2003 Volvo v70 P2 Wagon Review

volvo

There are two cars that I've always wanted to own. A Porsche 911 and a Volvo wagon. I've
had several opportunites to get a Volvo wagon, but always wound up getting a BMW wagon
instead.

My wife does not like wagons and I never thought I'd own another one after I got married. But I
have the BEST wife in the world. We adopted three kids and the lease on my 2011 BMW 3
series was going to be ending soon. So I needed a family car. I had just sold my 1997
Mercedes s320 to pay for my 911 and the new car needed to be cheap (my budget was
$3,000). I do not like sport utilitiy vehicles or minivans (though we just got a new
Honda Odyssey). So I started looking on Craig's List. I was open to anything, but I
focused on BMW and Mercedes (Mercedes mostly). I checked out a few BMW 5 series wagons,
including a beautiful blue one that was overpriced. and I actually bought a 2000 Mercedes
e-class wagon that died on me 3 miles from where I bought it (boy was I glad I got my
money back on that deal). I paid $2,000 for the car and the transmission died on it. I
had looked at a few Volvos too. The first one was a 2001 cross country with about 120,000
miles on it for $2,000 (It was the first modern Volvo wagon I had driven and I REALLY
liked it, if it had 7 passenger seating I would have bought it on the spot). It was in
rough shape but i liked it. I ran the VIN and it turned out to be a flood, so i passed on
it. The next Volvo was a 2000 v70 with 130,000 miles for $2,000. I had the local Volvo
shop look it over and they said it needed a new a/c compressor so I offered $1,500. The
seller owned a 911 and was a PCA member, so I thought for sure, since I also owned a 911
and was in the PCA he'd accept my offer but he did not.

Then I spotted a 2003 v70 on Craig's List around the corner from my house (at least
that's where the seller worked). It looked black in the pictures and my wife said
absolutly no black wagons(!). But I decided to take a look anyway. It only had 63,500
miles on it. The seller was asking $2,500. I took a look at it and it was far from
perfect. It had bald tires, a large dent on the driver side (it was obviously in an
accident), and needed new rear brakes NOW. It was metallic blue with a light tan
interior. The seller immedialtly lowered her price to $2,000 when I arrived. She also
said I was the second person to look at it. I was suprised that the first person did not
buy the car. I took it for a test drive and it had quite a few problems. The rear brakes
were so bad the whole car would vibrate when you applied them. But being a 2003 model
year car it had a lot of features that I wanted like child seat teathers (something the
Mercedes w140 does not have). Plus it had half the milage of all of the other cars I
looked at. So I bought it.

It has much more room then I expected. I was expecting BMW 3 series room, but I think it
has more room then the e39 wagon I owned. I had to do three major things to it: rear
brakes (done), tires (done), and front struts (done). I had the local volvo shop flush
the coolant, replace the timing belt, and replace the transmission fluid (at $1,100,
timing belts are expensive).

When I got the car the driver side rear window did not work and was stuck in an open
position (being held up with duct tape). Rain was in the forcast and this needed to get
fixed ASAP. The door panel was already removed so I looked around at how the window lift
mechanism worked. Rube Goldberg would be proud. Due to the small openings and strange way
the window worked, I decided to juryrig the window in the closed position. I drilled a
hole in the inner door skin and window lift mechanism and put a bolt through it. Now the
window is up! I disconnected the window motor and switch. Problem solved, no water in the
car.

While driving through the rain one day, my son tells me that the window is leaking. After
we get home I check his door (rear driver side) and the outer door seal is missing! I
also notice water in the hatch area. I do not know why I didn't see this sooner. I bought
a new outer door seal from the dealer ($100) and put some silcone sealer over the rear
window. No more leaks! (I hope).

