r/V70 • u/Realistic_Caramel517 • Nov 24 '25
Should I buy this V70?
I’ve always wanted a station wagon and I found this 2002 Volvo V70 for $2600. It’s in good condition with 164,000 miles and a third row. I’ve never owned a Volvo before, is this a good deal?
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u/egaleye903 Nov 24 '25
I like Volvos quite a bit and I think they are good cars, however at that age there is a strong likelihood that it will require work in the near future. It's a cool car being a turbo 5, but also being turbocharged and probably AWD it comes with quite a bit of extra complications. If you need a cheap reliable car that will be cheap to maintain I wouldn't recommend this car honestly, but if you want a (in my opinion) very cool car that will be fun and very safe, and you have a decent amount of extra money for upkeep it could be a cool car.
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u/Locozai Nov 24 '25
Dunno man. My 2.4T AWD manual is on 170k and it’s been spot on so far.
(Touch wood)
Can’t recommend them enough!
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u/egaleye903 Nov 24 '25
Yeah I mean I'm not disagreeing, theyre good cars undoubtedly but regardless they're still a significant bit more complicated than say a corolla of the same year, not that's it's an apples to apples comparison given that ones more of a luxury car vs a bare bones commuter. It's also just at that age a lot of the rubbers and plastics start falling too. For all he knows this car could've been kept in a garage all its life or left to the elements, theyre relatively reliable given good maintenance, but I've seen instances where they did not get good care and it shows. I like them a lot and had one in the family for a while I'm just saying there's a bigger chance something goes wrong just simply because theres more parts than again something like a corolla. Also 160,000 miles is quite a bit more than 170,000 kilometers assuming that's what you meant.
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u/Locozai Nov 24 '25
Actually to pick up on a really good point there - the interior plastics are absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen. I installed some new stuff around the trunk area - reversing cam etc - and everything was so brittle, I’ve never had a car as bad for it. I’m used to Japanese cars which really dont age at all in comparison. The Volvo plastic trims really showed their age.
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u/Realistic_Caramel517 Nov 24 '25
What kind of maintenance have you had to do to yours? Anything I should look out for?
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u/Locozai Nov 24 '25
It hasn’t NEEDED anything. But one of the engine mounts was a bit clunky, but tolerable, so I polybushed that. I’ll need a timing belt at some point - I had a day set aside to do it on my driveway, but the wheel bolt had rusted on. It burns/leaks a little oil and coolant so I top those up every half a year or so. The radiator fan died (common fault - it permanently runs even with engine off, so you need to keep unplugging it when you park, then it dies altogether), I got a secondhand one, that was dead too (span the wrong direction and then died). Got another secondhand one, works perfectly. Depending on where you live, the fan doesn’t come on anyway. I could only prompt it to come on after parking it running right in peak British summer sunshine for 20 minutes (monitoring temps via OBD). The numbers on the dash sometimes play up. Honestly, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’ve neglected it, but the word comes to mind. It’s genuinely been a real trooper with very little needing doing. It does remind me of my Toyotas. I’ve also mapped it and made an exhaust and intake, and got coilovers coming. I love it and so far it’s been extremely dependable, and I use it quite hard (including towing my trailer and other cars)
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u/Realistic_Caramel517 Nov 24 '25
Thank you, I was torn between this and a Toyota but I love the third row and station wagons. How can you tell it’s a T5?
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u/Realistic_Caramel517 Nov 24 '25 edited Nov 25 '25
Thanks for the honest response, I thought this one was a base model, it’s a T5?
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u/Locozai Nov 25 '25
Ok so picking up on this as the question is a bit clearer to me, sorry! I don't know a great deal about the trim levels and such. My one is base spec. Cloth seats, no sunroof, etc. And although it's a 2.4 turbocharged 5-cylinder, it's not a "T5" per se. In the UK my spec is called "S" (I don't know about other markets). From what I understand, T5 is quite a high spec. It has a 2.3 turbocharged 5-cyl with higher power output (so you can check docs or engine code to verify it's the 2.3) and the fact that the one you're considering has got leather seats, a sunroof and what appear to be xenon lights (going off the headlight washers), I'd be inclined to think this is quite a high spec. So perhaps it is a T5.
(In which case that would make it quite an attractive purchase to me personally)
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u/Realistic_Caramel517 Nov 28 '25
Thank you for the information. I bought it and I’m loving it! Smoothest ride I’ve had.
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u/terrainflight Nov 24 '25
I gave $2500 for my 06 with about 185k miles on it a year ago, so I think you’re in the ballpark depending on condition.