Volvo S70 - "Info me up" as thesuits would say!

[PiperCub]

OK, seen a Ovlov S70 saloon (not estate unfortunately) being sold by a neighbour of my folks. It's an auto, T-reg, 90K, MoT'd to October, tidy enough, up for £550 but could deffo hussle this down.

 

I know nothing much about these cars and never had a Volvo so are they any good? ie: does this potentially sound like it may be worth a punt as a replacement hack? Never wanted one as such (could say the same for the 214!) but as a cheapo hack for now it may do. 

 

Info/advice (good/bad/run away)/comments/experiences please chaps. 

[warninglight]

I've had 1 S70 and various C70 and V70s of the same age with all the engine and gearbox combinations, so I hope I can help!

 

Most importantly, do you know which engine it is?

 

The diesel is a crude but simple old lump from VW/Audi. I have a 1997 V70 with that at the moment, with 240,000 miles and counting. It's fantastic and not too slow with 140bhp.

 

The basic petrol is also 140bhp but feels slower than the diesel. The 20 valve petrol is 170 bhp which is a bit more like it.

 

Then you get into the turbo engines, 190bhp is the low pressure, and the high pressure (T5) is 225-240bhp with the auto.

 

The diesel will be a pretty frugal thing for its size, 45mpg is the usual average but I've worked out an actual 60mpg on a gentle 600 mile motorway trip in mine (manual).

 

The petrols will all be roughly as thirsty as each other, high 20s average and low 30s on a run should be achievable. The hardest thing about achieving that in a T5 is avoiding the temptation to embarrass Audis on the motorway.

 

Being a T reg I think that'll be the 5 speed auto, the older ones were 4, but the 5 is a bit nicer I find.

 

They're very very well built things. Petrol ones have a common issue with clogged up crankcase vent valves (PCV) - take it for a short drive, and when you get back, with the car idling, pull the dipstick and look for an oily smoke being pushed out the dipstick. I've changed them on a few of mine and it's about £100 for all the parts from Volvo, and 3 hours or so to change on the driveway.

 

Rear suspension bushes can be a pain to do on these, so far I've avoided having to do these, but if there are any nasty clunks from the back end these may want looking at.

 

Headlight reflectors tarnish like mad, but it's mainly mileage related as the lights are always on. My 230,000 mile originals were like candles so I replaced them with pattern ones - around £70 each. Yours should be a lot better!

 

Put it this way - I have a 2012 XC70 as a daily, but I'm keeping my old V70 that's 3 times its age and well over twice the mileage, in the shed, ready to drag out as a trusty spare. They're very very good old things.

[PiperCub]

Thanks for that. No, I don't know what the engine is but suspect it's the base model 2.0 litre petrol, it's quite a basic car spec-wise (which is fine), certainly not a T5 as it's OAP-owned! Not expecting economy but my mileage is low so this isn't an issue as such. 

 

I haven't looked at it properly as I was busy while at the folks place last week. May be back there in a week or two so will check it out more and maybe get dad to question the chap a bit on my behalf.

[rantingYoof]

They did come with a 2.0 10v lump I think in absolute base form. 120hp?

 

If you can achieve base Volvo then GETTITBOUGHT!

[warninglight]

Ah, I didn't realise the 2.0 was available in the UK, you don't see many about.

 

The T5 was a 2.0 turbo in some markets for tax reasons, Italy being the main one and perhaps ROI?

 

A N/A 2.0 must be quite something in one of these...

[rantingYoof]

Since I am good at making stuff up I checked, and Volvo appeared to be of the view that the CUSTOMER DESERVED OPSHUNS!

 

 

2.0 10v in standard trim would be quite special.

 

However, the 2.5 20v would be my choice for best combination of noise, poke and economy.

[warninglight]

I wasn't doubting You! I can see why there aren't many about. Same tax band and no more mpg, might as well spend the extra and get a turbo.

[Tetleysmooth]

Guess what.

Tetleysmooth has a V70 2.5 turbo auto petrol for sale.

MOT 'til Jan '19 and 450 of your English pounds.

 

Not perfect, but very good, and never failed to proceed.

[carlo]

Wasn't the S70 a very short lived saloon which was replaced by the newer S60?

[warninglight]

Not that short lived - it appeared around the same time as the first V70, as both were just facelifts on the 850, and died out in 2000 along with the V70 I.

 

They just didn't sell many here. You would have had to have been a die hard saloon fan to have ordered one over a wagon, I reckon.

 

This was my S70, bought in 2011 and used for most of a year running all round Ireland in it, before crashing it and selling it.

 

Now I have the estate pictured below, both diesel manuals.

 

 

 

 

[PiperCub]

The one in question is silver too and has that spoiler on the boot. But not as shiny. 

[bub2006]

Step sister had a few Volvo V70s. A w plate 2.5td auto which was a great motor. Not bad on fuel either,a 51 plate 2.4 auto which was written off by someone pulling out on it on way to skeg. By far the worst though was the s reg 2.0 10v auto. Even my dad said it was useless. Needed foot down on any hill and drank worse than George best. Odd trim levels though I've noticed. The s plate had leather,front electric windows and ac. The w plate had full electric windows but velour seats,trip computer and sunroof. It was a good few years back now and memory fuzzy but thought it odd the lower spec having leather. Anyway,I'd stay away from the 2.0 10v,even my dad couldn't bettet low 20s mpg and had no go to show for the thirst

[forddeliveryboy]

My advice would be consider the Tetley car, if you think a saloon is unfortunate. And even if you don't. 300,000 miles should be easily within easy reach of a properly serviced car, they're very well put together out of quality materials.

[Partridge]

I've had a V70 ph.1 for around a year now (basically the same thing) and liked it, but I don't think they'll be for everyone. They handle much better than "proper" Volvos, but the ride is a bit rubbish as a result. Nice comfy seats make up for it though.

They're not what you'd expect to drive. The steering is very light, and you often feel more like you're correcting course on a boat than driving a car. Also, they're quite jiggly and skittish for what they are. But if you just want to cruise on the M1, they're gr9. They certainly make better sense as a motorway car.

 

You'll find it will get through front tyres fairly quickly, unless you drive a Nunn all the time (I don't). Serving costs are average. I paid about £400 for a major service on mine.

 

V70s are great as a estate cars (as you'd expect). The seats fold down with very little effort in seconds, which is great if they're always going up and down to carry crap around like they do with me.

 

The 2.5 and later 2.4 engines are all very smooth and pleasant - and all Volvo petrols form the era make a very characterful "Nhhooooooooooommmmh" sound from the exhaust, which for some weird reason I like.

 

If you want mine, you can have it for £150, so you can at least get a taste of them. It's a bit knackered as I don't think previous owners really looked after it