I've owned/own some older Volvos (740,240) and fell in love with the first one I bought about 7 years ago. About 2 years ago I needed to replace an aging Isuzu and went looking for a decent 850 wagon. None were available locally so we travelled to Toronto (2hrs away) to find one, after losing 2 cars to other buyers we got a little exasperated and came upon a Limited Outback that turned out to be one of the best cars I have owned! Now when the 740 has begun to show age and have some issues we started looking again- initially it was minvians, but neither my wife or I could swallow having one despite how practical they would be. So V70s became feasible and after looking at a few we settled on the 98 we purchased last week. The car is great all around, just a little bumpy, rougher than my 740 ever was when all the susp. was in good shape. To be honest, if Subaru made a car that was bigger than the Outback or Forrester I probably would have bought another simply because of the great experience I have had with ours, but my heart will always belong to Volvos.

Mike

THANKS!

Sporty is right- I almost had a stroke when I floored it on the highway last week while passing some "youts" in a VW!!!!!!!

I'm checking the tire pressure this afternoon, but I've noticed that it doesn't ride as smooth as my old 740 did when it was newish! Hopefully just tire pressure!

Mike

Thanks Klaus.

Tires are all Michelins, I'll check the pressure later. I know the garage who changed the oil last week adjusted the pressure. Maybe it's too high!

In the meantime I'll continue to run out to polish it every time I see a speck of dirt on her!!!!!!!!

Mike

Thanks. I did call Volvo Canada and all they would say is that there are no outstanding service campaigns. I'll try and call the Volvo dealer itself and see what they will tell me. This is Volvo number 4 (740, 760 & 240) but it's nothing like the 740 I honed my mechanical skills on for the past 7 years! I'm a little nervous with it as I've read all the horror stories associated with the V70 (bevel gears, a/c, engine seizing) and want to do whatever I can to avoid a catastrophic problem. I used to baby my 740; synth oil, volvo filter, bosch plat. plugs, had some turbo plumbing replaced with custom chromed pipes, weekends at the boneyard searching for upgrades, but eventually she aged and the problems became too numerous to fix and too costly to justify given her age. Now she is parked in my drive until the thaw when I'll sell her. This new V70 has only 102,800 Kilometers or about 60k miles. How is the suspension or ride on your V70? I find mine to be very chattery over the bumps at say about 30-50 km/h. I won't be surprised if the suspension needs some attention- I've had a less than stellar first week with the lot I purchased it from- already have an oil leak that needs attention.

Mike