2003 xc70 D5 163bhp

[FTBasRD]

Im looking at a 1 owner, low miles (110k) 2003 xc70 thats been sitting in a main dealers for about 2 years. Dealer is willing to drop the price to about 4k to shift it, its a 6 speed manual so although due a g.box oil change should be ok.. overall condition is showroom. Should this be a good buy Ive wanted a decent car like this for years having been in SEATs for 15 years and hoping its not a grass is greener thing..

[martinrpeachey]

FTBasRD said:

Im looking at a 1 owner, low miles (110k) 2003 xc70 thats been sitting in a main dealers for about 2 years. Dealer is willing to drop the price to about 4k to shift it, its a 6 speed manual so although due a g.box oil change should be ok.. overall condition is showroom. Should this be a good buy Ive wanted a decent car like this for years having been in SEATs for 15 years and hoping its not a grass is greener thing..

Definitely get them to do a transmission service. Being a manual (more likely to be a 5 speed at that age) I wouldn't worry about the gearbox itself but ask if the angle-gear has been changed to the later type as the early type is made from chocolate and those little silver balls you get on christmas cake.
Another thing to check is the speedo - if it has chrome rings around the dials, it means it's already suffered the dreaded DIM failure which pre 2004 models were renowned for. That means you've saved £732.50 already. If it doesn't have the rings, be very cautious. They don't all fail but having had mine changed a couple of years ago, I don't trust the buggers lol.

And don't pay more than £2500-£3000 for it, mint or not. They aren't worth much these days, which is probably why it's been sat on a forecourt for so long.

[FTBasRD]

Great thanks for the advice, I live in the sticks and have been caught out a number of times with the ice and snow, so would like something reliable and thats going to be able to get me up snowy hills etc. here's an interior pic of the XC70, it does not seem to have those rings around the speedo!

Edited by FTBasRD on Friday 3rd January 12:35

[martinrpeachey]

FTBasRD said:

Great thanks for the advice, I live in the sticks and have been caught out a number of times with the ice and snow, so would like something reliable and thats going to be able to get me up snowy hills etc. here's an interior pic of the XC70, it does not seem to have those rings around the speedo!

Edited by FTBasRD on Friday 3rd January 12:35

I see it's got all the toys which is nice. I would worry about that speedo though. It can be repaired but it means sending it away to a bloke on ebay.
Just to make it clear - they don't all fail and the failure isn't instant - it can take a year of doing weird things before it goes completely and even then it's still driveable. I've been burned by the buggers so I'm terminally skeptical about them.

Other than that, they're good solid cars (providing the transmission has been looked after). I have an ex-police V70 T5 with 208k miles on it and I'm happy to keep it running, even though it's been to the moon and back a few times.

You'll spend the first few months of ownership finding things about it, little touches to ultimately make life with the car easier and safer and thinking "ooh, that's a good idea".

Good luck with it.

[FTBasRD]

yeah its got all the extras, that does concern me though as although id have enough to repair it etc id really prefer not too have the hassle, i covered 180k miles on my last car (05 seat altea 2.0tdi) and it was flawless until it recently had a date with a tree. . so i would expect a similar vintage volvo to be very good.. i do a lot less mileage now but that might change in a year ir so.

Is there any models that are effected by the instrument cluster issue, was it a bad batch or just luck of the draw.. would you chance it with the dealer to replace before purchase.

[morgrp]

FTBasRD said:

yeah its got all the extras, that does concern me though as although id have enough to repair it etc id really prefer not too have the hassle, i covered 180k miles on my last car (05 seat altea 2.0tdi) and it was flawless until it recently had a date with a tree. . so i would expect a similar vintage volvo to be very good.. i do a lot less mileage now but that might change in a year ir so.

Is there any models that are effected by the instrument cluster issue, was it a bad batch or just luck of the draw.. would you chance it with the dealer to replace before purchase.

Later models with silver trim around the dials are largely considered problem free from speedo issues - They are actually quite straight forward to repair if you can solder. Early cars up until the 2004 facelift had various common problems but I think the internet really does blow them well out of proportion - People will only post on forums when they have problems, there will be thousands driving around out there that never had trouble.

Watch out for Dual mass Fly wheel problems on the manual cars too - Make sure there is no jerking or noise on gearchanges - they get quite snatchy when they wear.

[martinrpeachey]

morgrp said:

Later models with silver trim around the dials are largely considered problem free from speedo issues - They are actually quite straight forward to repair if you can solder. Early cars up until the 2004 facelift had various common problems but I think the internet really does blow them well out of proportion - People will only post on forums when they have problems, there will be thousands driving around out there that never had trouble.

Watch out for Dual mass Fly wheel problems on the manual cars too - Make sure there is no jerking or noise on gearchanges - they get quite snatchy when they wear.

Well put, you always hear the horror stories. My friend has an S80 D5 2000 model (y reg iirc) and although the S80 is known as the least reliable P2 car made, his is flawless.

Another thing to watch with the early D5 is the injectors failing but again, not a major worry as they wouldn't be able to sell it with a dodgy injector.

[FTBasRD]

Ok so i went to have a look at this car and it was wayyyy to expensive for me for the year 03, the dealer didnt move on price, so looking for something else..

A late 2003 v70 (auto) awd 2.5t with 190k is available for 1500, im thinking seriously about it, it has the rings on the instrument cluster and as its an auto so no dmf.. i would also have a nice bit left over for a possible lpg conversion and repairs.. at that mileage is this a good buy.

[martinrpeachey]

FTBasRD said:

Ok so i went to have a look at this car and it was wayyyy to expensive for me for the year 03, the dealer didnt move on price, so looking for something else..

A late 2003 v70 (auto) awd 2.5t with 190k is available for 1500, im thinking seriously about it, it has the rings on the instrument cluster and as its an auto so no dmf.. i would also have a nice bit left over for a possible lpg conversion and repairs.. at that mileage is this a good buy.

Yes and at that mileage, it's probably had the gearbox replaced at least once so you should be ok.

[y2blade]

FTBasRD said:

Ok so i went to have a look at this car and it was wayyyy to expensive for me for the year 03, the dealer didnt move on price, so looking for something else..

A late 2003 v70 (auto) awd 2.5t with 190k is available for 1500, im thinking seriously about it, it has the rings on the instrument cluster and as its an auto so no dmf.. i would also have a nice bit left over for a possible lpg conversion and repairs.. at that mileage is this a good buy.

Be warned the Volvo AWD system is made of chocolate.
If you really want AWD look elsewhere

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=volvo+xc70+awd+problem...

Edited by y2blade on Tuesday 4th February 10:38

[martinrpeachey]

y2blade said:

Be warned the Volvo AWD system is made of chocolate.
If you really want AWD look elsewhere

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=volvo+xc70+awd+problem...

Edited by y2blade on Tuesday 4th February 10:38

Mornin' Chris

The older AWD system is indeed crap but if it's been repaired in the last 4 or 5 years, they would have put the uprated parts in there (well, they bloody should have) so it'll be much more reliable.

Like I said, at that mileage, the transmission would have been sorted at least once.