2004 AWD D5 163hp V70
 

Hi all.

I am looking to buy a second car and as the title sais..
In the sea of VAG tdi I mostly seek in, a fat fish in the form of a 2004 AWD D5 163hp geartronic V70 came up.
Since we used to have a 850 t5 we miss volvo a bit..

Now I have been reading about it a bit and many a questions arise!
Even vivid volvo owners seems to be sceptical.

Is it even worth it?
Will anything work?
And will they work for a time more..

I am driving an audi b5 tdi 85kw now that eats close to nothing.
Will the Volvo make me cry at the pump? again and again?
Or at the garage for that matter.

What to look at that will be dealbreakers??

Thanks a lot!

Is it a V70 or an XC70?

See my long term fuel use below. