Hi,

Tire maintenance is the issue regardless of which system you buy.

If you have different tire sizes due to uneven wear or just different tire manufactures and have a viscous AWD system you will put stress on the AWD system in general. That is the entire AWD system will be stressed. It just so happens that the bevel gear, which is part of the transfer-case, is the weak point in Volvo AWD system used in their XC cars.

However, if you have the same situation as stated above you will not damage the AWD system for the Haldex (just a fancy name for “Electronic Controlled Clutch”) system will not engage. Hence you will have paid for an AWD drive car and the system will never engage the AWD due to the fact that your tires are not the same size (wheels spinning at different speeds). The Haldex system knows this because it monitors wheel speed through the ABS system. Who knows if Volvo’s Engineers are smart enough the Haldex system can warn you that tire size is approaching that which might invoke you to do a tire rotation.

Anyway, I own a 99 XC that I purchased new in May of 99. I currently have 45Kmiles on my car. I have had 21 different failures on parts for a total of 32 trips back to the Dealer for repairs. Some components have broken more then once and the Dealer screw up the repairs on 3 different occasions. However, having been a former AWD/4X4 (Jeeps) owner I have a good level of confidence that the current AWD system is just as good as the new AWD system. Maybe even better! Volvo has a bad habit of selling new technology before the bugs are worked out. So if you buy a 2003 XC you might be setting yourself up for a whole new pile of never before seen repairs. Who know you may even beat my record!

My recommendation is to get a good Deal on the current 2002 XC and just keep a close eye on the tire wear and you will be happy. Also if you buy a 2002 XC “DEMAND” a full size spare with matching tire and rim. This way you will avoid the damage that is caused if have to use the bicycle spare. I would say that most of the “Bevel Gear” failures have to do with owners driving too long on the bicycle spare tire. Oh, if you do get a full size spare tire with matching rim and tire you can do a 5-tire cross rotation so long as the tires are not directional.

Good Luck,

Steven---

Yes, the MY2003 XC70 will have the 2.5T engine along with the Haldex AWD system.

Yannis
--
2001 V70 T-5M SR, Classic Red/Graphite Lthr., ipd ME7 ECU Upgrade, K&N Air Filter, Cold Weather, Dolby Surr. Sound, Rear Spoiler, 17' 'Tethys' alloys

If you want to talk to Volvo xc owners instead of persons with opinions about the reliablity of the viscous coupling system, go to http://xc70.com and register. Then post your questions.

By the way, my 1997 Volvo awd wagon still has its bevel gear intact at 140k km ~ 88k miles.

Neil
--
1997 850 awd, 5 speed manual

You might check out haldex.com.

The fact that it can be controlled electronically has a lot of
advantages. Some Subaru's will lock to a 50/50 power distribution
if you select 1st gear (automatics) -- a mechanical system waits
until the car slips. Note that the electronic ability to do this
does not have to be used (I believe VWs don't take advantage of this)
and there is no gurantee how Volvo will use it.

The car can also go to 50/50 when you floor it or use the pitch and
yaw sensors to redirect power, etc. Electronic control capability
opens up the front/rear power distribution to the cars computer
systems.

Search on "haldex AWD" at google.com shows lots of good info. Try
searching using the images option to also see diagrams of how the
system works and photos of cars with it.

It also looks, really, really, cool (for the mechanical types):
http://www.edmunds.com/media/roadtests/firstdrive/2002/volvo.s60/01.volvo.s60awd.awdtrans.500.jpg

I meant buy a 2002 if the discounts get attractive.