all right,i've rescued my share of vovlo's,but i may have met my match this time.been RWD driver over 10yrs and in a search to replace one of the 1/4 million mile 960's,i find a 98 XC well below normal market value.go to look at it on a very,very cold febuary morning.seller(small town dealer,red flag that i ignored)says the reason for low price is the lifter noise and it will "cost a fortune to repair".me using my best thinking,i just think to myself this 130k jewel has been babied all it's life and all it needs is a real driver who's not afraid to warm it up and in no time those lifters are going to quiet down just like my 960's did and i've got myself another deal of the century.so on this very cold morning i look under the oil cap to inspect,cam looks good and no sludge.i move on.feeling good at this point(i'm a noisy lifter expert),so i start pointing out the small stuff.
test drive uneventful except for that wonderful sweet smell coming thru the heater vents.just another negotiation tool.i tell seller i will think about it and come home to start doing research on this beast since i know nothing of FWD much less AWD volvo.that evening i get an even better quote if i'm still interested..next morning i take it for one more spirited test drive(not abuse),she pass's and i bring her home.
i know by now you're waiting for the bomb,once home i did get the kick in the gut.remember,i knew all it needed was a good flogging after an oil change and a timing belt(Hasn't been done yet).upon closer inspection the upper cover has already been off and put back on with,,DRUM ROLL PLEASE----ORANGE RTV.it was not obvious on that cold cold morning when i was quick,and feeling confident i already had it diagnosed.have no history,don't know if lifters were replaced when cover was removed.have to question.
all in all, 130k on car,carfax shows 1 owner before going thru 2 auctions,only driven about 200 miles since pick-up,I had new tires installed,last week and a 1/2 i have been bringing all the base-line maintenance back up to date till the wallet says stop.parts onhand to install-timing belt,heater core,tune-up,coolant,atf,bevel-gear lube,thermostat,box full of stuff.

spent the last week and a 1/2 reading hundreds of negative/horror stories about the V70XC.sure would be refreshing to read from the satisfied customers.i know there may be 1 or 2.

thanks for reading.i don't normally type marathon posts.
dave
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92-965-247k, 94-965-241k, 92-944t-227k