Should I buy? 2004 XC70

DougM · Post by **DougM** » 29 May 2018, 11:49

A friend is looking to sell his 2004 Volvo XC70 that the family doesn't drive any more. The PA inspection expired at the end of 2017, so he has agreed to let my mechanic look at the car to tell me what would be needed to pass inspection--so I can figure out if it is worth buying for our 16 y/o son.

Any advice on the 2004 XC70s?

One quick question--how can I determine when the timing belt was last changed? Car has 230k miles on it, and they have owned the car for about 170k of those miles--and he doesn't remember if he ever changed the timing belt. I looked under the hood, and can't see anything that indicates the date or mileage of the last timing belt change.

Thanks,
Doug

Post by **oragex** » 29 May 2018, 13:49

No maintenance papers? He doesn't remember? I won't touch it unless is very cheap (less than $2000). You most surely need to do the belt, water pump (use strictly Aisin for the pump and Continental or Gates for the belt), PCV (do first the test as on Youtube because if it was neglected some costly engine seals may start leaking). The awd has a good change not to be working any more if it wasn't repaired yet.

Wagon99 · Post by **Wagon99** » 01 Jun 2018, 08:49

Doug,

Pull a Carfax on it. It might say whether the timing belt was changed, in addition to other things.

Carfax is far from foolproof and should never be relied upon 100%, but it does provide certain info that could be helpful.

ashgoldS60 · Post by **ashgoldS60** » 10 Jun 2018, 20:02

be prepared to work on any Volvo P2 model or shell out a bunch of dollars for a mechanic.
I got a low mileage S60 and have fixed a ton of stuff and its not cheap.

buy your son a Toyota or Honda and avoid the hassles and cost of a Volvo.