How terrible are they? Say 2004-08 model years. Worse idea than an Audi Allroad, or would one possibly be reliable enough to drive to work with a reasonable amount of maintenance?
How terrible are they? Say 2004-08 model years. Worse idea than an Audi Allroad, or would one possibly be reliable enough to drive to work with a reasonable amount of maintenance?
Great cars. Climb under and see how much slack there is in the driveshaft. Hard to describe how much is too much, but if it seems more than you think it should, the drive splines on the angle drive may be wearing out. Then put a timing belt kit in it and go.
Love em. Still miss the 03 we sold 10 months ago. Check out this thread. XC70
Huh. I keep eyeing the one across the street from me that hasn't moved in the last year... Obviously, there's something wrong with it...
I have a 3rd gen XC70 and after a couple of years we like it a lot. Ours is fwd. The AWD system seems to be the biggest issue on the older ones afaik.
I have a 2008 S60, the XC70 is the same platform. Nice car. Check for service records, timing belt change, (around 100K). Trans service, Haldex (AWD) service, and front strut bearings. Also, do a "glove test" on the PCV system. (Put a latex glove over the oil fill inlet. Remove oil cap, place glove over the hole. If it sucks it in, OK. If it blows it up, NG) Otherwise, a reliable vehicle as any other. The 2004-2008 is a good period for them. Buy the best one you can afford.
I changed the splined coupler in a couple of hours in my XC. The replacements are made of heat treated steel as opposed to the original ones that are hardened butter.
2000 was the first year of the drive by wire and the last of the four speed.
Drive by wire, bad, four speed, good.
Up to 04ish had valve body issues in the five speed it too can be fixed.
My XC was only second to my 5 series BMW for driving in the snow, the XC acted like a RWD once the turbo spooled up.
I’ve read that the handling is pretty truck-ish. Any insights there? If wagon-like, great. If more like a tippy older SUV, not so interesting.
I have a 2004 V70R, so dynamically, the opposite of the XC70. They're actually pretty good cars, but they have their issues.
On my car, I noticed that it eats suspension parts regularly. The front lower control arm bushings go every 20-30k miles if you're using stock or OEM type bushings. The strut mounts last about 45-50k- the updated XC90 parts last quite a bit longer. I made the mistake of buying an OE Lemforder strut mount that lasted about 15k miles. Point is, if you're buying stock parts, buy the Volvo branded ones for the strut mounts and control arm bushings- it makes a difference.
The cars also like to eat swaybar endlinks every 2-3 years in the front. Also the upper engine mount- the one on the big crossbar across the engine bay- likes to tear and go bad.
The solution, if you're okay with a little more harshness? Poly bushings- I've had the same poly control arm bushings on the car for over 80k now with zero issues. I have a poly bushing in the upper engine mount, no issues, been fine for over 5 years now.
Shocks last about 50k miles in the front, about 70k in the back.
The transmissions are weak- don't believe the manual- replace the fluid every 50k. Also, don't accelerate full throttle in a tight turn- that puts a lot of stress on the drivetrain- make the turn, straighten the wheel and then apply power. The angle gear is the weak link in the AWD system. Valve body issues were not in the 5 speed, they were in the 6 speed that came out in '06.
Handling is fine in the XC- it's not like my R, but it's not like an Explorer or Trailblazer, either.
The interiors are fine as long as you take care of them. The leather is very soft, so you have to clean and condition regularly, or they will become crap rather quickly.
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