Another weekend, looking at another 2007 XC70

[s2zeller]

Just got back from looking at a nice dark blue (possibly black... misty and very overcast day today) '07 XC70 with ~47k on the odometer.

Because the used car place was closed, I only got to look at the exterior (and the interior through the windows). Interior looked to have minimal wear, the tires had a good bit of tread (actually looked fairly new... didn't think to look at the sidewalls for manufacture date), very minor paint chipping, a bit more windshield chipping (small, but more than I remember my 850 wagon having at that mileage).

From what I could see, the catalytic converter is very rusty, but the muffler has probably about 2-3 years of corrosion.

The other area that is rusty is the rear suspension (had new springs in the last week or so)

The front had new control arms, and all of the boots looked new as well.

Judging from the Carfax, it looks like it was reasonably well taken care of in its earlier life.

The price is on the low end of KBB's range.

So, was this car sitting in and/or driven through water? Or would this be expected with salty winters (my '97 850 was garaged, but the cat was replaced near 300k and the suspension was rusty, but a thin layer rather than the flaky kind)?

I may have a chance to drive it mid-week, but it means taking off a bit of work. So, I don't want to spend the time if there are some red flags here.

[mrbrian200]

I don't see any glaring red flags. Being from a salt zone in the north you'll want to inspect/install new exhaust hangers at about this age and eye the struts for replacement due to rust and corrosion. A car brought up from the south is going to be cleaner in this respect, however, when I was looking a couple years ago I noted that P2s originating from southern states tend not to have heated seats which you'll want in Madison WI. I'd be very careful at the moment looking at used cars brought up from any of the gulf coast states.
Only cars whose owner carried full coverage, and they filed a claim, get tagged as total loss flood vehicles. For every car that gets tagged as a total loss/flood vehicle there's something like 3 that don't (NBC news report last week).

[s2zeller]

Yeah, I'm already a little extra paranoid about cars from the south. My folks' one new car was shipped up from the south. Six years later, the engine dropped out while on the interstate.... everything holding it up had corroded through. Turns out the suspension wasn't holding up much better. I don't know if there is a connection, but my dad and brothers always suspected something (this was several decades ago, so getting that kind of information would have been more difficult) especially since the dealer went out of business a couple years after the purchase and it was rumored that they'd faked documentation.

Anyhow, I was just surprised so much of the suspension had work done since a lot of that stuff on my 850 waited until almost 200k. I didn't know if it meant hard driving, or just not being garaged.

[mrbrian200]

Anyhow, I was just surprised so much of the suspension had work done since a lot of that stuff on my 850 waited until almost 200k. I didn't know if it meant hard driving, or just not being garaged.

The design and geometry of the front end on the P2s is really hard on the control arm bushings, especially the rearward one closest to the back of the car.

[s2zeller]

Hi,

Thanks for the insight. We decided against the XC70 for other reasons. Now looking at some XC60's).

[stephenortiz147]

Just got back from looking at a nice dark blue (possibly black... misty and very overcast day today) '07 XC70 with ~47k on the odometer.

Because the used car place was closed, I only got to look at the exterior (and the interior through the windows). Interior looked to have minimal wear, the tires had a good bit of tread (actually looked fairly new... didn't think to look at the sidewalls for manufacture date), very minor paint chipping, a bit more windshield chipping (small, but more than I remember my 850 wagon having at that mileage).

From what I could see, the catalytic converter is very rusty, but the muffler has probably about 2-3 years of corrosion.

The other area that is rusty is the rear suspension (had new springs in the last week or so)

The front had new control arms, and all of the boots looked new as well.

Judging from the Carfax, it looks like it was reasonably well taken care of in its earlier life.

The price is on the low end of KBB's range.

So, was this car sitting in and/or driven through water? Or would this be expected with salty winters (my '97 850 was garaged, but the cat was replaced near 300k and the suspension was rusty, but a thin layer rather than the flaky kind)?

I may have a chance to drive it mid-week, but it means taking off a bit of work. So, I don't want to spend the time if there are some red flags here.

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