Advice on used Volvo purchase

[Auto-Union]

Looking at used Volvos for my nephew. He's 19 and likes not American and non Asian car, but can't really deal well with the glitchyness of late model Audis or BMWs. He drives long distances, is tall, young and sort of beats on his cars. We decided on the 8-Fiddy/S70, the ones I've worked on were good reliable and solid.

Does anyone have specific knowledge of models and yers that are better? He likes wagons and XC models. His preference is for the less-box-o-fied model, with more styled fenders...still a "70" model??? Is it the same chassis? His budget is $6000-$8000.

Look at the cars at this place, seems good price and selection. We want to do it all in 1 stop.

http://torchlightmotors.com/inventory.asp

I like this blue car.

2000 S70 SE 60k $8500

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ONLY-61k-...1QQcmdZViewItem

This is another maybe. I dunno how reliable the R is and he really wants AWD in a wagon...I think.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RARE-1996...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Steve S]

Newer Volvos suck.The old ones were great .Pre fwd, pre Ford?

 

[ALS]

I would ask this one over at the brickboard.com. You don't need to register to post. The non turbos will give you the best gas mileage. The 70's seem to have problems with burned out headlight bulbs due to the day time running lights and window switches. The non turbo's S70's will get you in the low to mid thirties on the highway. The AWD's are routinely getting around 19 mpg on average.

 

[speedyswede]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
Newer Volvos suck.The old ones were great .Pre fwd, pre Ford?

Werd...Real bricks roll ol'skool...ie: pre-Big Blue Oval influence(yes, early 850s fall into this catagory).

Too bad 200s/700s are becoming very difficult to find w/low miles & in good condition. Bag the S70s wannabe-a-Quattro/AWD, I'd pursue a mid-90s 800/900 series wagon.

 

[Auto-Union]

Is it true the AWD dies?

 

[bar1]

Newer Volvos use Haldex AWD and need regular maintainance (oil and oil filter).

 

[Volvohead]

Look for '95 or later 855s or gen I V70s. They are essentially the same vehicle, with refinements in later years. Big ticket things to watch for are a leaking RMS (sign of improper PCV maintenance) and whether the evap core has been replaced yet (they all need replacing eventually). Ask if refrigerant has ever been added to the system, a sure sign of pending failure. Lesser maintenance flags include ABS controller repair and some suspension bits that wear prematurely. The drivetrains on '96 and later are fairly bulletproof if not abused. Cloth tends to hold up better than leather in these. Be prepared for a tailgate rattle that can be fixed for about $20. Make sure the timing belt is not overmileage, as these are interference engines. '99s or later may have slightly improved oil consumption due to a ring pack redesign.

I would avoid early XC70s, which can be trouble prone. And I would be disinclined to hand an R to a 19 yo who plans to beat on it. An R deserves better. He should be grateful to get a turbo, although they demand prudent OCIs. The base engine will run forever. The later P2 based V70 is a more significant model change from the earlier generations, and likely out of your budget for a nice one.

Over on Swedespeed, ask around for Jim Levitt (handle JRL), who regularly brokers super condition 850s and gen I V70s for fair prices. Don't be put off by shipping expense; his are well worth the effort.

 

[Jethro]

I love my first gen S40, and no, it's not a Ford. The design dates back to 1995. It has a few Mitsubishi parts in it though....

Ford acquired Volvo Cars in March of 1999. Any Volvo platform designed before that date, and not necessarily sold, will be pre-Ford influence.

 

[Volvohead]

I never said the 850 had any Ford influence on it. It, and both the V70 and the later P2 versions, are all-Volvo designs.

Ford's influence on Volvo is just starting to be significantly felt in their model lineup.

I wouldn't trash Ford, however. Their resources have helped Volvo enormously, and for the most part (and unlike GM) they have given the Swedes a free hand. It shows in their model line, and by the fact that Volvo is not presently for sale.

 

[Jethro]

Originally Posted By: Volvohead
I never said the 850 had any Ford influence on it. It, and both the V70 and the later P2 versions, are all-Volvo designs.

Ford's influence on Volvo is just starting to be significantly felt in their model lineup.

