HiYa Flying Brick,

Good score on the V70! Lucky you.

They are good, reliable cars once sorted. I like to think that though parts may be more expensive, you replace fewer of them and less often. And I don't think there are more comfortable seats in any other car, ever.

I'll share some of my experiences in hope that they may prove useful.

Q1. Definitely get that voltage regulator fixed. When it went out in my '01 V702.4T @205K mi. all sorts of weird electrical things started happening. The auto-dimming rear view mirror never worked again. I was able to coax the whole alternator out. Getting it back in, even with the the aid of gravity, was the worst part (YMMV, as the turbo intake is different).

Q2. Shudders, as in dieseling? If so, like others have suggested, a leaky injector could be dumping fuel. Monitor your fuel economy. Maybe check spark plug color for inconsistencies.

Q3. Why are you changing the struts? I replaced the originals (and associated components) at around 260K with the cheapest I could find at the time (Sensen) to try and get rid of a clunk. Clunk remained and no ride improvement was observed. I suspect the culprit was the worn sway bar mount bushings, not struts or strut mounts. Unfortunately, inexplicably, replacement bushings are unavailable to buy.

Best of Luck,

Will
--
XC60 / Odyssey