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Up until August of last year, I knew pretty much nothing about Volvos. My only experience with a Volvo had been growing up in a 1987 740 Turbo Sedan which was a great car and still going strong at 260k miles until it was involved in a hit and run accident when someone blew through a stop sign and clipped the front of the car. Since this was effectively my dad’s car he began looking for a replacement and because our experience with the 740 had overall been a positive one and he wanted a wagon, he started looking at V70Rs but never really got close to buying one and eventually settled on a nice Audi A3 which was probably for the best. That was back in 2016 and fast forward to summer 2021, I was looking for a new car to replace my 2003 Honda Civic Si because it was showing its age and I wanted something different. During my search, a 2006 V70R popped up for sale a couple hours away from me and about 6 hours later the car was sitting in my driveway and I was the proud new owner. Well the ownership of that car turned out to be much more turbulent than I was expecting (College Student Buys a V70R, Cracks the Block 4 Week Later: A Thread) but honestly, I really haven’t regretted it one bit. The car is an awesome daily and really checks all the boxes for me.
With that being said, my desire to have a car that I can modify with a more “performance-oriented” focus still exists. Initially, I thought I would do this with the V70R but after putting almost ~2800 miles on the new motor my thought process has completely changed. Seeing as it's my daily driver, I really just want to keep this car stock and enjoy it as is. I love the idea that I could jump in it right now and go on a 800-1000 mile road trip with zero concerns about its reliability which likely would not be the same if I start modifying it.
I think it’s safe to say that I’m borderline obsessed with Volvos now lol. I check the Socal marketplaces about 2-3 times a day just to see what’s out there and have been doing so for the past 6-8 months. During that time I can think of maybe 2-3 Volvos that have popped up that piqued my interest and that I’ve actually pursued. The first was a 2000 Venetian Red (I think) S70 T5. From the listing photos, the car looked pretty good but unfortunately when I went to go look at the car in person I knew as soon as I walked up to it that it was a POS. It looked like it had been repainted with a paint roller and none of the important maintenance items had been done so I passed on the car without even taking it for a test drive.
The second car was this 1996 854 Platinum. This car actually popped up for sale less than 10 minutes away from me and I thought what the hell, might as well go over and at it look but expected it to be a similar situation to the S70. Well, I got there and was actually presently surprised. The car was in pretty good shape given the age and mileage and overall, just seemed like it had good potential. It was a one-owner car up until August 2022, when the current seller acquired it, had a stack of service records going all the way back to 1996, and had been a California car most of its life. Cosmetically the biggest flaw was the clear coat had failed on the hood as it had supposedly been resprayed after a small accident. Nothing was reported on the Carfax and it still has a clean title. Aside from that, it seemed pretty good for a car that’s 26 years old and has 274k miles on it. There are a couple of small scratches but I didn’t see any dents or really even small dings for that matter which is kind of incredible.
Also, the seller was a die-hard Volvo guy and extremely knowledgeable. He said he had owned lots of P80s including Laser Blue and Saffron V70Rs and many others. He actually had an 855 Platinum parked in his driveway that he was in the process of doing a full build on. Really nice guy and after talking to him a bit I decided to buy the car for $3200 but he still needed to get it smogged. And this is where things get a little hectic.
The car had 274,000 miles on it and unfortunately, after he tried replacing the PCV and vacuum lines the car wouldn’t pass due to high hydrocarbons because it was burning oil. It still had good compression, but the valve stem seals were likely toast and the turbo probably needed a rebuild. So, after we both realized that the car was going to need more work than either of us had suspected he gave me two options. The first was I could take the car as it sits and fix it myself for $2,000 or he would go ahead and do all the work himself but he wanted $3500 for the car. Now ordinarily buying the car for $2000 and fixing it myself would be by far and away the best option as I’m more than capable of doing the work and I would be able to save a few hundred in the process. But I wasn’t really comfortable with the risk associated with doing all that work only to have the car still possibly fail smog when I’m done and then I’m screwed.
So I elected to have him do the work and we agreed that I wouldn’t owe him anything if the car still didn’t pass after he was done. This work included:
And after about a month and a half, I picked the car up yesterday with a passed smog certificate and excellent numbers for the HC values!
![Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Window]()
Initial impressions after driving it about 5 miles back to my house: The car feels really good. Engine runs really smooth, transmission shifts nice, and the suspension even feels surprisingly good even though I’m not sure when (or if ever) shocks/bushings were replaced. AC blows cold. Overall, the car just feels really solid given its mileage and age.
So, what are the plans for this beauty? Well, it still needs a lot of stage zero stuff. I think engine wise it’s pretty much there, but the suspension needs a complete overhaul. So that’s going to be next. Going to be doing all new bushings, shocks, tie rods, etc… Next will be brakes. I plan on upgrading to 302s but unfortunately, they won’t clear the Perseus wheels so those will have to change. Luckily the stars aligned and the Volvo Gods blessed me this week and I already have a solution for that starts with C and ends with omets. I’ll be happy to get rid of the Perseus wheels cause I’m not really a fan of them. Then when that’s all done and anything else that needs attention has been taken care of… manual swap time. I haven’t looked into this a whole lot yet, but it seems pretty straightforward and will obviously transform the driving experience with the car. It’s also a large step closer to making this a “performance-oriented” car which is my end goal. I have quite a few questions about each of these planned upgrades and will definitely need input from the P80 owners. Now, time for pictures!
![Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Land vehicle]()
Regarding the hood, I think I may have a lead on another 854 Platinum that’s about the hit my local LKQ that has a hood that is in good condition that I’m hoping to snag. Don’t really like the idea of having it repainted so going to hold off on that for now.
![Wheel Tire Automotive parking light Vehicle Car]()
![Wheel Car Tire Vehicle Hood]()
![Automotive parking light Tire Automotive side marker light Car Vehicle registration plate]()
![Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Speedometer Gear shift]()
I didn't even realize the car had clicked over to 275k yet till I got home after getting gas.
![Speedometer Gauge Odometer Measuring instrument Trip computer]()
![Automotive parking light Vehicle registration plate Plant Sky Tire]()
So let me know what you all think! Am I an idiot for spending $3500 on a Volvo with almost 300K miles? Probably but regardless I’m really looking forward to everything I have planned for this car and most of all just enjoying driving it.
With that being said, my desire to have a car that I can modify with a more “performance-oriented” focus still exists. Initially, I thought I would do this with the V70R but after putting almost ~2800 miles on the new motor my thought process has completely changed. Seeing as it's my daily driver, I really just want to keep this car stock and enjoy it as is. I love the idea that I could jump in it right now and go on a 800-1000 mile road trip with zero concerns about its reliability which likely would not be the same if I start modifying it.
I think it’s safe to say that I’m borderline obsessed with Volvos now lol. I check the Socal marketplaces about 2-3 times a day just to see what’s out there and have been doing so for the past 6-8 months. During that time I can think of maybe 2-3 Volvos that have popped up that piqued my interest and that I’ve actually pursued. The first was a 2000 Venetian Red (I think) S70 T5. From the listing photos, the car looked pretty good but unfortunately when I went to go look at the car in person I knew as soon as I walked up to it that it was a POS. It looked like it had been repainted with a paint roller and none of the important maintenance items had been done so I passed on the car without even taking it for a test drive.
The second car was this 1996 854 Platinum. This car actually popped up for sale less than 10 minutes away from me and I thought what the hell, might as well go over and at it look but expected it to be a similar situation to the S70. Well, I got there and was actually presently surprised. The car was in pretty good shape given the age and mileage and overall, just seemed like it had good potential. It was a one-owner car up until August 2022, when the current seller acquired it, had a stack of service records going all the way back to 1996, and had been a California car most of its life. Cosmetically the biggest flaw was the clear coat had failed on the hood as it had supposedly been resprayed after a small accident. Nothing was reported on the Carfax and it still has a clean title. Aside from that, it seemed pretty good for a car that’s 26 years old and has 274k miles on it. There are a couple of small scratches but I didn’t see any dents or really even small dings for that matter which is kind of incredible.
Also, the seller was a die-hard Volvo guy and extremely knowledgeable. He said he had owned lots of P80s including Laser Blue and Saffron V70Rs and many others. He actually had an 855 Platinum parked in his driveway that he was in the process of doing a full build on. Really nice guy and after talking to him a bit I decided to buy the car for $3200 but he still needed to get it smogged. And this is where things get a little hectic.
The car had 274,000 miles on it and unfortunately, after he tried replacing the PCV and vacuum lines the car wouldn’t pass due to high hydrocarbons because it was burning oil. It still had good compression, but the valve stem seals were likely toast and the turbo probably needed a rebuild. So, after we both realized that the car was going to need more work than either of us had suspected he gave me two options. The first was I could take the car as it sits and fix it myself for $2,000 or he would go ahead and do all the work himself but he wanted $3500 for the car. Now ordinarily buying the car for $2000 and fixing it myself would be by far and away the best option as I’m more than capable of doing the work and I would be able to save a few hundred in the process. But I wasn’t really comfortable with the risk associated with doing all that work only to have the car still possibly fail smog when I’m done and then I’m screwed.
So I elected to have him do the work and we agreed that I wouldn’t owe him anything if the car still didn’t pass after he was done. This work included:
- A complete rebuild on the head: Resurfaced, valves lapped, new valve stem seals installed.
- All new seals: Cam seals (which were leaking), HG, Exhaust manifold gasket, intake manifold gasket, etc…
- New PCV System
- Timing Belt and Tensioners
- New OEM Oil Cooler lines (old ones were leaking)
- Turbo rebuild and balance.
And after about a month and a half, I picked the car up yesterday with a passed smog certificate and excellent numbers for the HC values!
Initial impressions after driving it about 5 miles back to my house: The car feels really good. Engine runs really smooth, transmission shifts nice, and the suspension even feels surprisingly good even though I’m not sure when (or if ever) shocks/bushings were replaced. AC blows cold. Overall, the car just feels really solid given its mileage and age.
So, what are the plans for this beauty? Well, it still needs a lot of stage zero stuff. I think engine wise it’s pretty much there, but the suspension needs a complete overhaul. So that’s going to be next. Going to be doing all new bushings, shocks, tie rods, etc… Next will be brakes. I plan on upgrading to 302s but unfortunately, they won’t clear the Perseus wheels so those will have to change. Luckily the stars aligned and the Volvo Gods blessed me this week and I already have a solution for that starts with C and ends with omets. I’ll be happy to get rid of the Perseus wheels cause I’m not really a fan of them. Then when that’s all done and anything else that needs attention has been taken care of… manual swap time. I haven’t looked into this a whole lot yet, but it seems pretty straightforward and will obviously transform the driving experience with the car. It’s also a large step closer to making this a “performance-oriented” car which is my end goal. I have quite a few questions about each of these planned upgrades and will definitely need input from the P80 owners. Now, time for pictures!
Regarding the hood, I think I may have a lead on another 854 Platinum that’s about the hit my local LKQ that has a hood that is in good condition that I’m hoping to snag. Don’t really like the idea of having it repainted so going to hold off on that for now.
I didn't even realize the car had clicked over to 275k yet till I got home after getting gas.
So let me know what you all think! Am I an idiot for spending $3500 on a Volvo with almost 300K miles? Probably but regardless I’m really looking forward to everything I have planned for this car and most of all just enjoying driving it.
