[aust_himself]

Hey guys,

Im new here ive had a 2004 XC90 2.5 t FWD for about 2 years now and love it. My Daily Driver is a 2004 GTO, and well now that my wife has driven it she wants a smaller faster car. I really like the volvo cars this XC90 has been very reliable up until lately 165,xxx and im looking to do a slight upgrade.

Ive tried searching and found alot of help before i signed up but i still have a few specific questions regarding the purchase of this vehicle before i go check one out. There are plenty of things about my GTO that i wish i wouldve known before purchase.

What should i look out for when buying a s60r. The specific one im looking at soon is a 2006 auto with 110,000.

Ill ask him about the valve body and angle gears as well as if the transmission has been rebuilt. But what else should i look at?

 

[Jexx]

Timing belt absolutely must have been done by that point, see how the front end suspension is for that mileage. Other than that it sounds like you've done your research.

 

[TEPPERS AUTO SALES]

Timing belt absolutely must have been done by that point, see how the front end suspension is for that mileage. Other than that it sounds like you've done your research.

That is absolutely INCORRECT, the TB change mileage for 06s is 120K, (although it should be done by 105K).
Most transmissions will not have been "rebuilt" as most are just fine.
You're either getting wrong info or are processing what you have read incorrectly!
You do want to ask about the transmission VALVEBODY but again it may be just fine, rather ask about transmission FLUID CHANGES and service records on the entire car (if it has any).

I suppose you can ask him about the angle gear but what's he going to say? Probably nothing.
I find ROAD testing to be the best way. If the AWD is not functioning you will know it, just brake torque and do a standing start. If the AWD is fine all the car will do is leap forward. If it's broken the R will get some serious torque steer, almost yank the wheel out of your hand and the R be a real handful to keep going straight!

Being from Tx with smooth roads, the suspension may be OK.

I also bought a 2004 GTO (a few years ago) with no research. Little did I know the entire suspension needed some serious upgrading at 11K (not a misprint) miles! TOTALLY SHOT.


To the poster this is your first so you get a pass from me but please read this:
http://unenlightenedenglish.com/2009/04/alot-vs-a-lot-vs-allot

Too many new young R owners posting way too much incorrect information

 

[wheatie64]

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...Should-I-Look-For-When-Buyin-An-R-quot-Thread

 

[cuseR]

I also bought a 2004 GTO (a few years ago) with no research. Little did I know the entire suspension needed some serious upgrading at 11K (not a misprint) miles! TOTALLY SHOT.

Wow that GTO and those wheels are fugly... Sorta a cross between piss yellow and puke green, ain't it?

 

[khalil_y]

I'm a fairly new 2006 S60R owner. I did tons of research and had people from Reddit and Sweedspeed help a lot and teach me about the car before I did the purchse, so had it inspected by the original Volvo dealership that it was sold to by the previous owner .

So like the guys up there said, check the Timing Belt and all the suspension. The Öhlins suspension in the Rs is very sensitive since they were derived from racing suspension. Basically check them for leaks.

 

[FORD420diesel]

Our suspension in this generation of R's is actually done by Monroe. The Öhlins was the previous R.

...Unless I'm mistaken?? I mean, I know ouR shocks are Monroe's; I might be mistaken on the '98-'00 R's being Öhlins.

-Steve

 

[Warpedcow]

Our suspension in this generation of R's is actually done by Monroe. The Öhlins was the previous R.

...Unless I'm mistaken?? I mean, I know ouR shocks are Monroe's; I might be mistaken on the '98-'00 R's being Öhlins.

-Steve

You're correct, all Volvo 4C shocks are sourced from Monroe.

The 2015 S60/V60 Polestar has static adjustable Ohlins.

 

[khalil_y]

Found it. http://www.monroe.com/en-US/catalog/e-Catalog

Sent from Tapatalk because the people around me are boring.

 

[flybikes]

Aren't the valves or whatever that allow it to be adjustable not Monroe's technology though? I read that on here at some point, could be wrong though.

 

[aust_himself]

thanks for the responses, sorry for my delay. That's a good idea about the launch from a stop, sounds hard to convince the seller though. This thing has been plummeting in price i should call him back, we couldn't come to terms on price a while back but well see. I just dont want another money pit , that GTO is not cheap lol.

And in real life the yellow on those cars are actually quite nice that picture does show a hint of green though heres a pic of mine right now:

looking at the spec sheet, seems like the R would actually be a decent run against it.


and about that alot vs a lot vs allot. Never really took that into consideration and have actually been pretty good on grammar lately hmm learn something new every day i guess ha.

