V70 Volvo's

Any thoughts? Reliable or Junk?

parts cost?

I've been looking for a 4wd pickup and these damn V70 AWD's keep showing up

Reliability improved greatly over the course of the years - enough so that I paid a bunch to buy a brand-new one in '07 for Mrs. BDT. The early ones were iffy. Parts are reasonable.

No point in getting an AWD one - adds complexity and weight with no benefit that snow tires won't give you. If you want better ground clearance you need to go XC70 or XC90 - just bought an '07 CPO XC90 this past summer for The Wife and it's niiiice. I had a '98 V70, one of the first years after they changed over from the 850, new on lease for 3 years. Comfortable, reliable car. They tend to blow headlight and other exterior bulbs a lot for some reason. The AC evap will fail, its just a matter of when. Other than that no real problems I know of, but spend a little time at brickboard.com and sweedspeed.com to see what commonly comes up.

Mom had one, an 04. Great car. Too much tourque steer.

I don't have a 70, but I do have an 850. I really like it. Parts remind me of 3-series parts. Still reasonably cheap, but for the most part whatever you replace stays fixed. Anyway, it's comfy and more or less invisible. I like it!

I own a '95 Volvo 850 wagon (fwd.) The common opinion seems to be that the AWD's are complex and pricey to fix. There are multiple discussions about disabling the RWD portion. Seems to me that just buying fwd would be the answer.

I have found parts to be reasonable. I mostly mail order from:
http://www.fcpgroton.com/index-exec/

I find repair answers here:
http://www.volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/
http://www.volvospeed.com/vs_forum/

Another opinion. I really feel that Volvo's tan leather is inferior to Volvo's black or grey leather. The tan just does not seem to age well.

If you're thinking about getting a 4x4 truck, the V70 awd isn't for you.

If for no other reason than the transfer case is darn delicate. Only a little tire size mismatch and you destroy it.

It's awd for people that drive in snowier conditions than they should. Nothing more. Think yuppie skiers determined to get to the slope.

My V70 T-5M has been very reliable. I purchased it with 90k miles and after 60k miles all I've done maintenance wise is put oil in it and replace the evaporator core. I've got to replace the clutch in it, which is around $500 for parts. I put on Eibach springs and Koni FSD shocks/struts for about $700.

Angle drive gears in the AWD system are expensive to fix

Much more truck like.
Volvo 940 wagon. Asking $2k. Since it does not start offer $1k, tops.
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/1492500763.html

Combine with these and beat AWD.
$200 mounted Blizzaks
http://muskegon.craigslist.org/pts/1499574909.html

i would say to get a truck if you're shopping for a truck. if you want a V70, get a V70R. yum.

blackm3sedan wrote: My V70 T-5M has been very reliable. I purchased it with 90k miles and after 60k miles all I've done maintenance wise is put oil in it and replace the evaporator core. I've got to replace the clutch in it, which is around $500 for parts. I put on Eibach springs and Koni FSD shocks/struts for about $700.

These come with manual transmissions? I have a 5 speed Accord wagon and am always looking for manual trans wagons to put on the potential replacements list.

I hear they do, but I've yet to see one in person.

They are out there. IPD used one for a project car (link below). I see a couple a year for sale in Portland. The manual tranny is very strong and Quaffe make a diff for it. Still FWD (obviously), but the high pressure turbo 5 pots make allot of go and are proving to be long lived.

IPD's wagon: http://www.ipdusa.com/1998-Stage-III-V70/blog-22

there is one in Portland right now in fact: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/1495401270.html

blackm3sedan wrote: My V70 T-5M has been very reliable. I purchased it with 90k miles and after 60k miles all I've done maintenance wise is put oil in it and replace the evaporator core. I've got to replace the clutch in it, which is around $500 for parts. I put on Eibach springs and Koni FSD shocks/struts for about $700.

This wouldn't happen to be the one that was out at the challenge this year?

We have a 99 V70 GLT. We love ours and have put 30k+ miles on it with no real problems.

That being said, we have friends that have a 98 GLT with similar mileage that has constant problems.

These come with manual transmissions? I have a 5 speed Accord wagon and am always looking for manual trans wagons to put on the potential replacements list.

Volvo Turbos with manual trans are very rare. That combination was only available on a few racey models and only for one or two years.

