Thoughts on the longevity of the S70?

[FCPEURO]

Mainly here on MVS. Don't ever buy parts on FCPEuro

- S

Agreed, unless they want to undo what they have done.

Hello ZionXIX & Sommerfeldt,

My name is Jason VanGorden over at FCP Euro.

I'm really sorry to hear if you had any trouble with our service.

Was there something in particular that had happened that I could make right?

Please feel free to message or email me directly with any concerns so that we can address them for you.

We're always happy to help.

Thanks

Jason
[email protected]

[ZionXIX]

Hello ZionXIX & Sommerfeldt,

My name is Jason VanGorden over at FCP Euro.

I'm really sorry to hear if you had any trouble with our service.

Was there something in particular that had happened that I could make right?

Please feel free to message or email me directly with any concerns so that we can address them for you.

We're always happy to help.

Thanks

Jason
[email protected]

FCP withdrew their sponsorship for MVS after 10 years. We are a loyal bunch and that decision hurt us personally. Without getting too far onto my soapbox we can continue this conversation here...
viewtopic.php?p=505066#p505066

[Eddystone]

I think that there is an infinite variety of plastics, and they all have different characteristics. I believe one characteristic they all share is "out-gassing" over time, and that means they will all become increasingly brittle over time. High temperatures speed up this process, but the idea that the plastics in the V70 were chosen to match the environment of Sweden is just silly, and I'm sure Volvo intended these cars to sell all over the world in a variety of climates.

To the extent that I can, I always want to know where a car has spent its life before I purchase it. Cars from Oregon and Washington always seem well preserved. Someone recently reported buying a car from San Diego: That car will certainly be rust-free, but I'll bet all of the plastics and rubber are suspect, unless it's been garaged all of its life. I live in the Philadelphia, PA area where it usually doesn't get too hot and where our roads are not heavily salted because we don't get much snow. Rust is hardly ever a problem for Volvos around here, although it does definitely happen, primarily due to some sort of drainage path being blocked by plant material or other crud.

I have a 93 940, a 98 V70 and a 99 S70. I have to be extremely careful with the plastics in all of them, and generally don't break them, but there are some pieces that simply cannot be removed without breaking them because they were designed to be flexible when snapping into place and just are no longer that flexible. Same is true of my own body!

I have bought a wide selection of things like plastic rivets and generic automotive fasteners from Amazon and Harbor Freight that can generally get me out of trouble. I also find that JB Weld can repair broken pieces quite often and that a quality double-sided tape designed for holding trim strips and emblems to the car can be creatively used.

[abscate]

Plastics die from sun, ozone, heat, and chemical exposure

I recently ordered a dome light replacement for my S70; the part was made in 1999. The plastic was perfect, like new.

[erikv11]

Plastics die from sun, ozone, heat, and chemical exposure

I recently ordered a dome light replacement for my S70; the part was made in 1999. The plastic was perfect, like new.

Another semicolon, careful. At least you left off that period

[abscate]

Plastics die from sun, ozone, heat, and chemical exposure.

I recently ordered a dome light replacement for my S70; the part was made in 1999. The plastic was perfect, like new.

Another semicolon, careful. At least you left off that period

Tough crowd...

In this thread I learned the max font size is 200

I bet your ATP in your garage has turned into ADP...

[wrybread]

I was having a really bad when I wrote my initial question about the longevity of the S70. Seemed like every panel or button I touched would break. But now I'm armed with a trim kit and a bit more experience and I can clearly see this car is built to last a long time.

But about the plastic, I don't think all plastic is created equal, and the plastic and panel construction of the S70 does strike me as an uncharacteristically weak point of the car. Some plastic, in my experience, is just built to last longer and deal with heat better. Next time you see an old Mercedes in a junk yard go poke at it. Or even a Volvo 240. In my experience that plastic (and panels, glue holding the fabric, buttons) is built to last a lot longer.

Again no big deal, it's all easy to work with and a very small price to pay for such an awesome car.

And hmm maybe I should have used a semicolon in that sentence.

[850 LPT]

Again no big deal, it's all easy to work with and a very small price to pay for such an awesome car.

I like that attidude.

[abscate]

And, hmm, maybe I should have used a semicolon in that sentence.

I can't fix the fragment, but at least make it workable for a few more threads.



(wry, your posts are fine, we kid ourselves over grammar here, but we are harsh on text talk and abbrevs.)

[wrybread]

(wry, your posts are fine, we kid ourselves over grammar here, but we are harsh on text talk and abbrevs.)

Ha all good, hopefully it's obvious I was just joking

And here's an interesting ad campaign. I think they stopped caring quite as much about longevity by the time the s70 came around. If they still had that attitude they'd have to recall every single S70 for the shrinking driver side arm rest alone as the fabric there seems to inevitably shrink. But thankfully mechanically it's still all there and it's still common to see them being sold with 300k miles.