I wouldn't trash Ford, however. Their resources have helped Volvo enormously, and for the most part (and unlike GM) they have given the Swedes a free hand. It shows in their model line, and by the fact that Volvo is not presently for sale.


I wasn't addressing you.

I was making that point for some of the earlier posters that seemed to not like the Ford influence.

But I'm with you on it not being so bad. Ford cars are huge in Europe and they have some great stuff such as the new Mondeo and Focus. Since Volvo is European and Ford of Europe is so good, I don't see how it can be so bad.

 

[Auto-Union]

Good info. I was wondering about valvetrain interference. I also suspected early XC were tricky. I'm likeing that blue car still. Keeping the purchase lo miles will help out because over time, he will get his act together and keep it nice. Thanks all.

 

[speedyswede]

Originally Posted By: Jethro
I was making that point for some of the earlier posters that seemed to not like the Ford influence.


Well, consider it the purist in me. I really have nothing against FoMoCo or the products they make...in general. I just don't like the name-promoting propaganda that goes along with their aquisitions.
In the early `90s I was associated with Jaguar when they took over. We were initially told that we would never see the "Ford" name on any Jag parts or the cartons they come in...the Big Blue Oval began to appear on parts only a few months later.

 

[Auto-Union]

In SEPA, I go to Woodlawn. Ever heard of them?

 

[Auto-Union]

What year is an early XC anyway?

 

[Auto-Union]

The RMS leak will be obvious at the bottom of the bell housing?

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: speedyswede

In the early `90s I was associated with Jaguar when they took over. We were initially told that we would never see the "Ford" name on any Jag parts or the cartons they come in...the Big Blue Oval began to appear on parts only a few months later.


. . . and Jaguar product quality skyrocketed upward thereafter.

How quickly we forget the service nightmares of the '80s models.

 

[speedyswede]

Originally Posted By: Auto-Union
In SEPA, I go to Woodlawn. Ever heard of them?


Yea, I used to know John & Jack really well.

Originally Posted By: Volvohead
. . . and Jaguar product quality skyrocketed upward thereafter.

How quickly we forget the service nightmares of the '80s models.


Lucas nightmares aside....Jaguar lost thier soul when they soldout to Ford and you'll find many Jag purists who will agree. You could take a leaping cat hood ornament and bolt it to a Contour...not much difference there.

Sorry to get so far off-topic, Auto Union.

 

[Auto-Union]

fwiw, John was my neighbour downtown in Phila for a few years. He's take my car in to work in the morning and bring it back all repaired...nice. I still see those guys a lot, matter of fact today I was there on the old Audi 100 situation.

As far as the Volvos at Torchlight, they all seem to have some fatal flaw. Low miles cars had bad bodys, higher miles cars had wilted undercarriges. One nice 1998 V70 T5 was imacculate and drove great, 77k for $7700-ish. Nephew did not like the copper colour. He drove a red XC70 2000 and it was beat...made satanic noises from the rear and was ultra sloppy steering. We drove a metallic brown newer-style 2001 XC, but it was a pig and 107k. Looking at a cleaner V70 2001 to test drive again but no AWD...after 2.5 hours looking at cars there they told us no more test drives. Can you believe it? Kid had a $10k check in his pocket and $2k in the bank needed a car TODAY, we said "get ______" and left. No regrets. The copper car was too girlie, fast as heck. Not a scratch, I had to look if the bumpers were repainted...were not. Too bad. The sales guy said..."why test drive a car you don't like?" That was ignorant. I wanted him to drive it to compare to others, we went from the beatest car to the cleanest and maybe he would be ok with the colour. Who cares, I don't have to justify my choice to him. He could have sold a car but was too interested in being smug. I'm glad I slapped him down when I said "this is our thing we do...go to car lots and test cars we don't like all day long".

 

[Auto-Union]

Their best customers probally are ones who don't test drive or pop the hood.

fwiw, the turbos all had rather sludgy filler holes.

 

[Auto-Union]

The blue 00 V70 T5 w/80k at $7000 looked great in the pics but had a signifigant scratch or two on every body panel. There was a decent green car had had odd prolific wrinkles on the rear 1/4s on the very uppermost of the wheel wells, right below the windows. Am I too picky?