Does a £1k S70/V70 make sense as a runaround?

Does a £1k S70/V70 make sense as a runaround?

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Discussion

Dave200

Original Poster:

5,671 posts

226 months

Wednesday 6th February 2013
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Hi guys. I'm going to be getting an interim runaround while I save up for something more exciting, and the S70/V70 ph1 (the facelifted 850) has appeared on my radar.

It seems like I can get a 2.4/2.5 with a little over 100k miles within the budget. The added bonus is that this also seems to buy a car with aircon, leather and autobox (ticking 3 boxes for me).

The car will probably only do about 4-5k a year (a few motorway runs, and very infrequent short journeys around town), and be able to stand for 2-3wks at a time without being used.

I've done a bit of cursory research to find out what's worth knowing about these cars, and have found that there appear to be common issues with throttle control modules, droplinks and self-levelling suspension.
So, what else is worth knowing? What sorts of precautionary maintenance would you be doing to a 120-130k mile example to make for hassle-free motoring?

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

267 months

Wednesday 6th February 2013
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I run a 2001 V70 (newer model than yours, but same engine) 2.4 petrol with a slushbox and it has 175000 miles on it. Everything still works, it still feels tight.

As usual, regular preventative maintenance is the key. Don't skimp on oil changes and fix anything that needs fixing.

Fantastic motor, about 20ish MPG round town, but managed 39.5 average on a long motorway jaunt last week.

Dave200

Original Poster:

5,671 posts

226 months

Wednesday 6th February 2013
quotequote all
Thanks for the feedback. I'm a bigger fan of the later models if I'm honest, but I can't really justify spending the extra £5-600 to get one without leather when the ph1 does the job...

kwk

562 posts

184 months

Wednesday 6th February 2013
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I've got an R reg. S70, 85000 miles, full heated leather etc. which cost £500. I took it to Germany twice last year and it was used every day. Sadly it's got to go now as I've got too many Volvos.

Dave200

Original Poster:

5,671 posts

226 months

Friday 8th February 2013
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How does the 2.4 engine compare with the 10v/20v flavours of the 2.5?

keefym

6 posts

154 months

Saturday 30th March 2013
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Its the same engine mate. I have a p reg v70 with that engine and it says 19mpg avg on the computer. Mine has 180k and is tight as a drum. I was in the same predicament as you and having budgeted 1.5k for an estate for occassional use, i set out to look at phase 2 models. i ended up coming home with a phase 1 with absolutely every extra box ticked and a fsh with 2 owners from new. and the cost was £500 so plenty in the fuel fund. I made the right decision in my mind, the phase 2 wasnt worth the extra. Got mine insured on classic policy as well. cheap motoring in luxury with a nice soundtrack too!

grumpy52

5,695 posts

172 months

Tuesday 9th April 2013
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As with all fwd volvos check the breather on the engine if its got oil leaks chances are the breather is blocked.if the breather gets blocked it will leak eventually and if its the crankshaft oil seal that goes its an engine out jobbie .

grumpy52

5,695 posts

172 months

Saturday 11th May 2013
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After reading this thread it made me realise an S70 was what I needed and found one via PH ads .
I now have a very nice '97 S70 CD 2.5 LPT auto with the rica 235 chip,strut brace,17" wheels HID lights and later grille ,in very very good condition with massive history file.
It goes like a stabbed rat!!!!!

pd2

257 posts

155 months

Wednesday 15th May 2013
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grumpy52 said:
After reading this thread it made me realise an S70 was what I needed and found one via PH ads .
I now have a very nice '97 S70 CD 2.5 LPT auto with the rica 235 chip,strut brace,17" wheels HID lights and later grille ,in very very good condition with massive history file.
It goes like a stabbed rat!!!!!
Hope your enjoying it! I picked up a '97 S70 SE T5 just over a week ago and I'm very suprised how well it goes! And the amount of go go juice it drinks, even when taking it easy!

grumpy52

5,695 posts

172 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
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Pd2 look at a rica chip , they seem to make an improvement to the consumption as well the perfomance.

jimbobsimmonds

1,824 posts

171 months

Wednesday 5th June 2013
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grumpy52 said:
Pd2 look at a rica chip , they seem to make an improvement to the consumption as well the perfomance.
Personally I wouldn't opt for the RICA for a few reasons, the chief of which being their throttle mapping appears to be rubbish. It seems to request 100% torque from the engine at 20% throttle travel giving the impression that the thing is ridiculously quick without it actually being soo. Makes driving in town fun too!

I personally have an MTE map and I'm not going to say that they are perfect but they feel much more "OEM" than the RICA but just a hell of a lot quicker. Civilised when you want it to be, quick when you want it to be. This however is on the T5s not your engine.

If you wan't some first hand experience of mapped Volvo's of all types in virtually all states of tune and can make it to Castle Combe on the 21 June pop down. T5D5 are having their charity track day and for £10 (goes to charity) you can spend all day as a passenger in as many cars as you like (there's a Britcar there too!) and you will get more good advice than you ever wanted. Linky if you are interested

grumpy52

5,695 posts

172 months

Thursday 13th June 2013
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Quite happy with the rica as its not the ott one , quick enough, its re -mapped the auto box as well so it's not hunting up and down the box it def needs more brakes though !