Why exactly wouldn't a Volvo V70R be the perfect car for me? Talk me down...

dj06482 wrote: http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/5480170991.html

Nice price and I'd have confidence that a Darien car was probably well maintained but, damn, 189k!

But if my BMW was sold, I'd probably take a $2500 chance on that one.

Vigo wrote: The R is the only one i'd consider. I know people are saying the regular T5 has less issues but it also has a lot less special. The interior on the R is the majority of the price difference in my book. You're paying some for AWD, brakes, wheels, the 6 cylinder, etc, but the interior is the biggest thing to me personally.

Six cylinder? They're both turbo fives. One just has a bigger turbo...

People are mentioning the cost of C70R bits. What about an XC70 with regular springs? That idea has always appealed to me.

I forgot to mention the horrible George Hamilton tan orange leather some of them came with. The grey is quite nice, though.

That would be fine if bmw didn't make an e46 wagon with a zf transmission and rear biased awd. Or, rwd.

The 4C shocks aren't that expensive, they're Monroes on RockAuto, that's the OEM shock just not in a blue box.

PCV is important, AWD can have some issues like DEM and angle gear leaking.

I have no idea of what one poster here is talking about with the automatics, they're reliable Aisin Warner units. 2000 NAs, all 2001 and 2002s had valvebody issues so stay away from those. Otherwise they're very reliable and can be flushed. 2005 was the P2 refresh, faster CANBUS and a lot of internal electronic changes, 2006 got a 6-speed Aisin Warner and revised Haldex.

pimpm3 wrote: Mine is having a low oil pressure issue at the moment. I am trying to figure out a solution. Thanks for the free advert though John. The T5 is FWD as well unlike the R.

Is it at idle? My 2003 T5 had that and replacing the seals in the oil pan fixed it, common issue.

Huckleberry wrote: That would be fine if bmw didn't make an e46 wagon with a zf transmission and rear biased awd. Or, rwd.

You make an excellent point. In the past, I've always been so focused on finding RWD BMWs with a stick that I didn't even think of this.

Woody wrote:

dj06482 wrote: http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/5480170991.html

Nice price and I'd have confidence that a Darien car was probably well maintained but, damn, 189k! But if my BMW was sold, I'd probably take a $2500 chance on that one.

That was my thought process, as well.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7207275-Feeler-95-Volvo-MT-850-Wagon

ccrelan wrote: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7207275-Feeler-95-Volvo-MT-850-Wagon

Gold paint is a deal breaker for me.

I had no idea I could still get a station wagon with rear-facing third row seats. This opens up another vehicle class for us (we need to be able to seat 6). So far, Mercedes and Volvo are the two options I've found...

irish44j wrote: Personally I love the V70R....but were I to own one, I'd rather find a mid-2000s Subaru Legacy GT wagon. Not quite 300hp but only a downpipe and tune away from 300, really. More aftermarket support by a mile. Otherwise checks all your boxes.

Those are pretty tough to find in good condition IME. They like to blow up for various reasons and they also didn't make a lot of them. My cousin bought a higher mileage one and went through two motors before finally getting one that was in good shape.

Also, they do like to rust and since Woody and I live in the same New England area I can see his concern. I had one mid 2000s Outback rust out from under me.

5 series wagon?

http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/5518823646.html

If you're going Swedish...

t25torx wrote: If you're going Swedish...

I am a little bias, but yes.

I am a happy owner of a late 2007 V70R with the 6 speed aisin slushbox. Bought it with 95k and at 115k with no issues other than a false low on oil message last week which is one of the many electrical ghosts these guys exhibit. The box works fine as the very late build date of mine yields a revised valvebody.

Many 2006 and 2007 Rs have had the valvebody replaced and the consensus seems to be they all need it. Unless the car had been abused while experiencing the hard shifts and slipping the box survives the failure. The bores the solenoids live in wear prematurely.

The 2004-5 5 aisin speed is reliable but not nearly as sophisticated.

They only made 300hp on really cold days. The intercooler is too small. There are several aftermarket solutions.

with the intercooler/catback/remap 300+ HP is really there all the time.

And besides it is the 300 ftlbs from 2k that matters anyway.

The motors a quite willing to spin but the boxes are programmed to keep everything <3k unless you really poke at it. Ours pulls like a small block on Quaaludes. Its a very satisfying wooshy thrust. Very reliable and sorted architecture and unless one really pushes past the basic bolt on stuff and the 'stage 1' tune then they can crack cylinder walls. It is 17PSI stock which was a fair bit of boost a decade ago.

The Brembos are the real deal.

The seats are stupidly comfortable

The interior is really pleasant and 500 mile days are easy on my 6'4" 220 body. The thing could fit someone WAY taller than me- I'm just halfway into the up scaling of the seat position. My wee wife fits great too.

The T5 may be 'faster' but as the owner of a 280-300 HP 850 T5 and haven driven a 2005 low pressure 2.4 turbo V70 with a remap and catback exhaust (260 ftlbs or so) extensively the R is a much much better handling car as the curves tighten and is much more useful in the wet (we live in Portlandia). The FWD t5s eat front tires. Getting power to the rear tires really helps. The Haldex system works fine.

Angle gear and consumable coupling are very common problems but easy to get to and fix.

Lots of luxo barge systems to grapple with

Brake and steering and throttle feel are way more 'GT' that 'Sports'

The 4C damper system blows chunks. The ride is terrible in all modes and the fronts lock solid when the accelerometers located on the front struts move up fast simultaneously which means expansion joints and speed bumps are excruciating misadventures in real and imagined mechanical destruction. They dampers blow themselves up- defiantly HALF BAKED. I cant wait to remove them which is very very common and there is a proven workaround involving chopping up the active dampers, removing the gizzards and creating a little package that is left connected to the puters which preserves the adjustable throttle and steering feel in 'advanced mode' and does not throw codes. Koni and Bils are easy for the front and there are lots of spring choices. IPD sways... The rear dampers can be replaced with Koni or Bils as well with little parts hunting and improvising. KW makes their V1 and V2 coilovers for the application.

People are racking up the miles successfully with several 200k+ and a couple three cars well over 300k without opening anything up on the sweedpeed R board which is so so but all the info is there if you dig. They really are tractor/truck lineage Volvos with maintenance access thought of for off warranty owners. I find them reasonably easy to work on. FCP groton has all the parts at a variety of quality and pricepoints. The VIDA puter interface + windows software is available from China and mine works.

Very good OEM sound system

I love the car as a SUV replacement/fast grocery getter but it doesn't scream 'race me'. It hums 'lets go 7/10s and wear them out over the next 350 miles' nicely.

Woody wrote: I've sort of been down this hypothetical road before when I was thinking about an S60R. I've heard some horror stories but please refresh my memory. I need one more vehicle in my fleet. It needs to haul a medium to large size dog that still needs to be crated or contained for a while longer, while also having room for a kid in a car seat. My Accord sedan and my four door Tacoma are currently failing at this mission. It needs to have an automatic transmission, so that other members of the family can operate it on occasion. Clutch pedal lessons are not an option. Aftermarket support would be a huge bonus. It would see a couple of track days per year. 300 horsepower is a number that I like. AWD would also be nice, so that I could still enjoy track days in the rain. It needs to have an aversion to rust, which eliminates turbo Subarus. I have too many projects, so building something is not an option. I don't mind maintenance, but I need an off the shelf solution. Go...

I see a few listed on ebay right now. Might be worth checking there.

We owned a 2006 V70R. It was a fun car, but I really disliked the ride quality. Wasn't a fan of the suspension set up at all. Might have been the example we had, but I eventually tired of it.

Shawn did a nice summary.

I have an '04 6MT and love it. I've put 30k miles on it in two years. 135k right now.

Because I have no sense, I replaced the front and rear bumper covers and trim, bought new factory OEM wheels, and even upgraded the NAV DVD when I bought it. All that came to <$2500 shipped IIRC from Tasca. Bumper covers were factory painted.

I've had a MAF fail and a fuel pressure sensor get flakey. I also had an HID headlight go out when the electronics got soaked but was able to resuscitate it with a through cleaning with alcohol. I put front LCAs on it because the bushings were beat. Also replaced a couple motor mounts (it probably needs the main ones too). I put a full exhaust on it for about $1200 (EuroSport in Canada) that sounds surprisingly nice.

