wonder thoughts on used 2004 xc70 all wheel xcountry 43,000m asking 23,995. new to volvo's love the look.thanks for any info....mommagirl2

Combined with what "MADE IN JAPAN" said, i must say that these are not your average beat-around, everyday cars. They are tough vehicles, sturdier and safer than your Asian and American made, but they MUST BE MAINTAINED REGULARLY. They do carry Swedish ingenuity in their design, but that is higher tech than your Volvos of old. Because of the 4-wheel drive, tires should be rotated every 3 to 6K miles. Volvo shows no maintenance or service to the transmission, but coniseurs will tell you to have it done every 30 to 50k miles (depending on how hard you work your vehicle) There is no shop manual that you can buy for this model, unless you go through Volvo for $5,000.00. Make sure to have dealer change transmission fluid before you buy, along with their service of the vehilce to ready it for sale. They should also service the front differential mechanics (for lack of terminology). If you write and ask Claus for opinion, he can probably give you more precise terminology. It doesn't have to be said but you know we are happy with the two we own, and all of the previously owned ones as well. Try to get as much information regarding service, number of owners, upkeep records, and any other history available when buying used. Don't let them just show you records, you want copies of it to take with you, so you have complete history of car for yourself, and when you go to resell the vehicle. VOLVO FOR LIFE.

Great car, but for the miles, they are asking too much ($20K tops). Find something wrong with it and use that for leverage to get the price down. Take it to a good mechanic for diagnosis and make sure all service was done on it and in a timely manner.
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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.

I am on my second V70XC and it is a 04’. My first was a 98’. I think the 04’ is a better car. As for the transmission fluid, I was told it costs about $400.00 just for the fluid. In fact I do not believe you will even find a “dip stick” for the transmission. In addition there is no service information for the radiator fluid as well. My advice is to negotiate having all the maintenance brought of to current spec. and some kind of warranty for the car as well. I love my XC.

Okay, nice that you have this car...we have an '04 V70 (almost same everything to yours) and we love it. However, the dealer wants to much for any maitenance (unless it's under warranty) and so I have resorted to dealing with most stuff myself, like I've done on our old 850 and my S70. In fact, I Just did a radiator flush and transmission fluid flush on it today at 50K miles.

There IS a dip stick...a very short yellow plastic one under the front air intake under all of the large hoses. If you have over 45K on your transmission you need to think seriously about getting this done or doing this yourself if you want it to last. The dealer is wrong when they say it never needs servicing. They will be happy to see the transmission go right after their warranty period ends. The flush really is a very easy procedure. Also, the fluid yours and my car takes is Mobil-3309. It's just repackaged for Volvo and Volvo marks it up to a point that most of us don't even bother with the them. You can buy a case of this (same) fluid here: http://store.avlube.com/mobilatf3309.html A case is just over $50 (12 quarts) plus shipping. When I ordered my case, I got it 2 days later. Here is the write-up on how to do your own flush: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/chat/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8767


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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.