Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

Don't think just buyhttp://********************/smile/emsmile.gif

Try to get a 2000 model if you can.
A lot more potential with this car. (dual exhaust too)

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

quote:

Hi

I currently drive a 2000 Jetta GLS VR6 but am tired of the problems I am having with it.

At the same time, I need to change my car for a station wagon. I was looking at a used 1998 V70R manual and wanted everyone's advice. Is 1998 a good year for reliability on the V70 ???

What should I expect to see as potential problems ??

Any weak parts I should know of ???

Thanks

François

ps: I will drive-test one this week, and that will give me a pretty good idea if I like it or not, but my main focus is RELIABILITY.

Why do we need to convince you? If you cannot be impressed enough by a car like the V70R then you do not need to buy such a car, especially a rare car like a V70R manual.

Model Years 1998 and 1999 were not the best for Volvo, unfortunately but somehow I have never heard of "R" owners having had the problems that somehow plagued quite a few of 1998 and 1999 owners of S/V70s. I, also, used to own a 1998 V70R and had it for about 25,000 miles...otehr than two bruned lightbulbs I never had any other problem. The car was wonderful and I only sold it because it was not a manual (in the US we only had automatic V70Rs)...So, I gave up AWD for manual!

Look around and if you manage to find such a rare car, ask for its complete service history and have it checked out by a certified Technician (unless you are buying it from a Volvo Retailer) and also have it checked for any body/frame damage.

Best of luck!

Yannis

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (GrecianVolvo)

Well,

I ned to be convinced because all I read in the forums is people having all kinds of problems with their cars.

I am looking for a reliable car and would like to know if people have had a favorable experience with those cars.

Thanks

François

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

You will have more room than your Jetta. It will be more comfortable than your Jetta on long drives. It will have AWD for foul weather. You can upgrade the ECU for additional power if you so choose.

You need to be aware of your tires with this particular AWD system. Keep the pressure and tread depths equal at all four corners. There was a recall for the front turn signals and rear lift gate on some V70s. if you find a VIN number run a Carfax report (www.carfax.com) and see if you can track its history...or if you can go through your local Volvo dealer--I'm not sure what your options are for tracing a car's history in Canada.

I have only 2500 miles on my 'new to me' 2000 V70 R (26k miles on it). So far so good. Subaru, Acura, Honda cars have good reliability and may be another brand worth exploring. Sorry to hear you are having issues with your '00 Jetta VR6. I knew about the window regulators but I don't know if there are other persistant problems with the MKIV VWs.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

If you don't need AWD or a wagon, you may also want to consider the C70. The C70 has taken a larger depreciation hit. It's actually cheaper to buy a '97 C70 than a '97 850 Turbo wagon...at least wholesale.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (George@Swedespeed)

Thanks to you both.

I truly need a wagon and am not particularly interested in 4wd.

I agree that service records are key because with high mileages of the used Volvos, I hear many people are lowering the mileage on their odometers.

But really my question should have been: Is this a reliable car ? Compared to a Honda? Subaru? I mean for equally well maintained cars, is Volvo more a problem car than japanese brands? The reason why I ask is that I could live with the reliability problems of VW because of the great engine&drive, but until now. I cannot stand not having a reliable car anymore.

I do understand that a car needs maintenance and it can fail. What I'm talking about is cars with 20,000 miles with parts failures here and there, and that's unacceptable.

I really value your comments, because I don't know a lot about Volvos, and if I'm not convinced they're reliable, I will have to go with a *gulp!* japanese car. And I don't want that. Tell me they're not problem cars !!!! http://********************/smile/emsmile.gif

Thanks very much

François

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

quote:

Thanks to you both.

I truly need a wagon and am not particularly interested in 4wd.

Thanks very much

François

François,

First, welcome to Swedespeed!

Second, if you are not interested in AWD, why not look at the V70 T5 as well? The V70R is an awesome & exclusive machine no doubt, but with the V70 T5 you won't have to worry about an AWD system and any problems/issues related to it, since reliability seems to be a major concern for you.

Third, if you do an ECU upgrade on a T5, IMHO, you should be more than satisfied with the performance that will be on par with or maybe even better than a stock V70R.

Fourth, buying a T5 will be less expensive than a 'R' and finding a manual transmission should be easier, theoretically.

Fifth, buy a good set of snows for the winter and the FWD T5 should do just fine.

Lastly, if you can find a T5 SE (fully loaded T5 models with Alcantara seat inserts & wood trim steering wheel), it would be even nicer!

But anyway, you can't go too wrong with either car (T5 SE or V70R) IMHO.

-Drew

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

From what I can tell from other Volvo owner's it is a sliding scale of reliability in general. If you service the car at regular intervals and don't let little things deteriorate often you will get more miles out of the car than perhaps any other brand of car on the road, many sales people are running over half a million kilometers on their trusty 850s and 740s and higher. The highest milage car is a Volvo P1800 with over 2 million miles on it (there is an artical on it somewhere on this site http://********************/smile/emwink.gif ). On the other hand if you neglect your Volvo in my opinion a neglected Accord will last twice as long. Bottom line, if you take care of the car it will take car of you as much as you could possibly expect and more, plus you will be driving in one of the worlds safest automobiles on road with a nice turbo charged europeon 5 cylinder engine and perhaps the best, most confortable seats in the car industry for any kind of lengthy drive. I personaly love the style of the older 850/S70 generation of car as I get many compliment from non-volvo people with mine. Best car I've ever owned (well, its my first car http://********************/smile/emwink.gif ). BTW, being your from Montreal I can expect you've seen your fair share of rotting Hondas and Toyotas in the fender areas from cars as new as 1995+. Look around at any Volvo from this age and up and look at the body conditions in comparison, Volvos seem to have a very high tolerance for salt in comparison, perhaps because they are winter bread cars in Sweden!! These cars handle the snow like a champ and in my FWD 850 on ice for making corners I'll nudge the hand brake a little to kick the back-end out and stop the front from pushing (ok, when I'm driving to fast for the conditions), the car responds nicely and predictably, 9 out of 10 times I'm doing it for fun rather than needing too but, thats just a little volvo fun in the time of year everyone else hates driving! http://********************/smile/embeer.gif

Well, good luck on your car shopping, if you go with the Vo, you should be all smiles for a very long time!