However, on the non-turbo 5 cyl engine, manual trans are readily available. I personally have a 5 speed 5 cyl non turbo engine in my '95 Volvo 850 wagon. It performs just as I would expect; at 2.4 liters it fells just like either a big 4 cyl or a small 6 cyl. At 145k miles, it returned 27 mpg on my most recent thanksgiving holiday 10 hour drive.

jrw1621 wrote:

These come with manual transmissions? I have a 5 speed Accord wagon and am always looking for manual trans wagons to put on the potential replacements list.

Volvo Turbos with manual trans are very rare. That combination was only available on a few racey models and only for one or two years. However, on the non-turbo 5 cyl engine, manual trans are readily available. I personally have a 5 speed 5 cyl non turbo engine in my '95 Volvo 850 wagon. It performs just as I would expect; at 2.4 liters it fells just like either a big 4 cyl or a small 6 cyl. At 145k miles, it returned 27 mpg on my most recent thanksgiving holiday 10 hour drive.

98 is the one year for manual trans "p1"(93-2000) fwd turbo wagons. I have a High Pressure Turbo 1995 855 with the slushbox, speed-tuning 17psi remap, 2.5" cat back, and it has all the intake charge and vaccum stuff up to snuff. The HPT in my car and the 98 t5 make 240 hp and 240 ftlbs stock. According to speed-tuning mine is making 275/302.

For reference: On our 1400 mile turkey day road trip it returned 23.8 mpg with the cruise set between 70-85 depending on state. It has very tall gearing any lousy traction, but once it is rolling it pulls pretty hard.

An easy 20 hp and 30 ftlbs or so is available by adding a $40 manual boost controller in place of the EBC and bumping the stock 10ish psi to 15. People have done that allot with no problems. Above 16-17psi things blow up without a new map.

http://www.speedtuningusa.com/products/volvo.htm

Shaun wrote: there is one in Portland right now in fact: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/1495401270.html

If that had 68k less miles I'd be all over it. How much longer do you suppose the stock turbo will last?

asterisk wrote:

Shaun wrote: there is one in Portland right now in fact: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/1495401270.html

If that had 68k less miles I'd be all over it. How much longer do you suppose the stock turbo will last?

My car is 14 years old and at 160k and the original 15g is fine. In the last week or so I have seen two threads on Volvo boards where people have ticked over 300k in 850s on the original long block and turbo. The mitsu units are water and oil cooled and run under stressed in the stock setup. What requires much more frequent attention are the rubber charge pipes, vacuum lines and elbows, the rear main seal, and the crankcase ventilation system- which is what is often forces the RMS failure. Volvo's are only outlasted by Mercedes, the 93-00 fwd Volvo's mechanically are very tough cars that are designed to be maintained well past Volvo's warranty obligation. What I don't like about that car is the tan interior, as noted, the tan leather just does not seem to last, and at the very least the tan interior ages poorly generally.

I've got a V70 T5, really comfortable car with plenty of passing power. Drove from SF to Davis a few weeks ago and got about 27mpg, around town it does 18-19.

It's a semi-luxury car, not a 4x4 pickup

mr2peak wrote: I've got a V70 T5, really comfortable car with plenty of passing power. Drove from SF to Davis a few weeks ago and got about 27mpg, around town it does 18-19. It's a semi-luxury car, not a 4x4 pickup

What year is your V70?

Thanks.

pigeon wrote: ...They tend to blow headlight and other exterior bulbs a lot for some reason...

My '99 S70 was recalled for blowing bulbs. They replaced all the exterior bulbs and sockets.

Stick with a 98 or earlier as the newer cars have a much more over complicated electrical system making what should simple fixes into something else entirely. The awd drive system as previously noted adds weight and more parts to break, and I would not buy the xc-70 unless i lived in the north, since I do not i will stick with my 850 wagon. The engines when maintained will last forever.

99 V70 GLT w/ a dead evap. core and a vent. evap system.

We absolutely love the car. I do not want to pay replace the core so we are looking for a newer one. Even with the "Volvo" issues all of which happened to our V70 I still want another one. Parts are reasonable and web support is good. It's comfortable, spacious, can carry stuff, and I think every car company should outright copy Volvo seats.

We get 19 mpg in suburban driving. On our Thanksgiving 470 highway mile each way inlaw-cation we clocked 29 mpg driving 5 to 10 over.

Follow the link for well written details on replacing the evap yourself for what it claims is just $300 in parts vs $1900 in labor.

http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf