I have a good buddy shopping for a winter car (his DD is a mildly modded '01 Miata SE that I had for a while) and he's come across a 2000 V70 XC with 150k for $4.5k in central OH, around Columbus.
Decent deal? What should he look for? I know this car has come up around here, but I can't remember what the consensus has been.
Seems a bit high to me - I see '02-'04 (second gens) go for about the same price w/comparable mileage.
First gen has the old viscous clutch linkage to the rear wheels which is hypersensitive to tire diameter. The electronic throttle can be problematic, but the aftermarket has fixes. Beyond that, they are a fairly robust and flexible vehicle.
^ This
Additionally, the bevel gear ("transfer case") holds about a teaspoon of oil which likes to leak. Kills the bevel gear. A LOT of the early AWD Volvos on the road still have been converted to FWD by removal of drive shaft.
The AWD gets a bad rap, but it's mostly due to poor maintenance on the owners part, and cheaping out buying a pair of tires at a time instead of a matched set.
The 2000 is a one year design for the transfer case and should be avoided. Stick with 2001 or later.
I bought a newer one, with less mileage, for fewer dollars, from a dealer, in an expensive area. That price is high.
In simplistic terms, they started out as persnickety delicate cars, and progressively got better. There is a heck of a lot of confusion out there about them. Volvo doesn't help with their confusing sub-types, like the V70XC, which is all wheel drive, not to be confused with the V70awd, which is not the XC.
The bevel gear is easy, just keep fluid in it. The bevel gear oil leak you see is probably the turbo sitting above it. The gas pump cover/line rots out, and is a bear to fix. Semi-secret long expired warranty on this, sometimes. The throttle problem is on the V70, not the XC models. Different throttle on the XC. Viscous coupler in the rear is sensitive to mis-matched tire sizes, and tends to wipe out the bevel gear. And overall, it's a Volvo, which means 10,001 gremlins at all times.
We've got an 02 (04?) V70XC with something like 160k on it, and have fundamentally liked it.
Everything made out of rubber, especially the spring seats, bushings, transmission torque mount (cheap fix but good negotiating tool) and also the strut support plate bearings. Be aware that the water drainage on these cars clogs up easily with leaves (and can let water into the car). Look to see if the spring seats have recently been replaced, with the wheels off the car shine a light up there and check for the build date and part number. Most Volvo shops will replace the OE spring seat with the spring seat from an XC90 (much thicker rubber), check the part number on the spring seat. If he can DIY it, it's a $80 job, if you take it to a shop plan on spending at least $600 for both sides. Also if you do have to replace anything, Lemfroder is the supplier for Volvo so parts that come in a Lemfroder box are much cheaper than the Volvo branded parts but otherwise identical. For bushings, I usually switch to Meyle if I have to replace them because have a lot more rubber in them (stiffer to) and are much cheaper.
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