Hi,
My wife is wanting to retire her 95 850 soon & a local indie Volvo lot has an 04 XC70 on the lot for 24950 CDN.
The place was closed last pm when I saw the car but just talked to the fellow who owns the lot. Apparently, the car has 124K Km(approx. 75000 miles) which may be considered high mileage but likely mostly highway miles. Now I realize the issues here are maintainence & not necessarily, mileage.
Obviously, we would take this car to the dealer for a pre-purchase inspection but I do have a few questions. How reliable is the Haldex AWD system? Are there any specific issues with this generation of XC`s. I`ve read most of the "horror" stories of the earlier models which is maybe why I`m a little wary of XC`s.
WE have bought from this car lot before( a 240) & our experience was very positive.
I do know that the XC will get poorer gas mileage & we do not necessarily need AWD. The 855 has Hakka`s & they are just fine for our winter driving conditions. Still, my wife does a 100 mile daily commute & I know she would feel more secure in an AWD.
Your comments would be most welcome
Cheers!
Rich

Hi Rancher Rick,

You may be plesantly surprised on the gas milage. I bought a '03 XC 70 in May of '06 after driving a '95 855T for a little more than three years. I was routinly getting 25.2 mpg in the '95 for my daily commute of about 70 miles round trip. I now routinly get 26.2 mpg in the VC 70. My commute conditions are florida flat and I am in a 55 or 60 mph zone 75 percent of the drive.

Dont forget that the AWD system only works when the car senses the front wheels slip, then the rear wheels engage through the Haldex system.
I think this could be the best best riding car I have ever owned. The 4 drivers in my family presently have 4 volvos, 2 850's a C70 and the Xc-70. The Xc-70 the most comfortable of the bunch without feeling like it is lumbering around like a SUV does.

I did have to change the ATF myself after about 5 months from getting it. It had a slip shift whe going from second sear into third gear and of course it would never do it when taken for a drive by a mechanic at the dealership while under waranty. The ATF fluid was black, not dark brown/red, and looked worse than it should have for 50K miles when I changed it. I have changed the fluid in the other volvos and even with more miles before changing the fluid never looked that bad.


I also have heared/read the horror stories of the earlier models and would not look at any earlier than '03.


Good luck,

steve d. '94 850 123K, '95 855t 172K, '00 C70conv 92K, '03 xc70 62K

My wife gave up her 95 850 (wagon) over 2 years ago for a 2003 XC (similar to 04 as I understand it). She is not concerned with how it does what it does (AWD), but likes the significantly improved poor weather condition traction, the additional power, sitting a little bit higher off the road and the overall great feeling (safe) the car has at highway speeds. The on board computer often shows her around town and highway driving to avg. 22.5+ mpg. The turning radius is not as good as earlier models. Art

The new AWD systems are SO much better than the original. Your wife should still get 25mpg on the highway and the traction with normal all season tires is better than the 850 with winter tires.
When you get the car inspected, make sure that the driveshaft to the rear wheels is free from any scrapes or scratches. The R models had a problem with the center exhaust bracket being hit going over speed bumps and causing the driveshaft to become out of balance.

The XC does not turn as sharply as the 850, so your wife may not like it in parking lots :) I still find the turning radius lacking after 3 years in my R.

Klaus
--
1975 164 w/174,800mi (Sold) 1995 850T w/91,000mi, 1998 V70R w/129,000mi

I just bought a 2004 XC with 29,000 for $26,000 with a full 100,000 dealer warranty so it doesn't sound to great to me. I also had a 1999 S80 with 166,000 miles and got only 2,500 for it because of the mileage