new to volvo and the v70r

[Jonny_rotten]

Hi folks,

I'm going to look at and most likely buy a MY2007 56 plate manual v70r tomorrow. I've read up a lot on these on various forums and they seem like great cars. It does have a higher mileage - 137,000miles to be precise - but it has a full service history, the last one only being 500 miles ago. Its looks very clean inside and out and the current owner seems like a genuine bloke. I am prepared for maintenance costs on this sort of vehicle - my previous cars have all been German - B6 s4 avant, A4 1.8T quattro, golf gti. I assume the costs will be inline with some of these? It had the cambelt done not so long ago ~115k miles.

It had the prop shaft replaced but the current owner isn't sure of what exactly was done or when. Would they have changed the notorious spline shaft while also replacing the prop shaft? I have read that the later models had an uprated/upgraded 4wd drive haldex system?

Any advice or words of wisdom on what to look out for is much appreciated. I have also searched for advice threads and found some good stuff already.

Thanks

Jonny

[M-R-P]

Welcome aboard, hopefully you'll get loads of fun out of the R.
Servicing wise, it'll most likely be cheaper to maintain than the Avant.
The 2007 should already have the upgraded angle gear but it must be maintained properly as it can ruin itself pretty quickly.

Don't forget to post some pictures when you pick it up, we like pictures here and many of us can't read :D

[V70 Graham]

Welcome, as M-R-P says make sure to post some piccy's

[expolicev70t5]

Sounds nice look forward to the piccys

[T5frankie]

welcome to the club

[Jonny_rotten]

Thanks for the replies folks. I will most certainly post some pictures when I pick it up.

What maintenance should I be doing on the angle gear? Oil change?

[stribo]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. As far as the angle gear is concerned, we get the oil level checked when it has it's yearly service, and topped up if necessary, generally they all have a slight weep, so wil lose oil over time.

[jamesy12345]

hello & welcome

[Harvey]

Hi & welcome.
Good choice ,Hope you know about the higher road tax rate.
The 2006-2007 cars have had the better AWD & haldex system.

[TerryW]

Hi and Welcome to the forums, i have found some excellent advice with very knowledgable people on here so best advice would be get onto a forum which you have done, full service history, is kinda a must which i didn't have on mine but it only had 48k on the clock so took the punt, the cars are pricey for repairs but you need to remember you are buying a performance car. The good news is what can you buy for between 4-8k dependent on age etc, with this much performance and comfort and the added safety of AWD, not much, as you may well know similar vehicles like Audi's, Bemmers, Mercs ect you are paying a lot more.

The bad news is they do have archilles heals which can cost, angle gear has been replaced on mine at a cost of £1500.00. 12,000 miles service is around 4-500 if Volvo prices, i would advise for most things on this car go to Volvo independant specialists or Volvo themselves make sure only Volvo parts used as well as oils and lubricants etc. Tyres are not so bad actually i have found and seem to last ok, if they have not already been done bushes ect. may need doing, but again not to bad on costs but have a good test drive and listen out for tell tail knocking sounds ect. other pricey items it seems over and above a grand may include steering racks, shocks etc., I would say dependent on your driving and how many miles you do in a year the car will be pretty cost effective especially given what your getting for your money, i have found doing higher mileage servicing and repairs come around a little to often, and i am topping up on oil every three thousand miles, where i found the german cars i have had used none, also bear in mind economy of the Car, although i have seen in the manuals you can use 95RON for normal driving whatever that means? i put in super unleaded and they do perform better with better on economy. With all this in mind haggle on the price and try and get it down especially if you think it is priced a little high, use any knocking or issues as a bargaining chip, my S60R had 48k and now has 59k on the clock and i think now i paid a little bit to much given i have shelved out 3k in servicing in repairs of the last month, and there is still things to do!!!, If you can i would really consider trying to find someone who knows these cars to have a look over for you before you buy, i think i have picked up the tabs for last 2 years servicing and some 15k miles not being done by Volvo, by the 1 previous owner. Things i wished i had done in summary:-

1) Found someone either independent specialist or other person who knows these cars to test it before buying.
2) Insisted that the garage i bought the car from had it serviced by Volvo before buying it, as i had no recent evidence of this, which doesn't seem to be an issue for you
3) I feel i had room to haggle and get the price down by a thousand or so, so haggle. Ask on this forum how much the experienced guys on here would expect to pay for a 2007 V70R Full service history with 137k on clock, and maybe use this a benchmark.

I am not as experienced as the guys on here but hopefully you may find this helpful

[Jonny_rotten]

Thanks for all the replies guys. And thanks TerryW for all the info. It's £4600 so it should be on the lower side of things anyway? Volvo serviced it 500 miles ago so am I right in thinking that they would have flagged up anything major? I will be a little annoyed if it ends up costing me £3k in the first year but I am prepared for it.

I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow!

Thanks

Jonny

[AndysR]

Sounds good, welcome to the fold. Have really started to warm to the late V70R's, looking forward to seeing some pictures.

[merc85]

I would have thought Volvo would av flagged up any major concern on the service, It also doesnt really matter what vehicle you buy almost all have some sort of achilies heal, Great car and a good price :)

[Harvey]

Thanks for all the replies guys. And thanks TerryW for all the info. It's £4600 so it should be on the lower side of things anyway? Volvo serviced it 500 miles ago so am I right in thinking that they would have flagged up anything major? I will be a little annoyed if it ends up costing me £3k in the first year but I am prepared for it.

I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow!
Thanks
Jonny

That's a good price ,I guess because of the higher tax makes it that bit less wanted.
Hope to see the just got home with it photos.

[TerryW]

That's seems a great price to me, and with full service history, looks like you could be getting a good car, I hope it works out, there is always good advice on here to help advise on any gremlins when they crop up anyhow, from the guys who have already posted you.

[TerryW]

Just as a quick note, sorry, have a look at the last 500 mile service record from volvo, look at the back of the paperwork they tend to put advisories to keep an eye on, may give you a clue of impending issues

[LeeT5]

Some sound advice from Terry!
As said, that's a very good price for the car and to be honest, I wouldn't haggle on that! To be honest, I would have paid more, but that's just me....so you definitely got it for a good price.

Regards servicing and maintenance; look at the service book and see when it was last stamped and where! Then ring the dealer/garage and ask them what it had done. If they can't say, then always air on the side of caution.
Have the cambelt/waterpump/tensioners changed as a matter of cause. Drop the oil and replace the oil filter and only use genuine filters!!
If it were me I would also have a four wheel alignment, replace the spark plugs and also, due to the mileage, I would try and find out if the PCV system has been replaced. I bet it hasn't! My car is an 04 model and I have done 137k and I've just replaced mine. It was hacking!! All the small plastic pipes were blocked and very brittle.

After you've done those, I would just drive it and see what else comes along. I would definitely invest in a good EOBD code reader or VIDA/DICE. Clear any codes and drive the car for 100 miles and re read codes. Any codes that come back will need investigation/rectification.

I recommend replacing ALL your gear oils Haldex (+ 2 filters), Rear diff, Angle gear and Gearbox. Volvo will tell you that the Haldex and rear diff are sealed for life, I guarantee they will be in desperate need of replacement and the drive train will certainly be smoother and quieter for it.

Other than that.....enjoy.

[Jonny_rotten]

Well it's fair to say that it was love at first sight when I saw the V70R on Saturday so I drove it home! What a lovely looking machine. The chap that I bought it from has obviously looked after it very well - inside and out. I was also delighted to hear that his father owned the local Volvo dealership (very recently sold it however) so it must have been well looked after.

Everything on the vehicle works as it should. I love the sound it makes when putting my foot down and I think I may have heard a little back-pop when down-shifting - is that normal? The only criticism I have (and its minor) is the harshness of the ride. I have read about this so perhaps I am looking for it but my wife did make a comment on it too. There are a lot of good roads in Scotland but many of them aren't the smoothest. So when cornering on a bumpy surface it doesn't feel that stable - feels a little skittish. The car has 18" wheels so perhaps a set of 17s would help? I actually don't mind the ride but a new arrival in 6 months time might.

Here are some photos of the car as promised. Any reason not to leave my reg number on these photos? I notice some folk blank theirs out.

25610256112561225609

[abdul]

Nice looking motor

[M-R-P]

In black as well - yum!

What suspension setting were you using? Sport will be a bit hard and advanced is supposed to be like a go-kart but in comfort, it should be fine. I believe there's a mod you can do to the suspension/sensors that softens it a little.

[stribo]

Lovely looking R mate, you can't beat black, though it looks like you haven't got the Dale Winton interior. :( It might be worth making sure it's got the latest software for the suspension, as ours is quite soft in comfort.

[Jonny_rotten]

Ah ok, how would I go about finding out which suspension software version I'm currently running? Dealer?

Thanks for the nice comments guys - I'm a big fan of the car already.

[stribo]

Ah ok, how would I go about finding out which suspension software version I'm currently running? Dealer?

Thanks for the nice comments guys - I'm a big fan of the car already.

Yeah, as far as I know it's dealer only.

[expolicev70t5]

Looks very nice!

[LeeT5]

There are two reason's why the suspension will be misbehaving and harsh in comfort.

1) SUM software is out of date - Main dealer only. Will cost about £35 + half hours labour. Will massively improve the ride.
2) Wheel alignment is out. That will make the car feel skittish in Comfort on the rough stuff. Have the dealer align the geometry correctly or get a 4 wheel alignment done by a proper 4 wheel alignment center/garage. That will sort out the skittishness and make the car feel more composed.

[Jonny_rotten]

Ok, thanks leet5. Good info - I'll talk to the dealer about it.

[JasonO]

Very nice looking R, not sure how far over the border you are but you would be welcome to drop by if you were passing Newcastle and try mine out for comparison, I bought it recently and the dealer confirmed that all the software updates were done. I'm also new to these cars but feels pretty good in comfort to me except on very broken surfaces. It's running on 17 inch wheels btw !

[V70 Graham]

Nice car, most of us don't worry about our reg numbers being shown, we only cover ours up when dogging lol :redface:

[philmots]

That's properly nice. Slightly jealous!

[TerryW]

Very Nice Looking Car, I find comfort mode is very good and not at all harsh only setting which is is the advanced setting, software updates and wheel alignment as mentioned above did make some difference to mine, but then again i have been used to driving Beemers over the last couple of years where the suspensions are harsh, i tend to find sport mode a happy medium. As a footnote i do tend to travel up and down the country and to be honest our roads are truly awful !!..

[volvokid]

Yeah that is tidy, I think this could be the only high tax band R on here.

[Jonny_rotten]

Yeah volvokid - it stung a little bit when I taxed it. I'm surprised that there are no others though - not many made late on or no-one willing to pay the tax!?!

Thanks for all the kind words everyone.

[philmots]

I thought my T5 was in the high band until I got it through.. It's 220 co2's, I thought it was higher and therefore nearer £500.

It's registered after the cut off too.

[volvokid]

I only saw one when I was looking for mine and I would have bought it but it had cream interior and it was an auto, but it was a sonic blue with every extra :(

It must be the emissions that put the tax up my 2008 C70 T5 wasn't in the high band either