I am nearing the end of a 39 month lease of a 2001 V70A Non turbo and I'm debating purchasing the car at lease end. The car has been well maintained, 35000 miles and has had relatively few problems I'm new here at Brickboard but I have noticed quite a few negative remarks on the 2001 V70's. Can anyone offer any advice?

out of the leasing company for a better buy out and buy it! Sounds like you do low miles and the lease company are up to the A$$'s in lease turn in you should have lots of leverage for a lower price............they save soooooo much hassle bby selling it to you outright! The problem you may have though is its the "perfect" volvo certify miles so if its in nice shape they may want it back and then you'll have to pay full contract buy-out! What is the buyout price if ya don't mind me asking geo?

Around $18,500

I recently looked into ext'd warranties (Easy Care, from Volvo dealer)
Price depends on deductible. I went with $300 ded ~$1600 for coverage to 100K and extra 3 yrs I believe. Was about $1000 more for zero deductible and similar range in between. It paid for itself and more on my 96 850 Turbo. No hassles with Easy Care. Was reminded: Have to pay (over $100) for service light/code check, no matter what.

Sam 2001 V70T5

I'm sure they'd love to lease you a brand spankin' new one. What's the difference in the lease payment for an '04 versus the payment to buy out the '01. What's the value to you and yours of a new one vs a used one. It's sounds like you're in a great place to negotiate either one with the dealer. Let us know what you do.

An extended warrantee is essential. A couple of the more popular failures (throttle body, airflow meter, electronic modules, front suspension) will make you yearn for the relatively cheap monthly lease payments.

Does anyone know how much the extended warranty costs? (from Volvo not a third party)

I really want to get out of the never ending monthly car payment, at least for a couple of years.

Wanting to get away from car payments for a while is a good thing, so go ahead and buy it. Your car is still under warranty. Furthermore, if you are concerned about reliability issues as the car ages, I believe you can still buy the extended warranty, which will cover you for up to 100k miles. Considering that any major component on any car, especially a Europeon car, can be expensive to fix, the extended warranty makes sense if you plan to keep the car for the long haul.

If you like the car(and you certainly know the history of this car!) go ahead and buy it if the price is right. People using the brickboard are usually people looking for advice on car care or problems that other owners have experienced and may be able to help them out (either being able to avoid a trip to the dealer or being able to point the dealer in the right direction). Owners whose cars are running great tend not to post. My last 3 Volvos have been relatively trouble-free with only a couple of warranty related items taken care of over the last6 or 7 years.
Regards,
Eddie W. in FL

I didn't know this but the buy-out price on a lease is often negotiable!

See what the car is actually worth according to edmunds.com and kbb.com

Mechanically, my '98 T5 has been superb. After 137,000 miles it still use no oil, the clutch is the original one and the transmission still shifts like new.

Electrically it's been fairly "maintenance intensive" but not much worse than either of my Saabs were. From what I know, Volvos have always been "mainenance intensive" cars. They're not Toyotas.

I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one, but I don't need one, since I already have one.

-Punxsutawney Phil

'98 V70T5M, 137k mi., iPd stabilizer bars, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, Bilstein HD struts and shocks, Valentine-1, Mobil-1 always, e-code headlight lenses, Michelin Arctic Alpins

My advise is, if the car has been reliable, well mantained, the price is right and you like it, go ahead and buy it. Otherwise you are looking at 36-48 more months of payments. But maybe you are like me and new cars make you happy.......