Hey all,

I'm going to look at a 2001 V70 with 2.4 Turbo. I used to own an 88 740GLE (non-turbo) and loved it. I am skeptical (uninformed) about the turbo engine.

Are they reliable for 200-300k miles like I am hoping for?

Do they require premium fuel?

What kink of mpg could I expect, conservative driving on flat highway?

They are asking 6900. Don't know yet if there is any wiggle room.

What are your thoughts?

Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

Greg

Thanks all for the advice. I passed on the '01 V70 ($6300 was their final offer, not too bad, I think...).

Good news though, found a replacement for my '88 740 Wagon.

Shopping in the south central U.S., finally found a 95 850GLT Wagon, bought it for $4300, had to go 200 miles to pick it up. I was having very little success finding something locally.

Car has 94,000 miles on it. Texas car from day one (now in Oklahoma:)) Non-turbo, loaded, fair condition technically speaking, but excellent as far as I'm concerned. Driver's seat leather is pretty torn up, but the cushion is still hanging in there. The rest of the leather is pretty good.

Guy was getting the car ready for his daughter to take it to college, she didn't want it (spoiled brat if you ask me). Anyway he took it to the dealership in the Dallas area and had a TON of work done to it. Here's the short list: struts, shocks, timing belt, accessory belt, plugs, wires, a/c service, full tune-up, and just about any normal maintenance you can think of.

Just before he sold it, the transmission was serviced. It had a problem, don't know what, but the dealer fixed it, transmission now under service warranty.

I'm pretty happy with it, drove 200 miles back home yesterday. Only got 23mpg, but traffic was a mess. More like city miles, or at least a mix.

Couple things to look into, so I'm off to the 850 forum (interior lights are strange, cruise doesn't work)

Thanks for the advice in the V70 Turbo. I'm sure it's a great car, but I feel better about my non-turbo for now.

Glad to have another Volvo, glad to be back on the 'brick. Cheers.

The 1995 has 2 diagnostic boxes on the passenger fender, use them! Clear all of the codes first. The cruise control B-2, 1-2-2 cannot be cleared.

The bottom seat leather can be swapped for a better one from the passenger side seat, if you have a pick&pull handy. I don't think the GLT has side air bags and if so, you could also swap the seatback leather if you don't mind an extra hole for the lumbar adjustment :)

Klaus
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Praying for Cynthia Amendt, heaven bound

Per Klause, stay away from this year. I have always bought Volvos late in their model series and had great experiences. If you do not believe me just check Consumer Reports. Currently have a 91-740 and a 2007 V70. I have never had a problem with my turbos. Wore out my 97-850, but the engine and turbo were strong when it went into a freind of a friends nanny fleet. A nanny from Germany totaled it in an accendent. Oh well.

We bought a 2001 V70 T5 almost a year ago, we were worried about the turbo as well but it wouold be hard to go back to normal. We're in Canada and on long trip the we/ve had averages as low as 7.8 liters per 100km's on highway. We have a good local Volvo mechanic and some of the work I do myself. I don't think we would have bought it if we were going to have to take it to the dealer.
Overall we've been very happy with ours, great on the highway, loading up the family. Mileage is pretty good for a car of this size as long as you're not using the turbo all the time.

2001 V70 T5 272,000km's

Hello, How many miles? Turbos require premium. People report mpgs in the high 20s. Do a search here and on Matthewsvolvosite and you'll see that the automatic transmissions are frequently bad on these cars. The honesty of a warranty company would be key. Don't buy this car without an enforceable warranty. Kira

2001 was the FIRST year of the new body style, and it came with a lot of bugs.

The engine is as good as the red block engines, but the turbo is better. The timing belt and tensioner get replaced every 100K miles or so. There is more maintenance on a FWD car than a RWD car and less room in the engine compartment.

If you are expecting to take it to a dealer for service, buy a used car warranty because it is expensive to maintain that way. If you DIY, great, but there are a lot of electronics that like to break for 2001.

Premium fuel for a Volvo.
22 mpg local and 28 mpg highway

$$$$ is up to each region of the country.
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Proud owner of a 220S. If I had more room, I would have more Volvos.