Hello everyone.

My uncle is looking at getting his daughter a Volvo and we've been seeing some S70's, V70's, and 850's. I have an 850 and have a pretty good idea of what to look for in these used cars.

My question is, can anyone tell me what to look for in a used one of these cars? Years are about 1999-2002. Any and all advice would be appreciated. Prices for these cars are no more than ~6,500. Mileages are about 85-100k.

Thank you very much.
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-Hector

Thank you very much for all your responses.

We ended up going with a 2001 V70 T5, 80k miles. The maintenance records seem very intact and the car seems pretty solid. It has geartronic so I suggested my uncle do a flush and fill of the tranny as I've read they're pretty delicate and problematic. Timing belt was changed last year at 79k (a bit prematurely?). Price paid was $6,000 including tax, tag, fees, etc.

Let the (old car maintenance) fun begin!!
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-Hector

the trans flush will be imperative so get to it ASAP.

Also make sure it's a full flush using the transmission's pump to push the old fluid out the cooler line. A regular 'drain and fill' will not do the job for you.

AutoRx would also be a good thing to do, and you can add that before you do the flush. I think they recommend about 1000 miles after you add it to let it work, and then you pull it all out when you do the flush. Check their website.

The geartronic/5sp trans takes 3309/Toyota IV fluid. There are some fully synthetic fluids that claim compliance with these standards and could be considered as well. I'm a big fan of synthetics and would strongly consider those fluids. Do some research.

the t-belt should have been good to 105k miles, or 10-12 years. It was probably due time-wise.

As I said before, get it on your to-do list to flush all fluids (coolant, brake, power steering, transmission).

Enjoy your new car!
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1998 V70 AWD->FWD Turbo 200k+

I'd also stick to the FWD if possible. I've grown weary of the AWD system in Volvo. For the record , I have a 98 AWD that's had driveshaft and bevel gear issues, with the bevel gear giving up recently (not thaaat bad for getting to 190k miles though)
I bought a BMW awd 3 months ago, my first non volvo in many years, based on my research of the awd problems.
Dan

those years? I'd steer clear unless you have full records on it proving its been well taken care of. You can find yourself a good shape (except, likely, the A/C) '95-'97 850 for under 2k. The first s/v70 wouldn't be bad but 99-02 I think were pretty bad years for Volvo (as they switched to ETM and a whole bunch of other electronics). Also, i don't like low mileage older cars (10+ years) which you're getting close to. I feel that 15-20k/yr should be expected as I think sitting around tends to wear the car more than if you drove it every day. The added wear comes from the cars sitting leads to lube settling and parts drying, then run it, then let it sit, over and over and over and I never want to do an RMS again...
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If you're not driving it "like its stolen," are you really driving?

The common wisdom on this site is to steer clear of MY 2001.

The DIY-ability of these cars went way down in 1999 when they introduced ETM/drive-by-wire, coil-on-plug, VVT, DSC. If you're looking to DIY I'd be slightly more interested in a 1998, but it wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me.

The common wisdom also say to stay away from the early S80s and S40s.

AWD became much less problematic in 2003+.

There is some excellent advice on this forum and others regarding how to judge a car before purchase including the importance of service records, how to check the colour of trans fluid, etc.

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1998 V70 AWD->FWD Turbo 200k+