back from dealer... bad news

[Forkster]

The question isn't really whether or not to sink the money into the car.

The REAL question is if you spend the money, what would it cost you to replace it with a newer vehicle that would be in the same condition of a 'fixed' vehicle. Say you put $2000 into it, how much would you have to spend to get into a newer XC in good shape?

I can guarantee it would cost you a whole lot more than $2000.

[JRL]

Unless your car is PRISTINE I would say get rid of it.
Take whatever you can get and move on to either a better Volvo or another brand.
You will be sinking THOUSANDS into it and it may never be 1000% right.
It would help to post the year and mileage.

Need struts and top. $250 plus labor
alignment. $75
air guide. $90
outside temp sensor and harness. (said to be part of the cause of cel)

Why would you need the harness and if they mean the outside temperature sensor for under the airguide it would not help anything

r/f inner tie rod end. $50 plus labor
rear main seal leaks $1000
r/f control arm. $140 plus labor
front brake hoses cracked. $50 plus labor and if rusted on can be a botch to replace
exhaust pipe, hardware and rear muffler. $$$
upper engine mount. $45 plus labor
abs control unit has connection problem and cuts out occasionally. (said to be part of the cause of cel) $75 to repair
cvvt control valve. $200
timing belt wet from oil. $400-$450
(they assume theres a cam seal leak. Another $400 or more
however, i had just cleaned up the pools of oil on top of the engine when replacing the plugs. i assume the oil came from the oil cap seal failure which i also replaced.)
- cvvt cam hub.
- p/s reservoir cracked. $75
front and rear cam seals. See above
oil trap. $400-$600 inclusive
valve cover reseal.

[okihiro]

its a 99. 100,425 miles.

[JRL]

Wow!
Fairly low mileage
While at 100K they usually do need work, this one apparently was not maintained at all
It would depend on how nice the body and interior are and how much you like it, (and how long you will plan to keep it)!
Feel free to post some good pictures and then I'll give you a final opinion
Also please do take it in for a 2nd opinion

[okihiro]

its got la few dents and stuff. mostly small and i dont mind. there are two bigger ones that is a bit of an eye sore but i can live with those as well. i wiped down the interior and it seems nice other than the driver seat seams getting undone. i like the both interior and exterior colors. and my plan was to keep it for the long haul. i thought that at 100k there are plenty of miles left which was one of the main reasons i got this thing.
a second opinion with another dealership? they will probably tell me the same thing.
im pretty torn. i like it. i want to like it. but the problems seems big. and the relatively loud engine bugs me as well.

[pjg01930]

Okihiro - Let me share my experience w/ a similar vehicle, an '00 XC I purchased little over 2 years ago w/ 100,378 miles on it. Almost at 150K now. Like you said, has a lot of life left in it. I have spent over $8K on repairs and maintenance in this time, saving quite a bit by buying my own parts online, Volvo indie mechanics, doing some stuff myself (but not experienced enough to do much). I would say get rid of it, just when you think you have it up to speed, something else will fail. I used Forkster's logic a couple of months ago to decide to spend $2500-$3000 (WAY cheaper than a 200-300 payment for 36-48 months!) to get it up to speed, and run it to over 200,000 miles....For me, i spent $2500 on new suspension (front and rear shocks, mounts, etc), ebrake (cables and shoes), rear brakes, and tires. Then the VERY next day car didn't start, had to replace immobilzer, dealer only fix, $600 plus. Then the rear window wouldn't go back up...then I went for an alignment and told my inner and outer tie rods need to be replaced...etc...I am sure the power steering pump and fuel pump will go before 200K miles...maybe bevel gear too? Sooo, from my personal experience, spending $4000 now to fix or $8000 on a newer vehicle?? On paper, fixing the car sounds good, but in reality, I would say there's a HUGE chance you will take a bath on this car. If you can't do ALL the work yourself, i.e., bust out a rear main seal job on the weekend in you garage, its going to get expensive. As the man said - "THOUSANDS" - he ain't kidding...Great engine...powerful...and the seats and the styling...makes you want to keep it!

[okihiro]

so i decided to keep the xc and fix it.
the rms leak was extremely slow and so i will leave it for another day when win the lottery. meanwhile i started to deal with the abs/tracs lighting up sporadically issue.
took the abs module out today and it seems someone has already been in here before. nevertheless, following the detailed outlines on matthews and dacvolvo's, i managed to get the module out, solder several loose pins and put it back.
the car moves, so that means i didnt break or cut anything i shouldnt have while i was in there.
the cel is off. wont know about the abs/tracs light since those only come on when they feel like it.
however, upon reading the codes i found that things have changed...
my last code read showed p1113 and p0014 with cat and evap showing up as well.
now, after the abs thing the codes are p1113 with cat, evap, 02snsr and 02htr showing up.

is getting the abs module back online supposed to do this or did i break something while i was mucking around in there?

[okihiro]

I'm thoroughly confused. I just took the car for a 15 mile run and now the code is p1113 with only evap showing up.
I'm now also smelling burned rubber coming from the vent.
Also I hear a winding sound like a small motor coming from the passenger side of the engine bay. The sound get faster or higher pitch as the speed gets faster, however it doesn't seem to have anything to do with engine speed.

Anyone have any ideas?

[hogie50]

Having spent probably way more than the car is worth in the last year, Volvo owners tend to be very attached to their cars. Where most sane folks cut and run, we are made of stronger stuff! I am one of those and my car still has a couple of issues to get to the bottom of.

Speedo and ABS/Tracs is your ABS module. There is a guy called Matt Moo (web name) I bought an exchange ABS module that he reworks and puts a lifetime warranty on. Unlike Volvo ($1000) the reworked part was about $55 plush shipping and you sending your unit in exchange. He sends you the unit so you can change yours out and then trusts you to return your old unit.

Biggest issue is the main oil seal as it is a big job. Most of the rest is time consuming but not horribly expensive. Only word of caution is if you replace your control arm, buy a good one and check it has wires on the seals of the ball joint cap. Some of the after-market items are complete junk as I found out. I ended up paying Volvo's ridiculous price as the after-market part failed after 5000km!

Most of the front end suspension stuff is do-able when you pull the struts. Well worth doing on any car this age. Whilst I have been close to setting fire to my car several times in the last year, I always forget about that when I get in to drive it.

Sounds like your PCV system needs replaced (Parts are about $100 or so) but just never use URO pipes for the short dog leg pipe from the PCV catch tank to the middle of the front of the block. I bought my kit from IPD and they have now dropped the URO part as they had had several split after a very short time (mine was one!).


Good luck!

[okihiro]

thanks hogie.
the cel and abs/tracs lights are off and have stayed off, so i think my "fix" worked. doesnt look good and the silicone is messy but it worked.

the pvc kit is arriving tomorrow so i will give it a shot this weekend.

speaking of pvc, anyone have any words of advice? the abs module fix took me a total of 2 hours. some of the time was just cleaning every part reachable.
how long will a pcv job take? will i have to drain the oil first?(complete noob question, i know)