'07 XC70: Missed opportunity?

[s2zeller]

Looked at an 07 Xc70 a couple days back. It had 135k, but started/drove well and the body was in good shape. It was also $7k, dropped recently from 7.4. CarFax was clean and the car looked to stay local to where it was purchased/being sold.

Now, having had an 850 (RIP) for 20 years, I do like these 2.5 cars... so, I'd be willing to pay a bit more if I could get some years out of it.

But there were a couple of things that had me concerned:

1) the top of the oil dip tube was rusty (as in flaky rusty) and the dip stick itself had corrosion or some type of residue that started about half way down and continued to the bottom. Maybe one of the nearby radiator hoses broke/leaked at some point? The hoses that were in there were all firm and looked pretty new.

2) there was a rapid ticking sound (or lower-pitched and scratchy/staccato sound) coming from the driver's side of the engine when the hood was up. You couldn't hear it standing on the passenger side (AC belt) or when the hood was closed or inside the cabin, so I couldn't tell what it did when the engine was revved. Only a minor thing?

Was I being overly paranoid about any of that?

The front suspension looked completely original (given the rust/corrosion... which I was a bit surprised at the extent of given that my 850 still had most of the original underbody coating left). So, at the very least, that suspension work would be an upcoming expense. The rear components looked like they had some work (driver's side only) and the strut anchors in the way-back looked solid yet. All of the CV boots and their clamps looked very new.

The engine was generally clean (and not recently cleaned, if you know what I mean).

The guy said he was a mechanic at a local place. So, I don't know if he did the work or somebody else.

I'd have felt better getting a second opinion from the local mechanic I've been going to for 15 years, but this was 75 miles away.

Good to walk on this?

[theWIFES_S70]

$5500-$7500 seems to be the range for the 07 XC70 in NYC. So your car is a little on the higher range.

1. I wouldn't pay attention to this. Rust is such a weird thing. If you wanted to replace it dipstick tubes aren't really that expensive. It might be a bear to get to, but with a good 1/4" flex head ratchet, I'm sure you can get in there without having to take too much apart.

2. Oil tick or a fuel injector tick? I just changed the oil on my cousin's new 07 C70 and boy did I have to scrape out a lot of sludge from the oil filler cap and from the oil filter canister. Sludge, if you don't run high quality oil, can be a problem on these Turbo cars (from what I read).

3. Suspension components are so much more complicated on these cars than on that old P80. Looks like you're looking forward to a front end and at least one rear wheel. Luckily no CV work... At least a $1K in work due. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... 5-xcfullfr

At 135K miles, that means the timing belt was just done right? It's good to have that done...

All in all, if you like it, you like, it, but it certainly seems like you'll have to invest to get it where you'll be comfy. At $5500-6000 it certainly seems like a better deal.

Good luck figuring it out!

[abscate]

The P2 suspension is more robust than the P80 in my experience. My P2 is like new at 110k, my P80 needed all four corners despite being driven by Mom.

[s2zeller]

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I'm finding that prices seem to be inflated in these parts. I'm not too surprised though since the local Volvo dealership told me they had a double-digit waiting list for trade-in V/XC70s... two of which were on the lot but already spoken for.