CLintThePirate Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 Hello all! I'm Clint and I've been looking into buying my first Volvo. A friend of mine at work swears by them and my pa in law says I should stay away. So of course I want one . I've got $2,000 to spend and have been limiting my searches to under 180,000 miles and pre-2000 models. I live in Spartanburg SC and I'm searching all the way down to Atlanta. I found this 960 that seems to be a decent buy, but I don't want to buy a lemon. I need all the advice you have to offer! Side note. Volvo enthusiast friend bought an 2001 S60 T5 for $1,150 and the motor blew the next day. I definitely don't want this to happen to me! Clint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TryingBe Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 Find yourself a 940. Stay away from the 850, V70, S70, C70, or any FWD/AWD cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdog Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 OP: how about a bit more info on what you're looking for? Are you a DIYer with regards to auto maintenance or are you taking it to the shop for everything? You into performance or reliability? Preference toward rear wheel or front wheel drive? Etc. Regardless I would limit yourself to pre-1999 MY. They changed a lot of systems in 99 MY; took them at least five years to sort everything out.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLintThePirate Posted March 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 Sorry for being vague on my needs. I'm decent with a wrench. I'm not doing a head gasket job though but I'm decent at working on the car. I'm looking for reliability. I wouldn't mind a turbo but it's not a deal breaker. I'm also ok with FWD. I've noticed most cars on Craigslist come from an auction but I haven't seen any winners come through the auction around here. I have been pretty picking regarding my purchase. I don't want a wrecked interior and a beat up exterior. I've been using autocheck and the 960 I posted has had the best record to date. Before hitting the auction it was a single owner. Thank you for the assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLintThePirate Posted March 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 12 hours ago, TryingBe said: Find yourself a 940. Stay away from the 850, V70, S70, C70, or any FWD/AWD cars. Why a 940? If you don't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn-E Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 What are you looking to do with the car? Just a decent form of transportation with a little bit of Euro luxury? Look for a 1998 S70 or V70. I've owned multiple models of this year (two S70s, one V70 and a C70) and the car is fantastic. Low mileage helps but the platform is bulletproof with a little elbow grease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TryingBe Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 9 hours ago, CLintThePirate said: Why a 940? If you don't mind. 240, 740, 940 comes with the 4 cylinder "Redblock" (yes, block painted red) Redblock is a non-interference engine. Timing belt breaks? Put another one on. Water pump breaks? No problem, put another pump and belt on. 960, 850, S70, V70, S40, etc... (4, 5, 6 cylinders versions) comes with what you call a "Whiteblock" (non painted aluminum block) Whiteblock is a interference engine. Timing belt breaks? You just bent the vales. Waterpump sized? You bent valves again. While whileblock car is more refine and drive nicer, Redblock cars are built like tank and way more robust. RWD with a solid axles means there is no CV joints/boots to replace. Parts for a redblock engine/car are also much cheaper. My sister's 240 had 200k and engine does not use any oil between the 5000 miles oil changes. My 850 uses 1 qt every 2,000 miles. 940 is the last of the redblock cars, most refined, and also the newest. Best interior would be black clothe seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLintThePirate Posted March 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 3 hours ago, Burn-E said: What are you looking to do with the car? Just a decent form of transportation with a little bit of Euro luxury? Look for a 1998 S70 or V70. I've owned multiple models of this year (two S70s, one V70 and a C70) and the car is fantastic. Low mileage helps but the platform is bulletproof with a little elbow grease. I want reliable transpo with euro luxury as you stated. I found a few 98 V70s and S70s but I just haven't felt like they were "the car." I am glad I am on the right track looking for that model though. I found a decent 960 (link in my original post) but I'm not sure if I should pull the trigger or keep searching. 52 minutes ago, TryingBe said: 240, 740, 940 comes with the 4 cylinder "Redblock" (yes, block painted red) Redblock is a non-interference engine. Timing belt breaks? Put another one on. Water pump breaks? No problem, put another pump and belt on. 960, 850, S70, V70, S40, etc... (4, 5, 6 cylinders versions) comes with what you call a "Whiteblock" (non painted aluminum block) Whiteblock is a interference engine. Timing belt breaks? You just bent the vales. Waterpump sized? You bent valves again. While whileblock car is more refine and drive nicer, Redblock cars are built like tank and way more robust. RWD with a solid axles means there is no CV joints/boots to replace. Parts for a redblock engine/car are also much cheaper. My sister's 240 had 200k and engine does not use any oil between the 5000 miles oil changes. My 850 uses 1 qt every 2,000 miles. 940 is the last of the redblock cars, most refined, and also the newest. Best interior would be black clothe seats. Whoa good to know. I'll keep an eye out. There's a 92 940 turbo in Asheville but he wants $2,200. It's quite a bit for an old car but I might see if he'll go down some. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdog Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 Drive a red block car and then drive a white block. If they're of equal condition, my bet is you'll enjoy the latter more; but I could be wrong. Agree with everything TB said except for the oil consumption; that's going to vary all over the map dependent on engine condition. The white block will rev a bit easier, so maybe slightly more oil consumption due to that. The red blocks are tanks but boring (IMO), but if your primary concern is low cost of ownership and maintenance as well as reliability, then go with the red. That 960 you linked to actually looks pretty clean, except for the dented rear door. If you're lucky you find a replacement at a pic'n-pull JY. The wording of his ad concerns me a bit though. From my experience, if you feel compelled to say something is NOT awry, then maybe it is?? Very low mileage, all original wagon for sale. No check engine light. Engine and transmission are fine. Sunroof works. Just passed new emissions and fresh oil change. Does NOT run hot ,smoke or make any strange sounds. There is 1 good size dent on the rear driver side door . PLEASE SEE PIC Clean CARFAX. ...NOT SALVAGE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLintThePirate Posted March 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 1 hour ago, gdog said: Drive a red block car and then drive a white block. If they're of equal condition, my bet is you'll enjoy the latter more; but I could be wrong. Agree with everything TB said except for the oil consumption; that's going to vary all over the map dependent on engine condition. The white block will rev a bit easier, so maybe slightly more oil consumption due to that. The red blocks are tanks but boring (IMO), but if your primary concern is low cost of ownership and maintenance as well as reliability, then go with the red. That 960 you linked to actually looks pretty clean, except for the dented rear door. If you're lucky you find a replacement at a pic'n-pull JY. The wording of his ad concerns me a bit though. From my experience, if you feel compelled to say something is NOT awry, then maybe it is?? Very low mileage, all original wagon for sale. No check engine light. Engine and transmission are fine. Sunroof works. Just passed new emissions and fresh oil change. Does NOT run hot ,smoke or make any strange sounds. There is 1 good size dent on the rear driver side door . PLEASE SEE PIC Clean CARFAX. ...NOT SALVAGE You're spot on with what you said about the 960. I ran the vin said it was a single owner and the seller picked it up at an auction so who knows how it was taken care of. That's the biggest problem I'm running into. Lots of the Volvos on CR were picked up at an auction. I guess I just need to pick one, pull the trigger, and roll with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge_Brownie Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 17 hours ago, TryingBe said: 240, 740, 940 comes with the 4 cylinder "Redblock" (yes, block painted red) Redblock is a non-interference engine. Timing belt breaks? Put another one on. Water pump breaks? No problem, put another pump and belt on. 960, 850, S70, V70, S40, etc... (4, 5, 6 cylinders versions) comes with what you call a "Whiteblock" (non painted aluminum block) Whiteblock is a interference engine. Timing belt breaks? You just bent the vales. Waterpump sized? You bent valves again. While whileblock car is more refine and drive nicer, Redblock cars are built like tank and way more robust. RWD with a solid axles means there is no CV joints/boots to replace. Parts for a redblock engine/car are also much cheaper. My sister's 240 had 200k and engine does not use any oil between the 5000 miles oil changes. My 850 uses 1 qt every 2,000 miles. 940 is the last of the redblock cars, most refined, and also the newest. Best interior would be black clothe seats. While accurate, I don't know if I'd make purchasing decisions on this. Most cars today are interference motors. Timing belt failures and water pump seizure is pretty uncommon on a car that's had those items replaced according to the owner's manual's schedule. The tough part is buying a used car, it's an unknown. If a person was very proactive, you could replace all that right of the gate to baseline it for under $300 DIY. On 3/20/2017 at 10:24 PM, CLintThePirate said: Hello all! I'm Clint and I've been looking into buying my first Volvo. A friend of mine at work swears by them and my pa in law says I should stay away. So of course I want one . I've got $2,000 to spend and have been limiting my searches to under 180,000 miles and pre-2000 models. I live in Spartanburg SC and I'm searching all the way down to Atlanta. I found this 960 that seems to be a decent buy, but I don't want to buy a lemon. I need all the advice you have to offer! Side note. Volvo enthusiast friend bought an 2001 S60 T5 for $1,150 and the motor blew the next day. I definitely don't want this to happen to me! Clint Hi Clint. I'm not sure why your in laws say stay away. They aren't Honda or Toyota cheap to own, but they aren't bad either. I'd much rather ride in an older Volvo than comparable Japanese sedan. The seats are so much better and they just feel so much easier to cruise down the highway. They seem to resist body rot really well. Turbos are amazing. The power is great. They do come with a little extra maintenance concerns and pack the engine bay a little tighter. The turbos in these cars are reasonably reliable, but often the rubber lines and hoses need to be replace due to dry rot. That 960 comes with a straight 6 whiteblock which is very similar to the 850's 5 cylinder whiteblock, just a little longer. If you like wagons and like RWD, that 960 doesn't look too bad, but maybe priced a little higher than I'd want to pay. With a car of that age, low miles really doesn't sell strongly to me. The rubber seals on the sunroof are still old, the interior still sunbeaten and dried out, the trim and the paint still aged. Oh and with that door dent? I'd want to be around $1000-1500. FYI, the 97-98 S90 and V90 are basically the same as a 960. The catch is these cars don't get great gas mileage compared to the 850's, and they feel a little more boat-y. I'd prefer a car from 96+ so you get full OBD-II implementation. This makes diagnostic work easier because you can use a common inexpensive scanner or bluetooth dongle to connect with your phone. Error codes are very helpful in troubleshooting. All cars in the US had to have OBD-II by 1996, though some cars had it before. I believe some 1995 850's came with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLintThePirate Posted March 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 33 minutes ago, Fudge_Brownie said: While accurate, I don't know if I'd make purchasing decisions on this. Most cars today are interference motors. Timing belt failures and water pump seizure is pretty uncommon on a car that's had those items replaced according to the owner's manual's schedule. The tough part is buying a used car, it's an unknown. If a person was very proactive, you could replace all that right of the gate to baseline it for under $300 DIY. Hi Clint. I'm not sure why your in laws say stay away. They aren't Honda or Toyota cheap to own, but they aren't bad either. I'd much rather ride in an older Volvo than comparable Japanese sedan. The seats are so much better and they just feel so much easier to cruise down the highway. They seem to resist body rot really well. Turbos are amazing. The power is great. They do come with a little extra maintenance concerns and pack the engine bay a little tighter. The turbos in these cars are reasonably reliable, but often the rubber lines and hoses need to be replace due to dry rot. That 960 comes with a straight 6 whiteblock which is very similar to the 850's 5 cylinder whiteblock, just a little longer. If you like wagons and like RWD, that 960 doesn't look too bad, but maybe priced a little higher than I'd want to pay. With a car of that age, low miles really doesn't sell strongly to me. The rubber seals on the sunroof are still old, the interior still sunbeaten and dried out, the trim and the paint still aged. Oh and with that door dent? I'd want to be around $1000-1500. FYI, the 97-98 S90 and V90 are basically the same as a 960. The catch is these cars don't get great gas mileage compared to the 850's, and they feel a little more boat-y. I'd prefer a car from 96+ so you get full OBD-II implementation. This makes diagnostic work easier because you can use a common inexpensive scanner or bluetooth dongle to connect with your phone. Error codes are very helpful in troubleshooting. All cars in the US had to have OBD-II by 1996, though some cars had it before. I believe some 1995 850's came with it. Thanks for the advice. He dropped the price to $1750. I found out today it's on a car lot. I'm not the biggest fan of the car lot purchase. I suppose I could keep looking and hold out for a 98 S70/V70 or the 90 counterparts. There are a few 850s around but they seem to have a good amount of miles (over 150k). I found this 940 and he talked about taking $800 when I messaged him. The interior looks pretty good. https://hickory.craigslist.org/cto/6040035132.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge_Brownie Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 6 hours ago, CLintThePirate said: Thanks for the advice. He dropped the price to $1750. I found out today it's on a car lot. I'm not the biggest fan of the car lot purchase. I suppose I could keep looking and hold out for a 98 S70/V70 or the 90 counterparts. There are a few 850s around but they seem to have a good amount of miles (over 150k). I found this 940 and he talked about taking $800 when I messaged him. The interior looks pretty good. https://hickory.craigslist.org/cto/6040035132.html The possible benefit of higher mileage cars is that suspension and brakes have probably been replaced. Finding someone's lower mileage car, like say 85-100k, maybe a little more, will probably be needing brakes and suspension soon than later if it's all original. That 940 has a bit of a beater vibe to me. Like maybe it's been someone's project sitting around in the drive way for a little while. If you aren't in a hurry and aren't trying to keep the budget real low, I'd hold out for something a little nicer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TryingBe Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Go do some test drive. Those black clothe seats on that 940 are really what you want. All 850/s70/v70/940/960 leather seats will be nice and cracked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdog Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 14 minutes ago, TryingBe said: Go do some test drive. Those black clothe seats on that 940 are really what you want. All 850/s70/v70/940/960 leather seats will be nice and cracked Gotta agree with that! But didn't the N/A versions of 850/s70/v70/940/960 come with cloth seats? One of the things I miss from my 855 N/A is the fabric seats; much cooler in the summer. Oh and Clint; make sure you check to see if the odometer is working; common failure point for some MYs. Easy to fix usually. RE: your CL ad link; funny, I thought 940s were RWD?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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