G'day,

I found about about this list from a friend who owns a 850 Turbo, and I hope you can help me out. I'm thinking of replacing my 98 Subaru Legacy with either a 2000 V70 AWD R, or the 2001 XC. The R is at the dealer (although I know the former owner - friend of a friend actually), but when I test drove it today, I heard a odd creaking noise from the front (sounded like under the floor by driver's feet) when accelerating from a dead stop, or coming to a stop. No noise when cornering. The former owner never heard it before. It was very cold today (-20 C) and the car has been recently run through a car wash, so I don't know if it's just ice buildup on something, but I was wondering if other AWD V70 owners have had similar problems. The car only has 24000 kms on it, so it's fairly new, but I'm a little worried about the reliability of the thing. Is the new V70 XC any more reliable? Maybe it's too new for problems to have developed, but has any 2001 XC owners had problems with their cars? I've quite enjoyed the reliability of the Subary even if it's about as exciting as a shopping cart so I'd hate to move to an unreliable car, but I need a daily driver with a bit more sprirt than the Legacy.

Stacy Janes (maybe a future Volvo owner)