Coworker with a cheap Volvo I could possibly bring to life...

[j-dawg]

I've had few electrical issues with my 99 since buying it not quite 40,000 miles ago. ETM went out ($300 for me) and I had to solder in a new headlight socket ($7).

Mechanical expenses set me back $400-1000 each year, but I think l spend way more than I really need to.

[theWIFES_S70]

Mechanical expenses set me back $400-1000 each year, but I think l spend way more than I really need to.

I think if you can keep your yearly expenses under $1500, you're in OK shape. For the peace and mind of a Volvo, $1500 / 12mos. = $125 a month, ain't that bad. But get that to $1000 a year and you're only spending about $85 a month for your P80. That's the good stuff there!!

That's why that first year is so crucial. Pick up a car that needs a tuneup, timing belt, pcv, front end, tires, battery, and all those special electrical goodies found in the 99+, you could easily spend around $3K for that first year.

$3000 / 12mos. = $250 a month... plus gas and insurance... you'll probably be around $350 a month for that first year of your Volvo. That's painful... At that point, you better hope the next couple of years are good to you or else. Free lifetime replacement parts or not, you're spending!

[abscate]

Doing all my own work, 98% of the time, I come in on average about $2000 a year for all 5 cars. I cannot bitch at that cost. I just gave my indy $90 to flame off SWMBOs exhaust coupler, deciding oxy-acetylene under the car was a bad idea on a creeper.

[theWIFES_S70]

Doing all my own work, 98% of the time, I come in on average about $2000 a year for all 5 cars. I cannot bitch at that cost. I just gave my indy $90 to flame off SWMBOs exhaust coupler, deciding oxy-acetylene under the car was a bad idea on a creeper.

What you could've used a sawzall, some flex pipes, couplers and clamps... c'mon!

[precopster]

I spent around $1,500 in the first year on my 2000 V70. It had 252K kilometers when purchased. I didn't bother with the PCV as the 2000 model has an improved version and being non turbo there wasn't a leak in sight. All up around $4,000AUD in maintenance over 6 years with another 100k completed. Pretty much that V70 never saw the inside of a mechanic's workshop unless it was for a wheel alignment.

To make her like new again she really needed another $1,500-$2,000 of interior and A/C repairs so I let her go and was replaced with a 2001 V70 T5 (not half as reliable in my opinion).

[j-dawg]

I think if you can keep your yearly expenses under $1500, you're in OK shape. For the peace and mind of a Volvo, $1500 / 12mos. = $125 a month, ain't that bad. But get that to $1000 a year and you're only spending about $85 a month for your P80. That's the good stuff there!!

My Volvo has been my second (and occasionally third) car for the last few years. It's more of a hobby project than transportation. A hobby albatross.

[sleddriver]

......These are essentially the same as the 96 850 I had a few years ago, right? Do they have basically the same issues like the Battery positive corroding etc? What's the deal with the heater? is there something common that dies there?[/quote

No....no, no, no......bad juju

'99 was the first year of CANBUS. More than a few had expensive & frustrating electrical gremlins due to completely different eng management system, communication protocols, multi-coils, electronic throttle body and additional 'Swedish trolls installed at the factory'. Further, if I recall, you can't just install any junkyard part as it won't be "accepted" by central command.

Don't forget the black, pointy hat with moon & stars, magic wand and dead, rubber chicken to accompany your top hat & magic cape........you'll need 'em......

[abscate]

All the major mechanicals are the same.

Alternator starter PS AC
You get a better PCV which is heated with coolant which stops it from plugging up.

Engine management is more difficult to diagnose but breaks less. NAme your poison. Fuel system is more robust, I'm at 200k on original pump and relay

[RyanGLT]

Abscate is a good reader. I had a 96 850 a few years ago... did a full tune-up, a throttle-plate mod write-up, full brake upgrade, odo gear fix, positive battery cable fix, new starter, shock mount fix, heated seat fix......the list goes on. And I've been working on cars literally since I could walk...so...not worried about the work.

Here's what I know: It runs and drives though it hasn't really been driven much in the last couple years. It's a base model with a 5 speed. Body and interior are in decent shape. Oil changes were neglected so it may need PCV work. Probably a general tune-up which is easy enough.

Short backstory - I have a 64 Corvair as a daily driver by accident. It's been in my garage since we bought a house last year because I replaced the front floor pans. A week after I got it back on the road (just a few weeks back now) the transmission I rebuilt a while back started making strange noises. I've got the trans pulled apart again (can't find anything wrong, either which is absolutely maddening). My wife and I share her car and we drive about 50-60 miles a day in it. It's a 98 Camry that turned 239,000 yesterday morning and recently had a catastrophic water pump failure which I managed to fix but now the car has a lifter tick and all the struts are worn out anyway, etc... Anyway...her car is still plenty reliable but it's old and putting all those miles on it every day can't be good for it and ontop of that sharing her car is a pain in both our arses.


And finally - unless one of you can point me to a pre-electronic ignition P80 in running and driving and not rusted out condition for 5 or 6 hundred bucks, let's not quibble over whether or not your personal tastes gravitate towards this particular year for whatever reason... It's a coworker, it's cheap, it's not a 64 Corvair, and I already have experience under the hood of a Volvo.

So...yeah. LOL

[scot850]

Any car can be brought back to a good runner, it is just a case of what is really wrong with it when you start to work on it. I spent a fair mount of time looking over the 2000 V70 base/NA 5 speed auto project, and I did not find the ton of bad repairs, bodged repairs and lack of maintenance issues until I started working on it and taking stuff apart. I get kind of anal in that stuff should work the way it was meant to. I hate grubby worn out interiors so a whole lot of time and energy went into that to undo what the pigs that had owned it before I bought it had done to it. Add in a bunch of electrical gremlins that were either hidden/switched off prior to me seeing it and this is my nightmare. I am into this way over what I planned to spend on it by about 100%. It will be stage 0 with new coil packs replacing the cracked old ones and the misfiring one. Having said that, once it is hopefully running ok, I hope that I or someone else will have a really good car for a few years with little to spend on it other than regular servicing. I am not concerned too much with the differences in a 98 to a 99 or 00. The last 2 years do have more complex electrical systems but otherwise the issues are mostly the same.

Sounds like you are going for it, so I wish you luck and hope your experience is way easier than mine!

Neil.