XC70 for Newbie

[Hitchhiker]

Hello to everyone.

So here I have ended up on this cool forum.
I face few upcoming issues and I am not sure how to get through it with no experience whatsoever.

I live in NYC. but I am going to move to Ann Arbor Michigan for my grad school where I have to be for 2 years.
That's said we (me and my GF) need a decent car that meet fallowing criteria:

1) Safety
2) Roomy (we love hiking and cross-country trips, so we put a lots of gear and equipment in the trunk)
3) AWD (Michigan is a cold place)
4) reliable (it is very important)
5) Good millage

As I have mentioned above we love outdoor activities and we spend big time in nature, also in farmlands and deep rural areas.
So, only car that meet those criteria are Volvo XC70 and Subaru Outback. We like XC70 more than Subaru though.
We can't afford a new car and our budget is only $10000 max.

I set down to do a research about XC70 2001-2007 and to my surprise I found many things that got me a bit confused.

The first thing is how controversial the reviews are, some say it is the best car he/she ever had and some say it is it the worst one ever.
The second surprise is the two types of XC70. one is just XC70 and other is V70 XC and those look practically the same.

Eventually we have found a car near NYC . It is a good looking 2001 V70 XC with 75 000 miles on it and cost around $7000. I we though that it is good price for such a low mileage car, but I get concerned as I read some reviews about this vary model. (2001-2002)

for example; they say that the 2001 models have different engine, different AWD system and their gearboxes are very bad compare to the 2004 models. Although according to some reviews about the 2001 models are not bad cars at all.

Can anyone help me and give me a quick walk-though of the difference between models of 2001-2002 and 2005-06?
Is their AWD system really different?

I would be much appreciated if anyone shared his overall experience of XC70. Especially in reliability in maintenance.

Meanwhile I'll be running though this site and expand my knowledge in Volvo.

Thank you in advance.
Dave

[JRL]

DO NOT BUY A 2001 OR A 2002
Repeat after me, do not buy a 2001 or a 2002

They all require a fair amount of maintenance especially after 75-90K miles ALL Euro cars will.
Suggest you buy Japanese or American

[monochamus]

Be good to yourself and forget the 2001-2002
Go for the OUTBACK

[Hitchhiker]

Thanks guys.

I read many other topics and apparently 2001-2002 isn't a good choice.

What year model would recommend me? are 2003-2007 models better?

[JRL]

The later model year, the better they became.
05-07 are the best, but they STILL require a lot of maintenance plus most of these suspensions need rebuilding every 100K or so
Plus the T belt and breather systems need to be addressed, Tranny flushes too.

[vtl]

Don't you need to maintain other cars?

My 05 XC70 does not take much money to keep it up.

[Scopeman]

Buy a Subaru, but NOT a turbo car! Famous for blown turbo and engine when the little oil screen plugs up. Also the 4cyl engines tend to need head gaskets in middle age, not so the 6's. And a better more reliable AWD system.
I love my XC70, but I can and do, almost all my own work.

[Hitchhiker]

Thank you folks so much.

A guy form that dealerships keeps call me about that car, but after hearing those stories I may pass.

XC70 has got the best wagon design ever and I respect that, but I don't think I can afford replacing a gearbox.

What do you think about 1994 Toyota Corolla Wagon?

[JRL]

If it's nice and rust free, go for it

[2002V70XC]

My 02 XC70 forced me to learn to DIY most things. If you own a Japanese car, I think you can afford to bring it to the shops because you wouldn't need to pay as much for maintenance (compare to Volvo).