done at the same time. Also the PCV system may have been done as everything is already off. Look into it.

The AWD system on that car is not that bad. You can always pull the prop shaft and run it FWD. Tons of information on them as forum members service them. You want to look into the bevel gear service, if any, check for leaks and fluid level. Then check all AWD seals from front to back. Look at the paper work if any to see when the various seals have been replaced. Also explore any transmission maintenance - specifically fluid changes. Check the fluid dipstick and inspect the fluid - visually and by smell. That year car has the 4 speed transmission which was pretty reliable, but needs regular fluid changes.

Although the car has high mileage the top end work makes it worth a longer look as all the cam seals were done, maybe the water pump and timing belt, intake gasket, injector o-rings ... If all checks out I would offer $800 - a dealer would give him $300-500.

[misha]

I wonder...is there any problem that Dealer can actually fix?!
They are the same all over the world,no matter what brand of car we are talking about.

[misha]

I had a V70 Cross Country new in 1998. By 1999 it lived at the dealer with AWD trouble. Also had reoccurring heater core leaks, and could not sustain speed above 70mph on a hot summer day without puking the transmission fluid out the top vent which the dealer could never fix. It sure would lay a smokescreen and create a huge mess from under the hood to the back window with transmission fluid everywhere. Keep in mind I owned the car from 1998 through late 2001. The factory warranty was needed, I'd say mandatory for ownership. June

If they were not able to fix the problem on a new car,they had an obligation,as an authorised dealer,to replace transmission and heater core as a part of a warranty...or to give you a new car.

About failure of awd system on these cars....you can always remove the awd propshaft and put a car in fwd mode if you don't want to mess with it.
Removing of propshaft is all you need to do.

[abscate]

Selling for a friend Is a euphemism for a flip..ask for the friends name to get the history and they will balk.

The other telltale is a third party title which they won’t let you see until you have cash.

[June]

I had a V70 Cross Country new in 1998. By 1999 it lived at the dealer with AWD trouble. Also had reoccurring heater core leaks, and could not sustain speed above 70mph on a hot summer day without puking the transmission fluid out the top vent which the dealer could never fix. It sure would lay a smokescreen and create a huge mess from under the hood to the back window with transmission fluid everywhere. Keep in mind I owned the car from 1998 through late 2001. The factory warranty was needed, I'd say mandatory for ownership. June

If they were not able to fix the problem on a new car,they had an obligation,as an authorised dealer,to replace transmission and heater core as a part of a warranty...or to give you a new car.

About failure of awd system on these cars....you can always remove the awd propshaft and put a car in fwd mode if you don't want to mess with it.
Removing of propshaft is all you need to do.

As I mentioned Volvo warranty was needed and coveted all the problems I had. They replaced the heater core several times and finally put a lighter pressure cap on the car which fixed that problem. The transmission issue could not be duplicated in the shop. So they would clean the mess up and refill the fluid.

As far as the AWD system, my car had a flat at less than a year old and a new tire was installed which destroyed the AWD. Once the system started having trouble, something else went every couple of months. Volvo always fixed it under warranty, no question asked. Had I paid for all the AWD issues it would have been a small fortune. I did end up paying for a new set of tires for a 9 month old car. That AWD system cannot handle even a slight variance in tread wear from my experience. After all how much difference in tread could there be on a car less than a year old? The answer: enough to kill the AWD. Again I believe that was the first year for AWD which is vastly more complicated than a simple FWD so perhaps the mechanics at that time were missing other damage in the system? It was new to Volvo. I can't say... I can say at 19 years old and over 200K it has to be a nightmare waiting to happen in my eyes. June