after a 18 year string of japanese cars I'm back to Volvos again this time I have a son starting to drive and my wife being a devoted "Cartalk" fan is taking the Tappet bros advice and insisting our spawn be in a Volvo instead of a hand-me-down 2000 Toyota minivan. I found a 99 S70 sedan from a private seller I am going to look at tomorrow, 87000 on the clock, but he wants less than $7000. He has it serviced at the local Volvo expert on a regular basis. he reports no problems so far than other than changing lightbulbs on a regular basis and a scraped up bumper cover. I know the S70 series has electrical issues, What other potential problems should I look out for? What is the timing belt service interval on the S70?

Thanks
Rick

For what it's worth, I'd be all over that car for $7K if it has service records. Good deal.

Thanks for the heads up it corresponds with everything else I have heard, we looked at the car this morning and bought it. If weren't for the safety aspects(side airbag) and price I wouldn't have given it a second glance. The safety benefits and peace of mind for my wife far outweigh the nightmare this car is probaly going to be from a repair standpoint. If we get a couple of years out of it my wife will be happy.

"lightbulbs" is a very optimistic view of it all, you can pretty much count on a couple of $$$ electrical problems annually. Drivetrain is bulletproof, mostly, as long as it's been maintained. Other problem areas include the AC and brakes. (Also $$$ to $$$$.) Over the past year I've had the ABS module fail, a frozen brake caliper, CD player, broken rear sway bar, leaky Macpherson strut, and one of the headlight wipers fail.

Consumer Reports doesn't recommend the S70 as a used car, but the ones they flat out say to "avoid" are the AWD models. Have it checked out, a lot of the problem areas aren't obvious.

There are worse choices for $7000 for a kid, really. Far more socially acceptable than a minivan!

-Punx

'98 V70T5M, 140k mi., iPd stabilizer bars, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, Bilstein HD struts and shocks, Valentine-1, Mobil-1 always, e-code headlight lenses, Dunlop SP5000AS

Less than $7K for a 99 S70 with 87K miles and volvo serviced, sounds to good to be true, be careful.

Major issues:

1) ETS, electronic throttle system that doesn't use a cable wire, done electronically. Common failure and repair is about $1000,

2) ABS module failure, another common failure about $800+

3) AC evaporator failure, common failure $1200 job

4) PNP switch failre, about $300 plus lots of other electronic stuff.

I would pay a volvo mechanic to look at this car carefully, or better look for a '95 940 for your teenager. RWD volvos are very safe, reliable and cheap to maintain vs the FWD, and also not that fast.
My teenager is inheriting the 740, he doesn't need a fast car.
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'88 240, '92 745, '98 v70 John, Tampa Bay