Advice on what year and model to buy (wagon)

[Georgeandkira]

I understand. The idea of power on demand is GREAT. My '99 was a LPT. For 5 years Saab had Linear, Arc and Aero trim levels. The Aero name was used earlier too. The Arc featured the V-6. I know what you mean about "pull".

A car able to "get out of its own way" is a great attribute but comes with a fairly significant cost. Do you want to gamble on the transmission's condition of a used boy toy....or neglected grocery-getter?

Frankly, people want too much from cars. Where do you think the VW diesel scandal came from? Diesel owners want gasoline punch not long-stroking diesel crank. VW and others tweaked the pollution outputs and got caught. It was all about delivering the WOW.

edit: "Nothing wrong with the older..." The bad DIMs lasted until when? '04-'05?. The cheaper Haldex AWD unit was used until when? '04?. Plastic headlights came in when headlight wipers went out. Those are the least of your problems.

The latter cars have redesigned manifolds which I assume are improvements. The older a V/X-C70 is the longer it may have been abused by the "lifelong" transmission fluid myth. Older V/X-C70s had the fuel pump controller outside the car so they corroded. It's inside my '07 and secured. The MM ETM went away when?....'03, '04?...not the biggest problem but one most people don't want to deal with.

Silly car market. Volvo went to the 6 cylinder and redesigned in 2008. It drinks 25% more gas....just before the '08 crash. Brilliant!

[Rattnalle]

I'd say judge an aging car by it's previous owner regardless of engine. There aren't really any particular weakness to any of the engines if they've been maintained.

The six was only sold in a small number of T6 cars in their home market. Most cars they made were diesels by then.

[cn90]

- Stick to 2.5T engine and stay within 2004-2009 or so. These years have good transmission too.

[erikv11]

Best year for a P2 wagon: 2007.
Second best year: 2006.

[Georgeandkira]

What changes were made from 2006 to 2007?

One I thought was unique to '07's was the steel fuel tank. It turns out steel tanks have dotted the product line.

Another I heard of was the change from aluminum alloy control arms to steel. Here too I've read a few posts of pre-'07 V70 vehicles with steel arms. At least it's what a few posters on fora have said.

[June]

What changes were made from 2006 to 2007?

One I thought was unique to '07's was the steel fuel tank. It turns out steel tanks have dotted the product line.

Another I heard of was the change from aluminum alloy control arms to steel. Here too I've read a few posts of pre-'07 V70 vehicles with steel arms. At least it's what a few posters on fora have said.

Wouldn't a steel tank not be good since ethanol is in fuel these days? I remember when I was a young driver gasahol, now called E10 would rot the steel gas tanks and lines. My 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis suffered from this fate when I bought it at 7 years old. It was quite a expensive fix at the time at Mercury to replace everything including the carburetor. I couldn't imagine what a nightmare that would be on a modern fuel injected car. June

[Georgeandkira]

I do not know. I am not aware of ethanol reacting with steel.
The woes from the early days of ethanol-in-gasoline had to do with dissolving plastic and possibly some cheap alloys of brass.

[IdahoBob]

I like the XC70.
We have snow on the road for 3-5 months each year, mud and squish another month.
The XC is my pick-up when I go to the woods, and I can sleep in back if it's raining.

I liked the first one so much that between me, the wife and our three kids we have 5 of them: 2 X 2002 (280 & 191 miles), 1 X early 2004 (turned 300K miles last week), 1 X late 2004 (124K miles) and a 2006 (189K miles).

The 2006 is the least favorite. Too many examples of penny-pinching on construction that affect the quality of the car. Plastic headlight covers which require buffing twice a year, headlight bulbs that do not tolerate the previous owner's ham-fisted attempts to replace blown bulbs without destroying the socket, thin floor mats, AC compressor that must be replaced instead of shim-adjusted, a single hood prop instead of two, unexplainable electric wierdness, etc., etc.

The 2002's are nice. Keep the transmission oil changed every 100,000 miles.

The early 2004 (they chagned the engine mid-year) is a good car. The trasnmission has been slam shifting into 2nd when it's hot, for the last 160,000 miles. Keep the tires matching on all 4 wheels (rotate at least every 10,000 miles helps a lot with transmission problems.

The late 2004 is my favorite of the lot.

I'm still not certain on regular petroleum oil vs synthetic. I've run them all exclusively on Pennzoil or Castrol 5-30W, inlcuding the one now at 300,000 (others are at 280, 191, 189 and 124K miles). I'm shy about synthetics due to old experiences with synthetics causing leaks in non-leaking older engines; but then I've had to change the crankcase breather boxes on three of these, with some serious coking plugging them up, which resulted in blown cam gaskets in the higher mile '02. Maybe synthetic wouldn't have caused this coke build-up.

[abscate]

That’s a serious Volvo family!

Synthetic definitely helps reduce coke build up. I converted all my cars to synthetic about 5 years ago.