[s-cars] LAC - Volvo V70 XC as Avant replacement

[Varon H. Fugman]

We bought an '02 V70 XC to replace my wife's Saab 9-5 Wagon when she hit a
deer.  (Tried in vain to steer her into a C5 Avant, a B5.5 Passat Wagon, a
Mazda 6 wagon, or even another Saab so we could keep all the accessories.)

The Volvo has been a good car... sort of.  Would I buy it again?  No.  I did
have the transmission flushed right away and put in synthetic fluid.  My
understanding is that up through '02 the AWD system is not Haldex, just a
viscous coupling.  It does have its rear driveshaft(!), but overall the car
doesn't do any better in snow than the FWD Saab (and of course nowhere close
to quattro.)

This car is funny on tires.  Same side rotation only, or it does something
funny to the tires and makes them noisy.  Will probably put another set of
Nokian WR G2s on it next month.  First set lasted maybe 35,000 miles
(winter-summer-winter-summer).

It also has drivability issues with the drive-by-wire throttle when coming
off idle, which can result in a momentary hesitation when pulling into
traffic.  Replaced all 5 coils in case they were weak but no change.  Some
have suggested a dirty throttle body may be the cause, but it is a real pain
to R&R so I haven't done it yet.

My wife doesn't view this car as a long term keeper (she now wants a Mazda
CX-9.)  The up side of this is she didn't object (too much) when I installed
a 7-pin trailer connector *in* the back bumper... finally no more getting
down on my hands and knees to plug in the trailer lights!  It knows when the
trailer is plugged in and flashes a special indicator on the dashboard to
show that trailer turn signals are working.

One area where the Volvo seems to do pretty well is towing.  It is rated at
3,300 pounds and has no problem with our 2,000 pound camper or loaded
utility trailer, although I suspect it would be a bit underpowered for
towing a heavy load in the mountains.

The built-in child seats are very handy if you have kids of that age.  And
the front passenger seat can be folded flat to accommodate long cargo from
tailgate to windshield (such as hauling a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby track!)

One other neat feature: about 45 minutes after driving the car with the A/C
on, it turns the blower on high speed for about 5 minutes to dry the
evaporator core... very thoughtful.  Got to figure out how to add this
feature to the Audi to keep from getting musty A/C smell!

One more thing in its favor... it's an I-5 turbo, albeit a *light pressure*
turbo (and where's the fun in that?!)

Varon
'95 urS6
'02 V70XC