Recently destroyed the engine in my '99 V70 . Lost oil pressure due to suspected blockage. It is suspected that the previous owner (leased) did not change oil often if at all and the crankcase just got gummed up .
Similar experiences from any one else ???
Also: problems getting snow tires to balance on the front wheels. Have tried different wheels(steel) and tires . These same tires and wheels worked perfectly on a 740 wagon. The stock styled wheels and summer tires are fine.

am i hearing you coorectly about 740 wheels and tires on a v70?

to "cuttyhunk30" Tell me more about 740 wheels on the V70 ,you sort of insinuated , to me at least,that you may have experience with this.
Thanks to all who responded to the "destroyed V70 engine" issue. Bottom line appears to be frequent oil changes and perhaps use synthetic or at least a blend.

Yep, seen it happen before and it's going to become even more common in the near future.
People who lease new cars usually fail to do even simple maintenance, like oil changes and those who do, do it rarely. Add to that the fact that Volvo now tells customers that they can go 7,500 on oil changes (and in the US, that means way more miles than that to most people) ...SO by the time the car has 50-60K miles, it's a gunked up engine that's in terrible condition inside.

There are now MANY of these beasties out there on used car lots everywhere so beware.

Even if Volvos VIP, they send out an inspector who will examine the engine and if he says it's ruined due to poor maintenance, VIP declines the claim leaving ther customer stuck with a huge bill to replace the engine.

A saw a '00 XC last year, few oil changes, gunked up engine and ruined turbo at 65K, VIP denied the claim and the customers bill was 10K.

Over here in Australia, most new car service intervals are 15000 klm. This is explained away by a dissertation on how the engine management computer and fuel injection systems now precisely utilize fuel so that there is no excess to get past the rings and dilute the oil in the crankcase. The cars I have owned/leased have been regularly serviced at the 15000 klm intervals, however I have changed the oil & filter myself 1/2 way between regular services. I will be doing the same on our new (for us) S70, which I have found out was leased by the previous owner (a doctor) but also adhered to regular servicing (thankfully for us). I cannot understand a person leasing such a fine car and not having it serviced regularly!!

Cheers,

Phil
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'98 N/A S70 130,000 Klm

In Europe, people use synthetic oil more commonly than those in the US do so that'd explain why the longer intervals might then be OK.
In the owners service manual, it says that oil should be changed twice as often under "severe" conditions like: hot, cold temps, idling, stop and go driving, dusty conditions, etc......hmmmmmm, like how MOST cars are driven IMHO.
Despite what they say about better fuel systems and better petroleum oils, I'd still advise more frequent oil changes if one expects the engine to last longer than the typical warranty life (all that the manufacturer has to worry about).
When I see oil draining from an engine with 10K miles on the oil change and see clumps of thick gunk coming out, I'd say that something isn't as good as what people are being told.

On how many good servicable miles you have seen from the 850 and V series and AWD's? When do you beleive is a good time to move on to another car? 150K, 200K. The old 700 series were pretty simple and most could go 300K without anything serious. The V's, especially the AWD could start putting you in the poor house at some point. Just would like to hear your opinion as it appears you see lots of volvo's based on your background!

I've seen a few 850s with 250K miles and they're still going BUT those customers have spent some serious cash with us over the years to keep them alive. The FWD X70s will probably be similar but without a doubt FWD Volvos are costlier and more problematic than the older 4 cyl RWD Volvos in comparison (excluding the "bad RWDs" like early V6 760s and Diesels).
I've seen a couple AWD XCs with over 100K miles but those can get very costly with higher mileage when bad things happen.