The second thing I needed to do was to get it to pass state inspection. The driver side
turn signal was not working. I noticed this when I test drove the car. The car was
displaying the message "bulb out" and the driver side marker light was missing, so I just
thought I needed to replace the side marker light. I replaced the side marker light and
this did not solve the problem. The Volvo shop said it was the Central Electronics Module
(CEM). I did not believe them. So I started to investigate to see if there was a short
somewhere. During my investigation I found three missing bulbs and three bulbs that were
burnt out. I replaced all of these bulbs. After about four weeks of investigation, I did
determine that it was indeed the CEM that was at fault. I wound up hooking up a generic
flasher and using the existing wiring to drive the lights. I also installed a switch on
the turn signal stalk to actuate the lights.

When I went to the inspection station, the car failed because the parking brake was not
working so I had the local Volvo shop fix it ($100).

When a car is in an accident, this can cause a lot of little things to go wrong. I will
try to remember each one that I had to fix. There were several small trim pieces missing,
headliner pins, a trim piece holding the front defroster vent down, and the small trim
piece around the front passenger door lock. The front and rear driver side door panels
had seperated and needed to be fixed. Since the rear one was already off of the door, I
decided to fix that one first. I bought some epoxy and used the experience gained from
the Z3 to fix the v70's door panel. I hate removing door panels, I really do. I can never
get them to go back on perfectly. But the Volvo's were super easy to deal with. I took
the driver's door panel off, epoxyed it, and had it back on within a day!

The passenger side door handle was not working so I removed that door panel and saw that
the small plastic box that holds the cable that actuates the lock mechanism was broken. I
used some double side tape to hold the cable in the box. The passenger side seat belt was
also all wonky. There was a seat belt in the back and I had thought that it was the OLD
seat belt. But no, it was a new seat belt waiting to be installed. So i removed the
plastic trim, borrowed a large Torx socket from a friend and replaced the seat belt. Good
as new.

Also, for some strange reason one of the child seat anchors was missing. So i bought a
new one and installed it ($55). The center console was also loose as it was only attached
with one screw. So I attached the second screw. I also picked up a nice dashboard mounted
cup holder on ebay and installed it. I also had to re-attach all of the B-pillar trim on
the driver and passenger side. And replace some plastic trim on the driver side in the
rear hatch area. And I bought new floor mats and a rear cargo mat and net.

The car has the following options:

2003 volvo v70 2.4 $27,870

   destination: $685

   climate package $495

      headlamp wipers/washers

      heated front seats

      rainsensor

   premium package $2,995

      dual-zone electronic climate control

      leather seating surfaces

      power driver seat with memory

      moonroof

      simulated wood inlays

      trip computer

   5-speed automatic transmission $1,000

   16" mimas alloy wheels $500

   nautic blue metallic paint $450

   taupe interior

total options: $5,440

Total: $33,995

94% reduction in price in 10 years

To this I've added the following:

   versatility package: $1,300

      Integrated child booster cushions rear seats ($300)

      third row seats

      cargo area 12v outlet

      (foldable table)

   sport driver seat

   waste bag holder rear seats

   homelink garage door opener

   in-dash cup holder

Most of these parts I got from the junk yard.

I got the seats from a 2001 V70 T5. They are the sports specification seats. They are made out of a much softer leather (and better wearing) then the seats the car came with. They are awesome seats. I was very happy to find the third row seat. Now I have a seven passenger vehicle (though two of those passengers needs to be kids). And I also got the integrated child booster seats which makes things easier.

It's the non-turbo model which I like. The non-turbo model is easier to work on, has
fewer parts, and is less stressed. It also gets good gas milage (22/30). Better then my
2011 BMW 328. Though the BMW has 60 more horsepower.

It drives like a Honda. It really doesn't have much power, so that's something I'll have
to get used to. But overall it's a nice car and I think a good value.

The MSRP on this car was about $34,000. I paid $2,000 which works out to be a 94%
reduction in price in 10 years. So it held 6% of it's value after 10 years.

The car was built in Ghent Belgium 

engine B5244S

   2.4 liter 5 cylinder

   168hp @ 6,000rpm

   166ft/lbs @ 4,500rpm

   22/30 (5 speed auto)