seeking advice: ovlov v70r..

[thejimrose]

hey boys n girls. need to replace the ol b5 a4 soon and wanted to see if
anyone in my favorite collection of carnuts had any thoughts / experience
with the volvo v series wagons?

i want to spend about 20-25k. ideally would get a b7 a4 manual wagon but no
luck finding one for less than 30k. i've considered bmw, merc, subaru, etc
etc but don't jive w/ any of them. want something over 20mpg, practical,
somewhat fun to drive, well built, etc. another ideal would be a 2.7t
allroad manual w/ none of the offroad nonsense [normal suspension, single
body color, etc].

tangent: had a customer at stasis w/ an AR setup just like that - ohlins
c/o's, alcons, stage 3+, short ratio gearbox, body cladding repainted, etc
etc. favorite car ever..

anyway i've found a really nice 06 v70r locally. 50k for 22k. looks really
well kept. always loved the look of that car, reviews / forums seem to say
they're a bit dodgy in build. reviews say ride quality is dismal. wonder if
that can be remedied? looks like they use active dampers - anyone know if
the suspension is replaceable w/ standard aftermarket stuff [doesn't really
look like it].

any other thoughts / experiences w/ these would be much appreciated!

thx!
jim