2001 C70 Is This A Good Year to Purchase?

[JRL]

Do not forget, 2001 have the bad MM ETMs

[E Showell]

ETM is a permanent $500 fix.

[oragex]

It looks like all maintenance was done regularly -- but we didn't see records for about the last 15,000 miles -- although we did not look too closely, just a quick cursory glance, so we could have missed them.

I probably means the car had a second owner for about 15000 miles who did no maintenance.

The manual transmission has a very common and costly slave clutch issue cylinder, check out European forums such as http://volvoforums.org.uk/ where manual transmissions are the norm

[Cees Klumper]

The turning circle will be the same with 16 inch wheels - VERY wide. The noise on sharp turnin-in can be two things I think: either it needs a lick of grease on the plastic steering limiter pad (a 2 minute 'job') or a worn outside CV joint (not likely with such low miles).

[E Showell]

Have you bought that car yet?

[abscate]

It looks like all maintenance was done regularly -- but we didn't see records for about the last 15,000 miles -- although we did not look too closely, just a quick cursory glance, so we could have missed them.

I probably means the car had a second owner for about 15000 miles who did no maintenance.

The manual transmission has a very common and costly slave clutch issue cylinder, check out European forums such as http://volvoforums.org.uk/ where manual transmissions are the norm

Manual transmission in/out listed as 8 hours labor on the books.

Clutch plate
slave cylinder
RMS

probably a 1200 bill at an independent. Not a bill to wish on anyone, but worth it for a good running car.

[E Showell]

The suspense is killing me (or perhaps us, but I don't presume to speak for others unless hired to do so).

[perks1]

Thank you all so much for your input and insights. Sorry to keep folks in suspense... I am still deciding -- mostly because I worry there will be hidden expensive problems and right now, I don't yet know how to do any work myself. It really did drive like a dream though -- but still daily driving using a manual to commute in bumper to bumper traffic may be too much.... I spoke to a couple of Volvo mechanics today and they told me that brakes can go soft from air getting in and that it was likely an easy fix and that the cable in the hand brake was likely just stretched. One suggested a brake flush as apparently condensation is quite common on these cars and that will remove it. The stop sets (right word?) in the wheel are likely making that noise on the right. They were more concerned that the airbag light was on and that the owner had turned down fixing tie rods 15-20k ago -- as now the front wheels (particularly the right) are quite worn (the side where the noise is coming from) and those could be bigger problems. I guess I need to decide if I want a mechanic to look at it. I also test drove a 1994 BMW 530i yesterday and really like that, too with lower miles, one owner, all maintenance records, etc. which did not seem to need much upfront work at all. A very different ride but also delightful. So, still making a decision regarding next steps.

In response to ascate's comments, I don't know what happened during the last 15k miles but the title is still under the original owner.

[dosbricks]

....In response to ascate's comments, I don't know what happened during the last 15k miles but the title is still under the original owner.

Many people, when they decide to purchase a new car in the next year, will just stop doing maintenance. If the the car was bought at auction by a wholesaler, then it was very likely traded in at a non-Volvo dealer who may not know much about the mark and therefore be leery of unknown issues.

[perks1]

Thanks dosbricks. The was actually donated to a charity auction, where the wholesaler purchased it but you could still be right. But since there are no records, we don't know. I tried to call the owner as he had an unusual name, but was unable to reach him.