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I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

Hi all,
I was thinking of buying a newer volvo. I know that Ford took over Volvo in 1999, so I want to avoid the Ford years. Up until what year do you think this is? I would imagine it would take some time before the Ford influence showed up. Also, is there particular model/years to avoid. I just saw an ad for a 2000 v70. Are these good cars? Any quirks?

Many thanks!








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    Avoid anecdotal evidence

    Avoid anecdotal evidence that is often cited. Go to the Consumer Report and see which years have the least problems. Volvos, however, have always had their peculiar problems, and if you are aware of this, then you can go with any year. I have owned 240s, 965s, V90s, S70s, and XCs, and my experience tells me that Volvo makes more and more reliable cars, but again my experience means nothing. If perfect reliability is your goal, nonetheless, then stay way from European cars and go with Honda or Toyota.

    Ta-ta, j.
    --
    Nautica-Blue XC70 and Green S70: Volvo: "Volvo: Anything else just isn't up to it."








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    I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

    I'm taking my car in for an oil change next week and I just checked the oil level today. At 170,000 miles, it used no oil since the prior oil change, about one year ago.

    The clutch is original, too.

    But I would still not recommend a Volvo to anyone. They are very maintenance intensive cars.

    -BTC

    '98 V70 T5 5-speed, 170k mi, front IPD stabilizer bar, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, XC grill, C70 jewel E-Codes, V-1, Lidatek, Mobil-1 since new.

    "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."-Douglas Noel Adams (1952-2001)








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    I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

    My mom has an '04 XC70. It's got about 43,000 miles on it, and the only thing that needs replacement is the tires before winter hits. My dad has an '01 S80 T6, never even had a check engine light at 95,000 miles. Only problems he had was broken strut mounts, a bad inner tie rod end and worn sway bar links. This was all covered by his extended warranty. I worked at a dealer from '01 to '05, and saw very few AWD problems. I saw 2 bad driveshafts on '98 cars. As far as Auto trannys go, '99 S80 was a bad year, I saw a couple of '02 trannys fail, but that was at very low milage (less than 1,000 miles). We did a few valve bodies in '01 and '02 XCs, Volvo came out with an updated version for some shift quality complaints. Avoid all '98-'00 cars, they had a lot of weird problems, especially with the ETMs.








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      I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

      No '98 have ETM's in the U.S....they began on '99 vehicles unless you live in Europe or the UK, as the year numbering appear to be a year earlier over there.
      --
      1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.








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        I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

        I was using the ETMS as an example. The '98 car had a lot of promlems with the Evap system, which nobody knew how to fix at the time. Techs are more experianced at dealing with evap problems now, Volvo said they were "overzealous" in trying to build an evap system which would alert the driver to any leaks.








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          More details on the Evap system V70-XC70 1999

          You mentioned the "Evap system." Can you explain, what is involved? What goes wrong, what has to be replaced? I think this has not been a problem on my 1999. Thanks!








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          I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

          Thanks for the clarification. Yeah, the evap system is a bit sensitive on our cars, but truly, if you keep everything up to snuff it isn't that big of a deal. I changed all of my vacuum hoses out to silicone and am very familiar with the evap valve and the larger canister under the car (and gas cap issues too) as well for when I have to do an r&r, but so far I've never had an evap related light come on.
          --
          1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.








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    I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

    The newer the better. Aviod S80s, 90s, and 40s. The S60 and V70 are great after 2001. Find a good car that will also come with an extended warrantee if you are not a shade tree mechanic.

    Klaus








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    I am looking to buy a newish volvo - GO SIMPLE

    This has been discussed before. If you are buying a used car, the simpler the better. I agree with the other person who responded:
    1. Avoid AWD. It is complicated and the fact that used AWD Volvos sell for almost nothing says something about their reputation.
    2. Avoid auto transmission if you can (may be difficult because so few manuals were sold in USA).

    Good luck.








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    I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

    Avoiding the "Ford years" is not a valid theory. The worst Volvos are probably the 99 S80 and some of the 4wd from that era - on which Ford had no influence. The merger took place in 1999. The short answer is avoid S80s and XCs. Avoiding automatic transmissions is not a bad idea either.








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      I am looking to buy a newish volvo - what to look out for

      Nothing wrong with auto transmissions. Acutally, if you're looking for a turbo vehicle, auto trannies are hard to avoid...very very few manual tranny turbo's were imported in the FWD line-up. So, I agree with you for the most part about the XC's but not the auto tranny. However, since '03 XC's have been mighty fine as well. If you look at non-XC wagon's the V70's just keep getting better and better every year. I would avoid all '99-'01 vehicles just because there's the hassle of the failing ETM's, even though they're under warranty now for 10yrs/200K miles.
      --
      1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.







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