'99 V70R fix-up before sell, or no?

[volare]

So uh...hi. Been a minute since I posted here, life gets in the way. Onset of rheumatoid arthritis put the brakes on my ability to fiddle around with the Millennium Falcon (silver '99 V70R, built 10/98 so within the 'bastard' years as abscate terms them) for the last year or so; with treatment, now starting to get a little function in my hands back. Thus and so, much as I enjoy fixing & driving this car it's probably time to sell it. Would you make these repairs yourself first, or is it not worth it?

Issues:
• Airbag system light is on. Nothing I can do about that, I don't think. Take it to be fixed or no?

• Check engine light is on again, I haven't re-checked the codes recently but I think it was a sensor issue.

• Needs the entire parking/ebrake replaced from the lever back; I suspect the shoes may have rusted to the wheel badly enough to do some damage there. Far as I know replacing the cable means taking out the back seat, can it be fished through in some way or nah?

• Again with the blower motor...buy & replace, or let the next person do it?

• Never did get around to sending the rear shaft of the AWD system out to be fixed (or replacing it entirely).

• Rear hatch isn't closing/latching properly and outside air is getting in.

• A baker's dozen of various interior cosmetic issues - cracked panels, mostly.

Opinions, other ideas, winning lotto numbers welcome.
Interested in buying it, let me know. It's in northern MA by the NH border.

[abscate]

Is it still needed s a daily or weekly drive?

Nothing on the list too expensive to fix if we scrounge parts.

[scot850]

Biggest issue is the E-brake system, and in particular the cables. Hopefully the back plates are good as they are NLA for years.

Back seat base has to come out and center console to replace cables. Also rear trailing arm mounts have to be dropped to run the cables over the top. It is time consuming but not horrendous. I still rather do an AWD v's FWD brake cable! And no, I don't like doing either!

None of the issues are looking like particularly big ones just time consuming. Like abscate says, is the car still needed in which case it would not be too bad (mostly) to get up and running again.

Abscate, I see the future and it may include yet another AWD P80 now you have experience of AWD!!!!!

Neil.

[volare]

It's been off the road over a year now due to failing inspection because of the ebrake and my subsequent inability to do the repair work. I still start it and move it around to keep it working, take it around the block once in awhile etc. My Baja is my daily driver due to this but there are times I'd much rather be driving the Falcon...
that said, I bought it for my then-16 y/o when she was learning to drive and first got her license, the usual "dad knows you can drive but is terrified of other drivers so I'm putting you in a Sherman tank" reasoning. She's 23 now and has a zippy little red four-banger of her own so it's back in my driveway, and outside of the issues it has it runs nicely; I feel like it deserves a better home.

[scot850]

Well that puts a different slant on the conversation. If you feel 100% it is time to move it on (rather than the Baja!!) then you have to consider doing the figuring out if the car has the minimum to get it through an inspection, or to sell as is. Both will determine the selling value of the car. Question is what is need to get it passed inspection.

1) the check engine light will need codes to figure out.
2) the airbag light has a good chance it has been accidentally tripped so just needs re-set. A good OBDII tester should be able to do that. Maybe if you can get the car running and get it to abscate he might be able to do that for you if you ask nicely!
3) Parking brake. This I feel is the make or break (no pun intended!) of the repairs so is where I would check first to make sure the backing plates are good to work with as they are needed for the cable support and parking brake shoes. Even if you check this or have it checked for you, at least it will let someone know what they are walking in to. Repairing the back plates could be a challenge if they are crumbling.

Neil.

[abscate]

You might want to connect with Firefox31 and get info on his maker space in NH near you. You can make short work of the parking brakes on a lift.

Dropping the rear torsion arms to deal with the cables isn’t bad. I just wrote that up.

Are you sure the cables are bad? Unsticking shoes in drums might be the whole project

[850 LPT]

You might want to connect with Firefox31 and get info on his maker space in NH near you. You can make short work of the parking brakes on a lift.

Dropping the rear torsion arms to deal with the cables isn’t bad. I just wrote that up.

Are you sure the cables are bad? Unsticking shoes in drums might be the whole project

I agree with everything here except one thing. I did the parking brake incl. cables on my 98' V70XC (same setup as yours) years ago without dropping any suspension components and had no trouble with it. It is a very time consuming job for sure though.

A car that has mostly everything working is obviously worth much more, but you have to balance the cost as Neil and Abscate have eluded to.
If you were a little closer I would help.

[abscate]

I’ll let you know next time I’m in the area. I’m still not traveling like in the past due to Covid but that will change in summer.

Keep it moving once a week or so!!

[volare]

Good points all, thank you. I know those back plates are rooster teeth, hoping they're salvageable.
If I had a bigger driveway I'd happily hang on to it, no question, but with all the outside issues in play that now interfere with my ability to work on it I fear it dying by inches. It's as good a candidate for a DD beater as for a restoration project if it gets into the right hands, which had been my original intent but I don't see that happening now.

[FireFox31]

PM sent. I'm interested to come see it. Could I drive it 45 minutes back to my home? Would I need to free the stuck brakes in your driveway first?