I finally figured out the search function and have been reading up more on the bevel gear issue with the XC.

Please enlighten me on something....

People asking whether or not to buy an XC are shot down, 9 times out of 10, by owners telling horror stories of the bevel gear going from mismatched tires, leaking t-case, or previous owner neglect...talking about how fragile the drivetrain is, but how buying a FWD 70 series is an OK thing. People are bailing out on cars that are nearing the end of their warranty because of this!?

What am I missing here? These cars cost in the mid $30k range when new back in '98/99....so you buy a used one for $15k with 75k on it, and the because of previous owner neglect or plain bad luck you end up putting a new bevel gear in it for $3k. Big deal!!! This is a lot cheaper than buying a new car! Now you know to watch for fluid leaks, mismatched tire size, and it's not a likely problem any more, right? Say by some freak chance it goes again at 150k miles......if you dont want to drop another $3k into it (still cheaper than a new car!), you turn it into a FWD V70, and you're all set. What's the big deal here, other than it leaves a bad taste in your mouth that Volvo didnt engineer it better?

Are there a slew of other problems the XC70 is prone to that cars of this type dont usually have?

I mean, gee, between the 5 BMWs in our house, we've replaced everything from window regulators to AC compressors, ABS sensors, airbag sensors, control arms, etc....sure, more things go wrong than the Japanese cars as a general rule (we have a Honda too), but they DRIVE like a European car, too.

How is the Volvo XC reliability so much worse than average?

Just wondering and venting:) Still looking at that mint '98 XC with under 40k that my relative has, wondering why I *wouldn't* want to buy it!

Ben
'00 BMW 328i