Per my what wagon thread, we are interested in a 2006-2007 Volvo V70R wagon. Given that, what do I need to know about them? Chances are we'll end up having to buy one from out of town, so a PPI will be critical. I'd like to go into that with eyes wide open regarding issues to lookout for.
And is it possible to retrofit a 3rd row of seating to a wagon that didn't come with it originally? Not that I'd want to put little ones back there routinely, but it would be nice to have in a pinch.
Nothing? 
give us a day.. you will get more answers than you need
Somebody will come on here and tell you all about the horrors of failing angle drives, but that was never a huge problem, and the cars built after 02 its almost never a problem...unless you are a cheap prick and try to buy tires two at a time. Then you will burn E36 M3 up.
Having said that, drop the angle drive every 100 k or so, and lube the splines that drive it. They are dry, and thats a bit dumb. That will also allow you to turn the unit upside down and change the gearoil- no drain plug. Chances are the turbo drain tube oring will start to leak around that mileage anyway, and unless you stand about 0'6', the angle drive is coming out to fix it.
They use up brakes, tie rods, ball joints and sway bar links, but not outrageously. Some electronic problems, but not nearly at VW level. Wheel bearing/hubs get loud every now and then. The electronic pump in the diff will fail every now and then, but they are only $300 or so, and not that tough to change.
The engine, turbo and trans are pretty much indestructible as long as you use the proper fluids, and change them in a timely fashion. The automatic uses magic Aisan trans fluid thats around $24/liter, and it seems to be around that price at Volvo, Suzuki, Toyota, Saturn, Saab, and everybody else on the planet that uses the Aisan trans with pulse width modulated torque converter lockup.
Change the timing belt, and do the idler/tensioner every other time. Probably water pump too, although they last for a very long time. Wait for the seals to leak before you change them. I had an 02 S60 in today with 506,000 km on it, and I'm pretty sure its on the original cam seals. Special tools required for that job, along with a pretty good understanding of Swenglish.
I like them. They will go for as long as you are willing to keep up on the maintainence.
There you go! I'll add that the 5 banger is a beefed up unit (bigger rods, more cooling, more oil, more turbo, more exhaust, more intake, more, injector, ect- that is in the C30 Polestar the GRM crew liked so much. For good reason, It is quite a lump, and by 2004, it was a fairly well worked out lump as the "modular white-block" originates in 1993. In 6 cylinder guise it was one one wards 10 best last year. Like many high pressure turbos If you live somewhere hot the fun evaporates with the temperature.
Excellent. Thanks folks! Sounds like a reasonable car to own.
I had a friend who had one and complained about the AWD because it only really engaged the rear when front wheels detected slip, I think he was used to his old galant VR4 though...
I can see the weight liking to go through brakes, bearings, suspension bits but my only beef with them (aside that I don't own one) is that the MPG is terrible for a daily driver.
The seat is a drop in swap from the junkyard.
You will want a laptop to install VIDAS on, and purchase a DICE from ebay. That way you can talk to the car and work on it.
It's a Volvo, there will be gremlins.
In reply to fidelity101:
Modern Audi's are the same way........very few AWD's are full time these days.
yamaha wrote: In reply to fidelity101: Modern Audi's are the same way........very few AWD's are full time these days.
yeah :(
I wanna say the B6 is the last true quattro but not 100% sure. I know my old B5 was
Streetwiseguy wrote: The automatic uses magic Aisan trans fluid thats around $24/liter, and it seems to be around that price at Volvo, Suzuki, Toyota, Saturn, Saab, and everybody else on the planet that uses the Aisan trans with pulse width modulated torque converter lockup.
Asian ATF at 2 bucks a quart
Also much cheaper for the ATF than Volvo:
Toyota 3309 (I believe Asian was entirely Toyota and is still partially owned by them ) Mobile 3309 and as of late last year these two are now Aisan Transmission spec: Valvoline and Chevron MD3 is as well.
I started using the Chevron MD3 in my 1995 855 and it works just fine. Better than the Mobile 1 synthetic that I uses to escape the Volvo price gouge. I (seemingly) spent weeks reading reams of deeply arcane and philosophical opinion, fact, and all sorts of stuff at bobistheoilguy before pulling the trigger. I can sum it up by saying "there are very slight differences" in the fluids from the OEM stuff.
foxtrapper wrote: The seat is a drop in swap from the junkyard. You will want a laptop to install VIDAS on, and purchase a DICE from ebay. That way you can talk to the car and work on it. It's a Volvo, there will be gremlins.
I missed the seat discussion. What seat will drop in? From what I've read, the seats in the V70, maybe just the R specifically, get rave reviews.
fidelity101 wrote: I had a friend who had one and complained about the AWD because it only really engaged the rear when front wheels detected slip, I think he was used to his old galant VR4 though... I can see the weight liking to go through brakes, bearings, suspension bits but my only beef with them (aside that I don't own one) is that the MPG is terrible for a daily driver.
The MPG is significantly better than the Sequoia she drives presently. It's shockingly bad. 
Shaun wrote: What to look for thread
Thanks Shaun!
I'm pretty sure the A4 and bigger still use traditional FT AWD. The A3 uses the same Haldex system found in the Volvo
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