what would you pay for this car... 1998 V70-R

[Rallispec]

Looking at a 1998 Volvo V70-R AWD with ~250,000 miles (the odomoter doesnt work so that's a guess)

This would be a second car (looking to be able to park my current DD in the garage a bit more often) , and I'm pretty good mechanically and can do all the fixes myself.


Bad things about the car:
1. Coolant leak from "somewhere"
2. Pulled oil dipstick - water (possibly coolant) on stick.
3. Lifter knock / tick (possibly due to bad oil and bad head gasket - not enough oil pressure for hydraulic lifters)
4. Needs timing belt / water pump
5. Hail damage
6. No radio
7. Bad battery
8. speedo / gas gauge, Odomoter no longer work
9. Other assorted things that go bad on a 16 year old european car


Good things about the car:
1. Clean - never been in any accidents
2. Turbo 5, generally known as a solid engine
3. No smoke coming from exhaust.
4. Engine starts right up, seems to run smooth.
5. Lots of space, very practical car for what I'd use it for

This car still blue books in 'fair condition' for 3 to 4 thousand dollars private party. I'd put this car in the poor category. And there is a chance I'll start opening things up and find the head gasket is shot or worse.

This car is either going to require about $500 in parts and will end up being a solid daily driver, or I'll dig in to it and find that it needs a new engine and at that point its better off as a parts car.... Kind of a gamble.

So - what would you pay for it? I'd be buying it from a freind... I know I can easily get it around the $1k mark - but even still I'm wondering if that's too much to pay for it.


thoughts?

 

[Insomniator]

My father sold a 98 XC70 about 5 years ago for 1k because it was a total piece of crap. Had smoke comin from the exhaust... needed a headgasket. Buyer was some kid convinced that it was just a turbo rebuild and then his dad tried to get his money back from us after they inspected it themselves. We TOLD the kid what the problem most likely was, and that was the reason the car was so cheap.

Anyway, they are pretty quick, very comfortable and quiet cars. I assume the R is faster and handles better than the XC.

Thats a lot of miles, and needs a lot of work. I would think you are doing the owner a favor by purchasing it... try $750. If you can get it'd running its a really nice DD. Those wagons have a TON of space.

Oh did I mention ours ate brakes like they were m&m's? Seemed like every 10k miles...

 

[Yuriman]

Read your post, $800 came to mind. Not too far from Insomniator's estimate.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Does the lifter knock/tick go away after car is warm?

 

[Rallispec]

Does the lifter knock/tick go away after car is warm?

Actually didn't start until the car warmed up

 

[pauldun170]

Looking at a 1998 Volvo V70-R AWD with ~250,000 miles (the odomoter doesnt work so that's a guess)

This would be a second car (looking to be able to park my current DD in the garage a bit more often) , and I'm pretty good mechanically and can do all the fixes myself.


Bad things about the car:
1. Coolant leak from "somewhere"
2. Pulled oil dipstick - water (possibly coolant) on stick.
3. Lifter knock / tick (possibly due to bad oil and bad head gasket - not enough oil pressure for hydraulic lifters)
4. Needs timing belt / water pump
5. Hail damage
6. No radio
7. Bad battery
8. speedo / gas gauge, Odomoter no longer work
9. Other assorted things that go bad on a 16 year old european car


Good things about the car:
1. Clean - never been in any accidents
2. Turbo 5, generally known as a solid engine
3. No smoke coming from exhaust.
4. Engine starts right up, seems to run smooth.
5. Lots of space, very practical car for what I'd use it for

This car still blue books in 'fair condition' for 3 to 4 thousand dollars private party. I'd put this car in the poor category. And there is a chance I'll start opening things up and find the head gasket is shot or worse.

This car is either going to require about $500 in parts and will end up being a solid daily driver, or I'll dig in to it and find that it needs a new engine and at that point its better off as a parts car.... Kind of a gamble.

So - what would you pay for it? I'd be buying it from a freind... I know I can easily get it around the $1k mark - but even still I'm wondering if that's too much to pay for it.


thoughts?

Sounds like they should pay you for removing the car from their property.
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9357

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?201395-Blown-head-gasket-help

 

[pauldun170]

Actually didn't start until the car warmed up

Wouldn't be surprised if that was a bearing gone south

 

[videogames101]

I know Volvo engines have a solid rep, but 250k+ miles doesn't make sense for any price really. Unless you really want this car, then go for it dude.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Actually didn't start until the car warmed up

Hmmm, not good. For less than a grand I guess it would be worth a little effort and could be fun. Even if it blows up junkyard will probably give you a few hundred for the carcass.

 

[_Rick_]

Lowball your way in with an offer of $450-550.
Be ready to pay 750 to 800.

The car sounds like it has "parts value" as the benchmark, and at 250k + hail damage there may not be too much even in that.
Bad battery and missing radio may also mean electrical issue. If it still starts it's not too bad, but shorts/fraying cables are probably what economically totals most vehicles in the last 30 years or so.

How's the suspension?

 

[MaxFusion16]

500

 

[DominionSeraph]

0 sounds like a good, round number.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You have rocks in your head for even considering it.

 

[aShufflinZombie]

Don't buy it. Buying a 16yo Euro car is too big of a gamble if everything is working but this one has quite a few existing conditions as it sits.

 

[_Rick_]

Buy it, but only to turn it into a rally(X)-wagon.
Engine and turbo rebuild, rip everything out that's not needed and rewire everything else.
New suspension, cage, some chunky wheels, and she's ready to go :awe:

As a daily driver, I'd got with something less prone to blow up in your face.

 

[Rallispec]

Lol, thanks for all the input. I think the Volvo is probably a solid car, but yeah, probably trouble than worth. Was running the numbers on parts, maintenance, insurance, etc... Very hard to justify it.

 

[Rallispec]

Buy it, but only to turn it into a rally(X)-wagon.
Engine and turbo rebuild, rip everything out that's not needed and rewire everything else.
New suspension, cage, some chunky wheels, and she's ready to go :awe:

As a daily driver, I'd got with something less prone to blow up in your face.

Haha, one condition of the current owner was she didn't want me to rally it!

 

[Zenmervolt]

Looking at a 1998 Volvo V70-R AWD with ~250,000 miles (the odomoter doesnt work so that's a guess)

This would be a second car (looking to be able to park my current DD in the garage a bit more often) , and I'm pretty good mechanically and can do all the fixes myself.


Bad things about the car:
1. Coolant leak from "somewhere"
2. Pulled oil dipstick - water (possibly coolant) on stick.
3. Lifter knock / tick (possibly due to bad oil and bad head gasket - not enough oil pressure for hydraulic lifters)
4. Needs timing belt / water pump
5. Hail damage
6. No radio
7. Bad battery
8. speedo / gas gauge, Odomoter no longer work
9. Other assorted things that go bad on a 16 year old european car

With those issues I wouldn't bother.

The AWD cars had issues with the transmissions to start with. Second, the timing belt interval for the '98 models is 70,000 miles. It should not be due for a new belt until 280,000 miles; if it's due now, then maintenance has been severely neglected at some point. You don't want to buy a car from the sort of person who says "I don't really need to change the timing belt on time."

Also, condensation in the oil is never a good sign and usually far more to repair than it's worth unless you really love that particular car for some reason

ZV