 

[JakeS]

Look for leaky or blown out struts.... They run close to 400 dollars a piece with the 4-C Adjustable suspension. Timing belt as mentioned.

Under pretty hard acceleration you should notice if the AWD is broken. Torque steer will be pretty evident. If the owner doesn't mind, turn off the DSTC (Dynamic Stability Traction Control) and accelerate somewhat hard. To turn it off you have to press the DSTC button below the HVAC controls 5 times....yes FIVE haha. Not too fast either, about a second per push I would say.

Other than that there are some little things like the "Exhaust Bracket of Death" that can be pushed up into the driveshaft and cost a pretty penny for a new one etc........but I say if it isn't throwing any codes or lights/making funky noises....and the wifey likes it...go for it.

 

[aust_himself]

so this particular car is going for $5500 at 110k. Judging by the for sale forum on this site that is kind of low.

 

[Mad Suburban Dad]

New owner of a VR, who had many of the same questions...and chuckled at JRL's cranky abrasiveness. He's like that guy down the street who yells at the neighborhood kids for cutting across his lawn on their way to the ice cream truck.

Volvo's recommended interval is 120K, but repeated posters here, on other forums, and a couple of trusted Saab/Volvo techs have said you should start to consider a T-belt change at 100-105K miles or so. (It's a silly design that uses the timing belt to drive the water pump, so if the water pump goes, it can take the timing belt with it.) I bought the car with 107K and had the dealer do the t-belt change and check the pump before it left the lot.

Torque steer is probably the worst way to check AWD function because it's a purely subjective and entirely relative. If you have any experience with high-power FWD cars, you likely won't notice anything amiss. Best way to check is to get the car up on a lift.

If the underside of the car and the suspension components look a little too clean, ask to take an extended test drive and come back and check for leaks.

Good luck!

 

[JakeS]

I agree torque steer is somewhat "subjective", but a lot of private sellers won't just say "yeah sure...take the car to a mechanic and put it on a lift!".....just trying to give him some other options.

But in reality torque steer is torque steer....sure it's subjective, but a high power fwd car will do it, while a high power awd or rwd car won't. If you know what torque steer is and have felt it before, should be easy to spot/feel.

Again, I'm trying to give him options that don't involve jacking up the car and/or lifting it. Some private sellers aren't down with that and may not sell because of it. Not saying it isn't a good car or they are hiding something, but sometimes sellers are put off by those kind of questions.

Does the one wheel lift and spin/watch driveshaft test work on automatics? That might be ok with the seller.

 

[Warpedcow]

Volvo's recommended interval is 120K, but repeated posters here, on other forums, and a couple of trusted Saab/Volvo techs have said you should start to consider a T-belt change at 100-105K miles or so. (It's a silly design that uses the timing belt to drive the water pump, so if the water pump goes, it can take the timing belt with it.) I bought the car with 107K and had the dealer do the t-belt change and check the pump before it left the lot.

It's the timing belt tensioner that fails and breaks the belt. The water pumps are bulletproof. You don't even replace the water pump until your 2nd timing belt/tensioner replacement (at 210K or 240K miles).

 

[Mad Suburban Dad]

I agree torque steer is somewhat "subjective", but a lot of private sellers won't just say "yeah sure...take the car to a mechanic and put it on a lift!".....just trying to give him some other options.

But in reality torque steer is torque steer....sure it's subjective, but a high power fwd car will do it, while a high power awd or rwd car won't. If you know what torque steer is and have felt it before, should be easy to spot/feel.

Again, I'm trying to give him options that don't involve jacking up the car and/or lifting it. Some private sellers aren't down with that and may not sell because of it. Not saying it isn't a good car or they are hiding something, but sometimes sellers are put off by those kind of questions.

Does the one wheel lift and spin/watch driveshaft test work on automatics? That might be ok with the seller.

Some good points there....

But I'd run away from any seller who wouldn't agree to a PPI.....

 

[Mad Suburban Dad]

It's the timing belt tensioner that fails and breaks the belt. The water pumps are bulletproof. You don't even replace the water pump until your 2nd timing belt/tensioner replacement (at 210K or 240K miles).

No belt-driven component with a pulley is ever bulletproof.

 

[Warpedcow]

No belt-driven component with a pulley is ever bulletproof.

Exactly why you should replace the water pump at 200K-ish miles rather than wait until 300K miles