I have had (4) 740/940 cars and currently run two as dailiy drivers for me and my wife.

I am looking to upgrade, mostly because I have been driving these for several years, both have 200k.


Found a 99 v70 AWD in pretty nice shape. (150K miles)

Last night I was saying to myself, wake up before you get into a nightmare of repairs.

These things need the dreaded throttle module repairs, the viscus couple and bevel gear are a bump in the road or a warn tire away from burning up.....

I think I need to just go in and do the timing belt and seals on my cars and stop looking elseware. I can't afford a lot, so I have always done my own work and get most fo my parts from FCP.

Since I'm on a budget, should I just hang tight.

If I get the v70 (history is no tranny work) should I pull the rear drive train asap asa preventative measure. Is the bevel gear still in danger with the rear wheels dissconnected?

Hello Adirondacker, Where are you in the Adirondacks? I'm at the southern end of Lake Champlain near Ticonderoga, NY and Orwell, VT.

I'm over in Schroon Lake, not far from you.

Thanks for the support. Everything your saying I saw on the board, you rationalize it away, but at the end of the day, you guys and gals are right.

My RWD is getting it done for me, and I can take apart and repair most anything on those cars (heh, I have repaired most everthing). I also have a store of parts that I know are good.

Thanks for saving me from hours in the garage.

Maybe in a few years I'll get a late model FWD.

Eric

Don't stop looking, it is fun to do. Just be careful of what you buy. Each year has its problems, some worse than others, just like every Volvo ever built.

I realize it snows a lot up your way and AWD is a nice feature, along with slip control in the cars with an ETM. The V70s are good cars, not to be dismissed out of hand. Bargains are out there, but those bargains need to come from private sellers with maintenance history and the ability to trust the seller.

Sure, the AWD have a bevel gear that needs flushing and drilling a drain hole once will make it easy to do. There are also 9 or more CV joints and other complications due to the AWD. BUT, most extranious noises can be ignored.

You looked at a V70 with close to 200K miles. It should be a bargain because it will need a lot of work to make everything work properly. I would have rather bought a 1998 V70 with a manual tranny and cloth interior - no dogs at home any more to shed in the car.

But your cars are still running and passing the state tests, so there is no rush for a newer car.

Klaus
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The more I learn, the more I forget. So why learn?

Listen to Kira, she is right. Let your brain do the buying, not the heart.

You have lived a lifetime with RWD, why do you need AWD? FWD is better in the snow and ice than RWD and the towns usually plow the streets after a snow fall.

Look around for a cheaper V70 if you want a better wagon. The 1997-2002 AWDs have problems you don't want to worry about. Even the new XCs have bevel gear problems, if they aren't flushed every few years.

Read the posts about the fuel pumps going out on the AWD: drop the rear suspension and tank to get to the $400 pump! Good luck finding the fuel filter, which is a little easier than the pump.

Look for a plain jane V70 or a hyper T5 version. Both are fairly easy to maintain. But electrical components are prone to failure and expensive to fix. Could I suggest finding a 1998 V70? No ETM and fewer computers than the 1999+ years.

Klaus
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The more I learn, the more I forget. So why learn?

I agree with this completely.

I just got one of these early AWD cars and I love the car but it's been a real headache. The AWD stuff that everyone told me would go bad went bad for me:

- bevel gear : http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1346623/V70/front_end_whine.html
- AWD fuel pump : http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1360418/V70/help_start.html

plus I've lots of the regular 'second hand old car' stuff to deal with that I expected:
- timing belt
- PCV system : http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1325789/V70/oil_leak_help.html
http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1326366/V70/oil_leak_2_help.html
- frozen caliper
- tailgate interior

jeez I could go on and I've only had the car since last September. Every job I listed up there was a full day or more of work for me. If I had more sense or more money someone else would be doing it for me.

Again I love this car but I would not recommend this car to someone who was not a serious DIYer and who had any better options.

Taking on someone else's old car is a real pain because it always takes a year or more to work through all the bullshit they left for you and get the car into trustworthy shape.

Plus these cars are getting old and things are failing. Like take my fuel pump for example - you can't really blame the poor thing for dying after 200k miles and almost 12 years of service. It's just a small little electric motor that's moved a whole pile of fluid over it's lifetime. But it had to die sometime, and it died on me and I had to fix it. I bet a dealer would get close to $2000 for this job. I did it the DIY/shadetree way and jimmied and rigged and got it done pretty cheap and pretty fast, but I wouldn't say I'd recommend it to anyone.


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1998 V70 AWD Turbo 195k+

Hello, 1) You needn't lust. There are lots of cars out there. 2) You're on a budget, then fix your old rides. You are familiar with them, etc.. 3) It's way less complicated if you wait for a "Next Tech" car. 4) Is there room in this tight budget for a newer P2 V70? Fewer problems, more improvements. 5) Upgrades like a third air bag, working A/C, new ETMs and recent big maintenance have all been upgrades to me at one time or another. What are your needs? Who needs to buy an old V70 and pull out the rear drivetrain when he runs two serviceable vehicles which deliver big $ savings -you? Kira