12th Jul 2010, 18:23

I bought my 1999 V70 XC early this year; it had about 118,000 miles, is very pretty, never damaged, but the previous owner was letting service items go. I paid $4500 for it (U.S. paper money, in Texas). I've replaced the 4 shocks; expensive but the car rides great now.

My brother has a Volvo, has had several, and he does his own work. Someone posted earlier saying that these cars are easy to work on and to do your own work. That's good advice because, according to my brother, dealers make their money first on parts, then on labor, and last on selling cars.

The hardest thing to fix was my fault: The car would not start one day. My brother came over several times and we went through a list of many items, including replacing a little part that cost me $73. He looked and looked on the web, and asked questions; finally someone said something about the key. I hate carrying big keys, so I've always removed the big black part of the key and just kept the metal part. On this car's key I had a devil of a time removing most of the black part. I didn't realize I'd ruined the electronics in the key; that's why it was not starting.

My brother helped me change the brakes, the rear gate shocks, and all four front lenses (they had dings and cracks).

One day it started running rough; turned out to be one of the coils. A local mechanic in Duncanville changed it, and tuned it with new plugs for $327; I thought it was reasonable.

My check engine light has been going on and telling me I need a catalytic converter. The dealer wants about $1400 (maybe more, I don't remember as it's been a few months since I checked). I will order one off the web for less than $300 and my mechanic is going to install it for about $200.

I've had several Volvos. Volvos do take more maintenance than Toyotas (our 2001 Sienna has over 150K miles and takes very little more than normal maintenance) ; however, the Volvo was $4500 for a 99 with 118K miles, and the Sienna cost $12,000 with 80K miles. Do the math; if you buy parts and mechanics right, and the Volvo right, you get a fabulous car for the money. I love my Volvo wagon.

20th Jul 2010, 19:11

It makes me crack up when I read all of these post's. I own a 99 XC, and it is one of the biggest pieces of crap. That's all I have to say. The thing has made me go mad :(

27th Jul 2010, 13:55

I bought my 99 V70XC in spring of "07 with 128,000 miles on it. The previous 2 owners maintained this car and as I looked over their repair expenses, I realized that ABS had been replaced, along with a lot of other big items. This is probably why I haven't had to spend over $4,000 in repairs!

It is a very comfortable car to drive, and is known to be a very safe car in terms of its weight.

After reading about all of the issues other drivers have had, I decided to tally up my repair costs over 3 years and four months. I came up with a total of $3,400 spent in repairs. $315 for a bad coil, $186 for coolant bottle leak, $210 for sway bar linkage, $1,146 for new strut mounts (which were thunking like crazy every time I hit a small bump), a new radiator, and drive belt, $36 for switches and fuses, and the big whopper that came recently as I was brave and maybe stupid enough to drive this car "cross country"--$1,500 to replace the propeller shaft (complete drive train assembly), after the bearings were shot.

The car now has 172k and is now taking a while to start when it is warm or hot. It starts quick cold. I hope this doesn't turn into another thousand or so dollar repair (ie: fuel pump)!

All in all, despite the expense, I really like this car a lot because it is so comfortable to drive and looks great and hauls my kayaks and all my gear in back. But in the future, I will not be buying another Volvo. I hope to drive this one to 200k or beyond while I am still in grad school. Also, I change my own oil, and this saves in basic maintenance costs.

12th Aug 2010, 17:44

Good news from previous post. It is not the fuel pump! However it may be the ECM (engine control module), which is basically the engine's computer module. This will cost me a hefty $325, even though the mechanic will be putting in a used ECM.

Well the car is paid off. And it does have super high mileage after all, and any high mileage car will require more repairs However, Volvo, never again. Plus I've heard the newer ones can be real lemons. Too bad, I really like the body styles and safety factor.

A woman whose husband works at a Volvo dealership said that Hyundai is made from the same metal as the Volvo, and are also safe, but I guess they have a bad rap.

I think my next little wagon will be a Subaru.

16th Sep 2010, 01:56

V70 XC 2000. 80,000kms. Bought second hand. Checked over and give green bill of health.

First month, ABS module. Electrical engineer fixed for $145 cash. Perfect since.

Headlight fell out. $120.00.

Rear vision mirror broke off.

Replaced coil.

Replaced radiator.

New tyres. Front worn within 10,000kms.

Vibration between 95 -100kmph. Suggest to replace MAF sensor. Bought online, $208.00, didn't fix problem. Arrow light kept flashing. Reset codes seemed to fix the problem.

Yesterday transmission gone. Engine free revs. Burning smell. Towed to dealer for quote to repair or value as is. Can't afford to keep it.

Positives: Seats are comfortable. 7 seats bonus.

Reason we bought: Safety, and this car had built-in booster seats across the back. Thought they were reliable!!!

18th Sep 2010, 11:05

Yes I too have fallen for the let's buy a safe car. Well I have a 1999 XC V70 and have replaced:

Back tailgate latch.

Timing belt.

Some kind of coil (don't even know what that was for).

Numerous sensors.

Front lower R and L control arms.

Rack and pinion (and two front tires thanks to that).

Alternator.

Brakes.

ABS unit (used).

Struts.

And what I need now:

Possible a pump relay switch (I think not sure, car is very difficult to start on cold mornings).

Differential (yeah, I need a loan for this one).

Oh yeah, and the brake pedal goes all the way to the floor.

Will find out soon getting codes run on Monday. I missed the lottery for today; maybe I can win on Wednesday's drawing. Wish me luck everyone.

Love n Hate my Volvo,

Diana.