The harsh suspension can be improved somewhat by moving the accelerometers from the strut bodies to the chassis.

They run a fair bit of rear camber (-1.6 on the worst side on mine) that chews up inside rear tires. IPD has offset bushings if you're so inclined.

The PCV system gets clogged and is a huge pain to change out. I've heard it can push out seals if you ignore it. It's senselessly complicated and the parts from IPD are $360 if you replace everything.

If you're a BMW guy, expect roughly the same level of occasional aggravation but it won't seem so bad because it's different. :) Right now I have a fuel smell from a tank vent (I assume) and the gears in the rear wiper are stripped.

I just noticed two weeks ago that it has built in child boosters in the rear seat. Duh... RTFM, I guess.

I worked for volvo for a very long time, but it never ceased to amaze me what people would have to spend to keep a p2 car running and issue free, r models being the worst. I wouldn't even consider one of these cars never mind recommend them to anyone I liked. I vote Run Away.

dj06482 wrote: I had no idea I could still get a station wagon with rear-facing third row seats. This opens up another vehicle class for us (we need to be able to seat 6). So far, Mercedes and Volvo are the two options I've found...

Have you sat in those rear-facing seats? I have. The ex's 850 had them. They are good for small children and short trips only. Maybe 48" tall - tops - otherwise you hit your head on the headliner. I removed the cushions so the resulting cavity could be used for storage.

Huckleberry wrote: That would be fine if bmw didn't make an e46 wagon with a zf transmission and rear biased awd. Or, rwd.

As I continue to ponder this, I am more and more intrigued by this idea. As a bonus to my Inner Cheapskate, I already have an extra set of BMW wheels.

Stand by for another Learn Me thread...

pimpm3 wrote: Mine is having a low oil pressure issue at the moment. I am trying to figure out a solution. Thanks for the free advert though John. The T5 is FWD as well unlike the R.

I had a customer recently who told me they had the same problem. Not a mechanical type person at all, zero experience. Anyway, he claimed to have pulled the oil pump out and put new seals in it and solved the problem. I have no idea how bulls hit that story is.

markwemple wrote: My parents just sold a 2011 legacy with 80k that was starting to rust

strange, my 09 WRX has 130k miles and a lot of winter driving and no rust anywhere except in the paint chips on the hood (subaru paint sucks...)

belteshazzar wrote:

pimpm3 wrote: Mine is having a low oil pressure issue at the moment. I am trying to figure out a solution. Thanks for the free advert though John. The T5 is FWD as well unlike the R.

I had a customer recently who told me they had the same problem. Not a mechanical type person at all, zero experience. Anyway, he claimed to have pulled the oil pump out and put new seals in it and solved the problem. I have no idea how bulls hit that story is.

Common-ish issue, O-ring between pick up tube and oil pump dry rots, oil pump sucks air, causes low oil pressure. Fix is to pull the oil pan and replace the O-ring on the oil pick up tube. One of those, whole lotta work for a $0.50 part, repairs.

I'll throw a couple oddballs in the mix..

Mazda 6 Wagon?: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=19446&endYear=2017&vehicleStyleCodes=WAGON&modelCode1=MAZDA6&showcaseOwnerId=75280&makeCode1=MAZDA&startYear=1981&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=200&maxPrice=10000&showcaseListingId=422469727&mmt=%5BMAZDA%5BMAZDA6%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&listingId=410955545&Log=0

Mazda 5: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=19446&transmissionCode=AUT&maxPrice=7000&transmissionCodes=AUT&showcaseListingId=423887093&mmt=%5BMAZDA%5BMAZDA5%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=MAZDA5&startYear=1981&makeCode1=MAZDA&showcaseOwnerId=75280&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=200&listingId=425634761&Log=0

Dodge Magnum R/T AWD: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=19446&maxPrice=9000&showcaseListingId=0&trim1=MAGNUM%7CR%2FT&mmt=%5BDODGE%5BMAGNUM%5BMAGNUM%257CR%252FT%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=MAGNUM&driveGroup=AWD4WD&startYear=1981&makeCode1=DODGE&showcaseOwnerId=0&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=200&listingId=419343528&Log=0