Thinking about buying 98,99 V70 AWD Wagon. I know these years wher the first modles to offer AWD, any problems with these cars? I own a 94 850 turbo,love it and will keep it.

Absolutely go for AWD. I have the same year AWD and have had no problems. If you maintain the tires like all owners should (rotate every once and a while, check for tread wear), there shouldn't be an issue. I have them rotated and checked every time I change the oil and no problems at all.

I have driven my friend's front wheel drive with the same tires and the AWD really has a better grip. You don't need a lot of snow to justify this purchase. I don't get a lot of snow, but I get a lot of road ice and rain and the AWD has never failed me and has allowed me to do things I wouldn't even consider in a two wheel drive.

I agree with the posts on maintenance and the early AWD drive system. A lot of systems require the tires to be identical in wear, like the Syclone and GM AWD systems.

Problem is, nobody outside the engineering dept. is told this!

I have snows on my 850 FWD and I love it. FWD is easy to work on compared to doubling the CV joints, and more.

Unless you live in the nether regions, like Houghton, MI with 120 inches of snow a year, you don't need AWD.

I did drive a new V70R with AWD and 300 hp, and it was something special, let me tell you. Wow! It's fast and no torque steer. I would be leary of keeping that car for a long time though. It's too nice to be a beater and pile on commuting miles. For commuting FWD with a set of snows is more than adequate. Besides, if the weather is really bad, stay home from work. Let the SUV owners cover for you!

proper tire rotation and tire pressure are critical for maintaining volvo's first awd system...which can be picky about tire diameters... need to keep all 4 tires the same and keep tread wear similar...otherwise the difference in tread thickness CAN attribute to overworked bevel gears in the awd...leading to failure...

Do a search here on AWD "bevel gear", tire related issues and read consumer reports on the model ("don't buy")

If you want a newer Volvo, buy a 2WD version instead and if you're in a northern climate with snow, get 4 good mounted snow tires from Tirerack and you'll go through anything w/o AWD.

If somebody was NOT good on miantanence or tire rotation, I would be very weary of a used one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!