hgray14 Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Sorry for the rookish post but I may need to move fast on this car and am only familiar with 850s. My wife found a 2005 XC70 with 220,000 miles on it. We are going for test drive tomorrow. I've read (briefly) that most of the issue in the early version of this XC were worked out by 2004 but am not sure. 1) What should I look for? Any specific leaky places, like with the 850's rear main seal? Any little plastic parts that normally break at this age that I should check on? 2) How often does the timing belt get changed on this? (I'm trying to figure out if it has or hasn't been done. Obviously, if it hasn't I'll have to consider that.) 3) Is the timing belt replacement the same or similar to the 850? It was owned by one person until 190K miles then this guy bought it. He bought it from a local used Volvo dealer here in Sonoma County named Angel Volvos. He thinks everything was checked, flushed, etc. by Angel as part of thier normal work. (I'm going to call them to see if I can get any additional info.) 4) Anyone have info on Angel Motors in Santa Rosa, Californnia? Although it has high miles the driver's seat looks great, which leads me to believe it was a long distance commuter car. Also, we are only going to use it around town (probably something like 3K miles per year) and for the occasional camping trip or run up into the snow. Any help is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keaton85 Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 It's like most of the other 99+ Volvos. So: - 105k timing belt and changed like all the rest - no major oil leak areas - check tranny fluid condition (dipstick is hidden under the air hose leading to the air box) very hard to see - do some research on the AWD as it still had some issues like the coupler between the bevel gear and tranny. Much better then the old systems. If you don't need AWD, you can remove the shaft. Make sure the AWD is work though! Do some more googling on the 03+ series as there are some little items but nothing major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flukey Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 I would ask the second owner if he has the service records from the original owner and also see what records he has for any services that he has had done. I personally would be very weary about a high milage vehicle without records. In addition, I would ask the owner if you could drop a couple of OZ. of tranny fluid and engine oil that you could send out for analysis.These cars last for a very long time if they are properly serviced. I would need proof of that unless he is selling it cheap. Like 3 grand cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN_CENA Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 As someone who had an 05 XC, they are tanks. The 05 redesign had a much better transmission than the crappy 01-04 AW units. Apart from looking newer / refresh year, just the timing belt, fluids, and vac lines are the only things to really look for due to age. I only had one odd issue, and that was a rear drivers side spring that broke (one coil). $200 replaced at the dealer, $40 if you pull a spring from a junkyard and replace it youtself. I put 40k miles on my old XC, and that was the only issue I had with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keaton85 Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Wait, crappy Aisin Warner trannys? How do you figure? What is in the 05+? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 Is the timing belt as easy to change as on my 1995 850s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 I have a Volvo mechanic I trust right down the street who is going to do a used car inspection for me. It's black with a dark interior without the third row of seats, which is exactly what the wife is looking for. He is asking $5K but if everything pans out with the mechanic I'm going to offer something like $4,250. (The blue book is between $4,500-$5,000 in our area and it isn't unusual for Volvos to sell for more than blue book around here.) If it needs a timing belt (and it's something I can do like my 850s) I'll drop it considerably - probably $3,500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschaefer7406 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 Hello, Sounds like it'd be a good car. Mileage is a bit higher, but nothing to be afraid of I don't think... By 2005, most any transmission and/or AWD troubles were worked out. I would try to find if the trans has been serviced. They had little to no trouble after '03, but 220k miles on any transmission with original fluid isn't a good thing. As Keaton mentioned, all of the AWD cars tend to wear the splined coupler between the transmission and angle gear. Part is ~$100 to change, and should be done as periodic maintenance in my opinion. Can strip the input splines on the angle gear if worn too badly, costing a replacement angle gear assembly (as they're not serviceable). One common wear area on the P2 cars (especially the XC's) is the front control arm bushings. I'm sure your Volvo tech will check them. They can be replaced with the proper tooling, sometimes easier to replace the entire arm though. Timing belt is the same overall procedure as the 850, only differences being the mechanical tensioner and the CVVT. Both are no problem if the proper procedure is used, something we'd be happy to help with when the time comes . Anyway, sounds like a nice one. Let us know how you make out. Hope this helps, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted January 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Hey Joe - thanks for all that. As it turns out, my mechanic said that overall it is in great shape. BUT there were a bunch of things that need to be done, although nothing pressing, nothing I can't do myself, and nothing too expensive (as long as I do it myself and don't have the mechanic do it.) I was going to pass on the car because I didn't want to insult the seller with a super low offer but figured what the heck. My ultra picky mechanic reported that there was a slow leak in the power steering pump, the rear brakes need to be replaced (although still seems to stop on a dime, I'm guessing that's because the front brakes do most of the work), and a possible radiator leak (just replace one in my 850 so I know I can do this for cheap.) I was honest with the seller that 1) my mechanic was going to find everything, and 2) although it had some costly maintanance issues coming up I wasn't asking for the full value of the issues as I could do the work myself. I told him I wasn't comfortable over $3K. He was honest right back and told me that now that he knew about the issues (he thought his car was in perfect shape because the used car dealer he bought it from, and who just replaced a thermostat didn't notice three leaks?!?!?) he couldn't in good conscience withhold that info from future perspective buyers. So, he figured he'd end up selling it cheap anyways so why not let a Volvo lover like me have it. What a nice and honest guy. It's nice there are at least a few of us around. (I thanked him with a nice bottle of port.) My mechanic did mention something about wanting to make sure the bevel oil gets replaced soon but other than that there seems to be no issue with the tranny or the AWD system. So, we got for $3K. I'll handle the brakes in a week or two and will just keep an eye on the fluids for the power steering pump and the radiator until it warms up a bit and I feel like getting under the hood. (My wife works two blocks from home so the car isn't going to be making any long trips anyway.) Soooo, thanks for everyone's help. Now I am going to start asking some of the really silly questions, like do they make a tent that fits the back of this thing. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keaton85 Posted January 24, 2015 Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Nice! Great deal Get the tranny fluid changed As for the brakes, it probably just needs pads, which are low. That doesn't effect anything in the vehicles braking ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted January 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 Nice! Great deal Get the tranny fluid changed As for the brakes, it probably just needs pads, which are low. That doesn't effect anything in the vehicles braking ability. Thanks Keaton. That was the first thing I thought of but apparently they had it done recently (the fluid is as bright as straight out of the bottle.) And ya, the thing stops really well (considering it's weight) so I'm going to wait until I have to do the fronts too and then upgrade everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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