2004 XC70 should we buy it?

[Joslin]

Another of these threads:rolleyes:.

We are looking to replace our 240 wagon with an '04 xc70. While historically we have enjoyed tinkering keeping our Saab 900s on the road until death do us part, we no longer have the time for fiddlin' in the garage due to becoming parents. So while the 240 leaks 3 kinds of juice on our floor and whistles like an ocarena we are getting ready to let it go and make the leap.

We drove an '04 xc70 with 105k priced at $9500, and not being volvo people we don't really know what to look for. Ostensibly it has new rear brakes, timing belt and new (cheap-o) tires. The carfax says that it was a lease for 4 years when new and then owned for 2 years and slammed with 30k miles a year (but you can see the oil being changed regularly at least). This is being sold by one of those "buy it at auction and change the timing belt corner lot" dealers but that seems to be about the only place to buy an under $10k car these days.

We are taking it to a volvo dealer to have it inspected before we make an offer, but I wanted to dip my toe in here to see what the conventional wisdom was. This is would be our "second car" that drives to and fro 3 miles a day and makes Ikea runs on the weekends. Mommy's real car is an '02 wrx so this would be daddy's squishy land barge. Additionally we have never owned an automatic transmission car so we could be doomed before we start as I think the idea was to shift it like a manual which some of these transmission threads make me think might be a bad idea.

[JRL]

Buy my 05, I can GUARANTEE you that it is perfect
(price is flexible... to a degree)

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17161

[uscgc70]

A lot of the suspension will start making creaks and groans from 100k and up,and it is coming up on a timing belt change, but all in all if it was maintained it should be a good car. the 04's weren't noted as particularly bad. have it checked out and if all is well, i wouldn't hesitate to add it to the fleet.

[Christov_Tenn]

We bought an '04 (the ruby red vehicle in the classifieds section) from JRL a little over a month ago and have been happy with the car although we were never wild about the color. But buying used, the car's color has never been a really big deal to us as long as it's not nightclub purple or some such.

Yesterday afternoon I attended a graveside service out in the country. On winding and hilly country roads I tried out the auto-stick feature, which takes some getting used to, but does effectively slow the car going in the curves and "releases" it when shifted up a little way around the curve. Car handled fine - I could feel the center of gravity higher than in my 850 manual five-speed, but still confident and seemed to track well.

Fiddling with the trip computer can be distracting. Get your car radio programmed before you're out driving around - that can be distracting, too.

As to our purchase experience with JRL - no problems whatsoever. Car as advertised and, for us anyway, a no hassle transaction. For JRL, it probably entailed an annoying degree of hand-holding.

$.02

[JRL]

A lot of the suspension will start making creaks and groans from 100k and up,and it is coming up on a timing belt change, but all in all if it was maintained it should be a good car. the 04's weren't noted as particularly bad. have it checked out and if all is well, i wouldn't hesitate to add it to the fleet.

No "groans" from any of my cars and if you read the ad, belt has been done.

[BIGGUYNE]

I've had a 2000, 2004 and 2007. The 2004 has been great, and the 2007 is even better. Both the '04 and '07 have been good enough that we didn't sell them--- passed them down to kids. Both have 120,000+ on them, and I see no reason they won't hit 200K.

Personally, if I were in the market for a used XC70, JRL's 2005 is the unit I'd jump on. I'm more partial to the Ash Gold, but they discontinued that color after '04 or '05.

[JRL]

Ash gold is nice on an XC but VERY common.
You don't see Lava too often and it's such a nice, classy color

[Joslin]

since you are all still here :) is there any way I can tell if the guy has actually changed the timing belt? my mechanic says that it is not easy to tell on this car, there is no something he can just unscrew and look at.

[JRL]

ALL timing belts come with a sticker that should be attached on the engine or on one of plastic covers somewhere in the engine compartment for anyone to easily see, (that's the point of the sticker)!
If it's not there, a new T-belt is doubtful, and if the mechanic was sloppy enough not to put the sticker on, who knows if the belt was put on, (if it WAS installed at all) properly!! :eek:
A timing belt is not something casual, it's not brakes, it's not tires, if it breaks, goodbye engine!
A GOOD mechanic should be able to tell if a belt and the tensioner is relatively recent and if the tensioner is adjusted properly.
I would worry a bit about your mechanic if that was his response.

The end cover just snaps off and it's there in all it's glory.

Now if you buy my 05 (or any Volvo from me), not only do you get the sticker attached on the engine, I give he buyer all the part receipts on what I spent on a particular car. [thumbup]

[jda2000]

there should be a sticker around the t-belt area, indicating it has been changed with date and mileage.

[Joslin]

Ok, thanks for all of the replies. So my mechanic said that the timing belt had not been done and that to do it and the water pump (done at the same time for some reason?) and the concomitant pulleys was a $1200 job. That sounds high to me, but what do i know? I do know that this is not work I would trust the seller to do, so I would be asking to take it off the top. There is some expected front end suspension things that are needed is that something I should trust the "i have a gas station/garage and sell cars from auctions" guy to do?

And while I appreciate the opportunity to buy a known quantity from JRL we are at the tippytop of our price point and 300 miles away. We don't have wiggle room since we pay cash and we only gots what we gots.

[JRL]

All I can say is this,
The 04 I sold (to the person who made a comment above) was also "above his price point" by way over a grand.
He bit the bullet, bought it, lives much more than only 300 miles away and I think he's quite happy with it. Please ask him how his car was when he received it, (I believe it was better than what he expected) and how it is now 6-7 weeks later into ownership?

You get what you pay for when it comes to buying a used car. I don't sell that many cars so I can't afford to sell a bad car or anything that knowingly may have/need something in the near future. The web is a small place and word gets around as does a good reputation. [thumbup]

Most of my buyers hop on a plane or a train. I pick them up and you drive the 5 hours (or whatever) back to where you live, no biggee.
I just sold a V70R to someone who lives about 24 hours away, in the midwest.
It's quite rare when I sell a car to someone near me.
He flew in with his cousin on a Friday night, slept at a relatives home. They picked it up Sat morning and they were home by mIdnight Sat night!
All you need to do is come up with a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitle more and we can talk.

[googlie]

Have had my Lava Sand/Taupe 06 for a year now and like the colour more and more each day. But colours aren't what you can get too picky about when buying used, unless it's a Honda Civic...

Googlie


Ash gold is nice on an XC but VERY common.
You don't see Lava too often and it's such a nice, classy color

[uscgc70]

So my mechanic said that the timing belt had not been done and that to do it and the water pump (done at the same time for some reason?) and the concomitant pulleys was a $1200 job. That sounds high to me, but what do i know?
that price is quite high, and yes the water pump should be done while that part of the engine is opened up. good luck with the hunt!

[uscgc70]

No "groans" from any of my cars and if you read the ad, belt has been done.

I wasn't talking about your car, he was asking a general question about these cars. Please keep your "ads" in the classified section and lay off the used car salesman persona in this section.