Advice buying 2005/6 V70/XC70

[Pidgeonpost]

Originally Posted by arcascomp

To be fair, I've had a handful of Volvos and the older 52 plate V70 was the very best underneath for rust, totally immaculate down there and it was an Edinburgh born and bred (well ok, it wasn't made here, but sold new here) and the only rust was on the front wings where a previous owner had misjudged things a bit. My XC90 was fantastic apart from the rear sub frame which had surface rust - I was told that that was a Ford part and the front subframe/body was Volvo - dunno how true that is, but the difference was notable. This XC70 is also from around these parts since new, has some surface rust underneath, but nothing worrisome - body still looks solid as.

I do like that "Hewn from solid" comment, definitely feels safe when you're in it, much more than the other cars in the family stable, the Citroen is worst, followed by the Ford then the Skoda, but still prefer the feel of the Volvo barge!

I agree that cars here seem dearer, probably a supply and demand thing, although our cars probably do less city crawl than the average south east corner motor would tend to do which I think is better for the life of the engine etc.

I see that Ford took over Volvo in 1999 and presumably exerted their influence from then on. Perhaps Volvo were still maintaining their traditional standards when your 52 plate was built? Something similar happened when General Motors took over Saab. Externally and internally our 57 car is very good to excellent considering its age, but I've been underneath it this afternoon and there's more surface rust than I like to see.
Until we bought the Volvo we were running a 2006 Berlingo, and we still run a 2014 Skoda Yeti. The Berlingo we passed on to a family member after 10 years ownership. Sure, bits of it are a bit flimsy, but for a van-based design we had no complaints, and in terms of reliability it was excellent. The Yeti is coming up to 3 years with us. Total failures so far, one numberplate bulb. But it's a very hard ride, and a bit low on boot space considering dog and holiday luggage - hence the Volvo.
The Volvo is effortless to drive, extremely comfortable, and the space is so useful. It's the car the dog heads for at 'walkies' time.

[Faust]

Originally Posted by abtx

I think this is going to be me. Dunno if I shouldn't just bit the bullet and go for the best shot I have.

Either shape, most of them are quite more expensive here, and far and few between anyway, so my best shot is somewhere down south, like Man/Liverpool area. Much more saturated market there, and hopefully not as rusty

Be patient and the right car will come along... I was looking for months until I found one that I was happy with (I firmly believe that the right car 'talks' to you: you just get a good feeling when you find the right car).

As others have said... anything that has a 'story' attached (owner is abroad for example or seems to good to be true) is best avoided.

It might be all legit, then again there are plenty of people out there who found out the hard way that 'might be OK' is a good way to get ripped off... so don't be one of them!

[stuart bowes]

Originally Posted by Faust

I firmly believe that the right car 'talks' to you: you just get a good feeling when you find the right car

9/10 this is how I choose, just the briefest of look over and sitting in the seat and I know if I want it or not

I say 9/10 because a couple of them were recommended and previously owned by people I knew so the history was totally honest and there was no gamble at all

admitedly that way has landed me with 1 or 2 lemons but out of getting near to 20 cars now it's not a bad percentage.

Happy to admit probably more luck than judgement but you do get a feel for if it's been looked after and that's a totally valid part of the process

[abtx]

Originally Posted by Faust

Be patient and the right car will come along... I was looking for months until I found one that I was happy with (I firmly believe that the right car 'talks' to you: you just get a good feeling when you find the right car).

As others have said... anything that has a 'story' attached (owner is abroad for example or seems to good to be true) is best avoided.

It might be all legit, then again there are plenty of people out there who found out the hard way that 'might be OK' is a good way to get ripped off... so don't be one of them!

Yep, I'll definitely feel much better buying from an owner, hopefully one that had the car for a bit longer too and they drove it themselves

[abtx]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

9/10 this is how I choose, just the briefest of look over and sitting in the seat and I know if I want it or not

I say 9/10 because a couple of them were recommended and previously owned by people I knew so the history was totally honest and there was no gamble at all

admitedly that way has landed me with 1 or 2 lemons but out of getting near to 20 cars now it's not a bad percentage.

Happy to admit probably more luck than judgement but you do get a feel for if it's been looked after and that's a totally valid part of the process

Yeah I will wait. Patience is the key here. I love browsing ads so I'm pretty sure sooner or later I'll get one. My idea of what I need also matures over time.

Eyes peeled open