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View Full Version : 2002 XC70 Ocean Race - ADVICE NEEDED



councilfire
09-09-2010, 01:39 PM
VolvoXC Experts: Have been in the used car market for the past several weeks looking for a reliable, safe AWD wagon for a soon-to-be college freshman who will be heading to school in snow country. Have narrowed the search to Volvo XC and Subaru Outback or Forester based upon previous Volvo and Subaru ownership and lots of research.

Have recently found an interesting candidate in a 2002 XC70 with 97k miles, 1 owner, clean CarFax with repair history indicating manufacturer's recommended maintenance through 75k and paper evidence of a new timing belt this year at 96k miles. Interior & Exterior all very clean. Available through a Volvo dealership, apparent bottom-line price of $8550. Will have complete review by a trusted mechanic who has worked on all my foreign cars over past 15 years and is a noted Volvo specialist locally.

My questions are:

1) Looking to establish a Fair Market Value based upon your experiences with these vehicles over the years. Assume Clean Condition. Edmunds TMV on-line service says $8600 Private Party Value, $10,200 Dealer Retail Value; Kelly's Blue Book (if you think anything of their pricing, I don't) says $12465.
Your thoughts?

2) Any particular well-know maintenance or wear/tear issue to be concerned about with this year/model? I know timing belt is one so evidence of recent change is helpful. Front suspension seems to be another and will certainly be something the mechanic is looking into. Others? Like any Dad, I want to be sure that we've done everything we reasonably can to set up our son with reliable, capable transportation for his college years . . .

3) Does anyone know what the extra features were for the "Ocean Race" model in 2002? And, while seemingly pretty unimportant, I read somewhere on the internet that there were only 650 of the Ocean Race XCs manufacturer for the US market in 2002. Can anyone verify?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

SK000000BY
09-09-2010, 02:14 PM
we bought our '02 XC70 last November (11/09) with 96k on it for $7000. I think we got a bit of a deal on ours, but it wasn't an Ocean Race edition and the maintenance history on it isn't quite as well documented as it is on the car you're considering. Other than a little paint peeling on the plastic pieces that run along where the roof racks mount to the roof of the car and one "door ding" on the passenger side, ours is in incredible shape.

As far as "known problems", I'm surprised you haven't come across this in your research, but the transmissions in these cars are notoriously faulty. Our car has the original transmission and while it will have its issues occasionally, slipping between shifts and taking a bit long to go into gear out of park or from D to R or vice versa, it's getting along pretty well. We bought it knowing of the potential for tranny issues because it was discounted so heavily. We figured that even if we have to pony up for a new transmission, we'll still be in the green overall for the car.

I don't know much about the Ocean Race cars other than that they're blue so I can't help you there.

HTH