This car is certainly not perfect, it has pretty clearly lived a hard life. It's been passed around many times (I'm the 9th owner according to CarFax
) so there are A LOT of "somebody's been here before" problems and quirks I need to get resolved. But thankfully, I'm mechanically and electrically inclined to work on this and have the motivation and resources to bring this car back up to the level I think an R under my ownership deserves to be at. It has good bones is what I would say. Recently buying a VIDA/DICE system is going to really pay off helping me fix and maintain this thing. The Pros:
- Transfer case, drive shaft, and both rear CV axles were replaced within the last year/10,000 miles. The transfer case was a known good unit from a wrecked car with 70k miles. The driveshaft is almost certainly from the same car if those can't be purchased new anymore. The rear CV axles are both brand new OEM. This was one of the big deciding factors for me purchasing the car despite its flaws since this is a major job and very expensive.
- Transmission output seal was replaced alongside the transfer case job.
- Alternator was replaced during that time as well.
- The paint is in good condition, no clear coat problems I can see with the exception of a small rust bubble on the bottom of the drivers A pillar.
- Very minimal rust for being a lifelong Minnesota car.
- No major vibrations when driving.
- Suspension seems to be in decent condition.
- Oil is very clean, previous owner changed it every 3k miles.
- Engine runs smoothly, transmission shifts well. Lots of power when the turbo kicks in.
- All of the exterior lights work.
- Pretty much all electronics in the interior seem to work with the exception of the front passenger door listed below.
- Supposedly has an aftermarket cat-back exhaust.
- The car is mostly stock, just a handful of minor mods that I know of and can see. There might be more I haven't found yet.
- Has aftermarket iPD TCV upgrade part. Poorly installed but it does have it. I'll do a better job of securing it and routing the hoses.
- PCV was replaced 2 owners ago (within the last 3 years give or take).
- Still has the original Volvo windshield.
- Popup NAV display works and still has the remote control.
- There is a failing wheel bearing that is very obvious when doing 40-50 mph or when taking a sharp left turn. I suspect the front left wheel bearing, already ordered the part last night. This is why I was being cautious during the drive home and have not done a hard full-throttle pull yet.
- The clutch is very worn. It doesn't engage until the pedal reaches nearly the top of the stroke. Makes going from a stop pretty annoying having to lift off the pedal so far to get it to engage. This won't be cheap but it's necessary and is also a reason I haven't done a hard pull.
- Codes for an O2 sensor fault. Supposedly the aftermarket exhaust does not use the rear sensor and has such been disconnected. I need to get under the car more to verify this.
- Stored code for an over boost condition. Not sure how serious this is.
- Air conditioning works but stops working when the car gets warm. I'm 90% sure the AC compressor clutch needs to be shimmed. My V70 had exactly the same problem and shimming was the fix for that one.
- There are plenty of small dents all over the car. Not hail damage bad, more like the car has been door dinged an alarming number of times.
- There is a minor damage rear end accident reported on CarFax from Jan 2025 that resulted in a broken passenger side tail light and a small indent on the bumper just under the light. The tail light has not been replaced yet so I need to get a new one.
- There is a minor crease in the quarter panel just behind the left rear wheel and just above the bumper. This happened when the previous owner was hit by another car in a parking lot.
- The sunroof is not parking correctly. It works fine, but when it's in the parked closed position it doesn't sit flush with the roof of the car but instead sticks up just enough that there is a very small gap between the bottom of the glass seal and the roof. I will make a thread discussing this to help solve this problem soon since I'm not sure how to fix that.
- The interior is very dirty. The leather has grime on it in pretty much every location. It's going to take some effort to revitalize the Atacama leather to be the bright orange it's supposed to be. Right now it looks more like a darker burnt orange color. The drivers seat has failed stitching in a couple spots and the leather in the middle of the backrest is very dried out and discolored. Going to hire a good detailer in the near future and probably an upholsterer further down the line if needed.
- The center console is busted up pretty badly just like my V70s was.
- At some point a previous owner took the gauge cluster out, removed the clear plastic lens, and placed a small piece of black tape directly over the CEL. I think this is because of the constant O2 sensor code due to the supposed aftermarket exhaust but I still consider that to be a really sketchy thing to do. Unfortunately I didn't notice that until this morning, it's quite discrete.
- The lid for the air filter housing is missing. My understanding from brief research is that they can be a bit fragile. I will either need to try and source a used one or just get an all new aftermarket intake.
- Lots and lots of codes scanned with VIDA this morning. I took pictures went ahead and cleared the codes. I'll check back in with VIDA to see what codes remain after I drive the car around a bit to see what codes I need to actually worry about instead of old stored codes.
- Minor gripe, but the shift knob is not original but instead a molded soft rubber knob that vaguely looks like the stock one. Not a big deal but I would much rather have the stitched leather one or a very similar leather aftermarket.
- Front right window actuator has a broken clip, previous owner just got the new part in after I bought it so he will be shipping that out to me. The entire door is temporarily electrically disconnected from the rest of the car until that gets fixed.
- Neither of the 2 keys are original R keys. Very strangely, instead of the typical P2 fob with the flip out key, both keys are cut S/V70 rubber keys that have an aftermarket P2 fob on the same key ring used for the remote functions but the flip out key is left blank and uncut. It all works as intended but it's really bulky and heavy. Why would they do it like that? Does this not have a P2 ignition in it? is there a difference in the blade between the P80 and P2? See picture.
