The story goes like this. We first became interested in the V70 about 6-7 months ago after seeing several on the highway. After doing some research we decided to wait to purchase because we were in the midst of buying and selling a home. We closed on a new home in November and in December we decided we had better get a new truck, ( so as to haul new things to the new house .) So as it stood, in January we had a 2001 Nissan Frontier, an 87 IROC and a 92 Honda Civic. Well my wife rammed someone with the Honda so we went on the hunt for another vehicle, ( IROC not very good in the snow.) After a few days of searching we had decided to get a Subaru Outback or a Legacy, but when we went to take a look at one that we saw on a website we also saw a 1998 V70 AWD with 66k on it. Well my wife is an accountant, need I say more, so she watches the pennies, but after driving this thing she came back and said " … you have to drive this thing the seat wraps around your body " so I did ( drive it .) Well we both loved it and at the price we HAD to buy it. So what's the problem you say. I've been looking through all of the posting and man I'm scared … if this car is as fragile as this board and others make it out to be this will be my first and last Volvo. Keep in mind I love it so far. I didn't get a manual so I printed the one off of the website and sometimes I go out in the garage and sit in it to familiarize myself with all of the goodies. My point is I have serviced my other vehicles myself, saving thousands of dollars … changing timing belts, replacing heads, replacing distributors etc. If my wife sees where this thing is going to nickel/dime us to death there will be no more Vs in the garage ( I love this car ) … Am I paranoid or is this just a few out of the masses that this stuff is happening to? I won't list the examples, I assume everyone here has read the prior posts. OBTW good site.

Tony … from Maryland

Thanks everyone for the reassurances.

Tony

Tony, I'm a little late here but I have to agree with most. You are only reading the problems. Great car, handles beautifully and a kick to drive. Taking mine in Friday for it's 100k mile service!

Great car! I bought a 98 V70 from a dealer as a certified preowened with a VIP warranty. i am suprised at the amount of nitpicking that is done here, but I think it is aproduct of ecucated consumerism--thanks to the Japanese. So far, my only problem has been a bad door lock on the rear left door---replaced under warranty but I would not have considered that a major problem if I didnt have the warranty. Anyhow, the car looks great, drives great, gets decent mileage, has lots of hauling capacity, etc. Just drive and enjoy.

Tony,

Enjoy your new ride.

I bought a new '98 S70GLT in May '97 with a 2/97 or 3/97 build date (can't remember) so it was an early build. I drove it 50,000 miles before I traded it in on a '00 S80 with only one problem that was taken care of under warranty. I had warped rear brake rotors. After I bought the S70 I started to follow the Brickboard and started to get nervous. Did I buy a problem car? a lemon? Then I realized that most happy owners do not post with their praises of the car-at least not many. It seems that if you have a good dealer that takes care of your complaints and problems then your ownership experience is a happy one. So go out and drive one of the best cars on the road and enjoy it!

Regards,

Eddie W. in FL

Tony,

To the excellent responses of the others I will add this.

Thousands on the road. Less than half a dozen whiners. You and your wife do the math.

Observe the maintenance schedule and you will have years, if not decades, of enjoyable motoring.

Bryan

Thanks guys, stand by for lots " O " questions. How can you find out when it was made JT ? Also when I looked up the VIN in carfax it was reported as being turbo, when I received my insursnce it listed as GLT, are there any sites to let you search by VIN number to find out exactly what it is ?

Thanks in advance

Tony

Date of manufacture I thought was printed either on the drivers side doorpost or door. All AWDs imported to the States have the light turbo motor also found in the '97 and newer GLTs. So, technically speaking, both are correct.

You can find the date of manufacture on a label in the door jamb of the driver's side. Actually the GLT has the light turbo engine, namely the 190 hp one. It is the same engine inside the AWD and GLT.

You could get that impression by reading the BB, but this is NOT a scientific sampling...it's a collection of semi-anal Volvo nutz, hanging out to answer somewhat semi-anal owners. All cars have problems....the V70 is not the worst nor the best.

My advice - learn your car and follow the maint. plan

Just make sure all the tires are the same brand and size, as Volvo AWD doesn't like different sized tires. It will destroy the AWD viscous couplers. Don't worry about all the pi$$ing and moaning, just enjoy your new car!

RussB in CT

Tony,

I too fell in love with the 98 V70 AWD. As with your story, I also looked into Subaru Outbacks and seeing as how I found one comparable to a 98 Subaru, it was a no-brainer to go with the Volvo. I did a couple of things to protect myself. First, after finding the one that I wanted, I found a leasing company who would buy it and lease it to me on a short lease basis - 2 years. If I like it, I'll buy it out, and just in case it turned out to be a 'lemon', I'd have a way out, just covering my bases I guess.

But after I started driving it, I loved it even more. (I'm pretty well committed to buying it.) I too got worried a few months after getting it and started to go the Brickboard. One thing you've got to realize is that because of the nature of the board, you will hear more 'complaints' afterall, it's frustration that compels you to write to a board (as I have a number of times), if you were totally happy, what would motivate you to start a thread about how problem free you car is ??

The second thing that I did to make sure I could sleep at nights is to purchase the extended VIP warranty. It's like insurance ... what am I talking about it is insurance ... and spending < $2000 for approx 3 years is well worth it especially if you have the AWD version.

Last bit of nugget that I found out from the board is that the date that your car was manufactured has a big factor in terms of reliability. Apparently, the earlier they were manufactured in 97, the higher the probability of it having lots of problems ... logical! I checked mine and it was made in Dec 97. Ones made in March were notoriously unreliable.

NEways, in short, IMHO, I think you got yourself an awesome vehicle, I still catch myself looking at it after it's parked and I'm walking away, she looks gorgeous and it drives like a dream! If you are still feeling a bit worried, get yourself the VIP and you'll be set for a long time.