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

We have a '99 S70 GLT, we bought it new. The only problem that we have is with the driver's front speaker, it fades in and out sometimes. Other than that the car has been wonderful for the past 3 years and 35k miles.

The V70 T5 would be a very nice choice if you can find one.

FWIW, when we purchased our former Subaru Forester, I asked a friend who is a tech at a Subaru/VW dealer and he said the Subarus are pretty bullet proof and would be more reliable than the current line of VWs.

An Audi A4 avant would be another wagon to consider. You could swing by Audiworld.com and ask about long term reliablity.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

Salut François !

Are you sure we can find *manual* v70R here in Quebec ? I am always looking for one but they seem to be very hard-to-find !

Also, Let me say that DREW's arguments(especially 3rd!) are very convincing. http://********************/smile/emsmile.gif I was just wondering if the T5 and the R share the same suspension ?

Thanks !

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (desmat)

I would guess no for two reasons. First, the 850R suspension was more aggressive than the 850 T5 sport suspension.

Second, the V70R is AWD whereas the V70 T5 is FWD.

Good luck with your search. There's a red R (automatic) for sale on Ebay right now.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (desmat)

Desmat,

I was confused by an ad on http://www.hebdo.net by Volvo Pointe-Claire.

They called it Volvo V70 MSR, dunno what the hell it means.

Thanks

Frank

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

quote:

Desmat,

They called it Volvo V70 MSR, dunno what the hell it means.

Thanks

Frank

Frank,

MSR=Manual Sun-Roof, ASR=Automatic Sun-Roof

I think this is right...

-Drew

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (Drew@Swedespeed)

ahahah Now I feel like a total, absolute newbie.

Should have noticed it didn't have the bad-ass wheels....

Who the hell calls a car model depeding on sunroof or not anyways? http://********************/smile/emwink.gif

Frank

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (George@Swedespeed)

quote:

I would guess no for two reasons. First, the 850R suspension was more aggressive than the 850 T5 sport suspension.

Second, the V70R is AWD whereas the V70 T5 is FWD.

You are correct, George...The 850s had (in the rear) the Delta-link semi-independent suspension whereas the V70Rs had an independent suspension set-up.

Yannis

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

quote:

ahahah Now I feel like a total, absolute newbie.

Frank

Hehehe!

Yannis

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (petew)

petew,

What did you do with your IPD exhaust? I just took mine apart this past weekend and replaced it with the 2000 V70R dual outlet exhaust. Sounds really good and no drone and no rattles.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

I have a Jetta GLX Vr6 that I passed on to the wife in favor of my T5...man, it's night and day. Don't get me wrong, I love to drive the VR6, but the ride and power are totally different feeling.

The jetta gave me a sore back after long drives, the Volvo, not a worry in the world, the best ergonomics and instrument layout I have owned. Can't wait to see how she does compared to the Jetta in the snow.

Just do it man, do it now.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

Francois,
As the owner of a V70 R, I would try to convince you to run-run very fast away from these poorly engineered/sourced pieces of Swedish junk.

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (benzman)

quote:

Francois,
As the owner of a V70 R, I would try to convince you to run-run very fast away from these poorly engineered/sourced pieces of Swedish junk.

OOHHH Boohooo

I guess I should yawn with your blase comment....but take your krautburner and go away!

Yannis

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (GrecianVolvo)

Hello,

I thank you all very much for your comments. I have purchased a wagon, however it is not a Volvo and certainly not as powerful. Subaru Legacy Wagon L SE. This may disappoint a few but rationnality took over emotions in my choice (and T5R were nowhere to be found)

Thanks!

Frank

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

Good luck Frank. The Legacy is a good little car, you should have troublefree driving. I found the same 2.5 motor w/ automatic trans a little under powered in our Forester..mainly passing power, but around town it was a fun little Subaru. http://********************/smile/emthup.gif

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

quote:

Hello,

I thank you all very much for your comments. I have purchased a wagon, however it is not a Volvo and certainly not as powerful. Subaru Legacy Wagon L SE. This may disappoint a few but rationnality took over emotions in my choice (and T5R were nowhere to be found)

Thanks!

Frank

That's alright, man. We and the Volvos will still be around when you ge tired of the Subie! BTW, who was your Volvo salesperson? I want to chastise them, obviously (s)he did not do a good enough job to convince you that you would be making a mistake by not buying the Volvo! Tsk, tsk, tsk... j/k http://********************/smile/emsmilep.gif

Best of luck and stick around!

Yannis

 

Re: Can someone convince me to buy a 1998 V70R Volvo ? (JettaVR6)

We love our's. We had a small problem with the air duct flapper valve motor. A pretty costly repair, $600.00, but that has been the extent of our problems. An ipd plug & play chip, K&N filter charger and the TME dual exhaust put us over 300 HP. It scoots.........
Griff http://********************/smile/emthup.gif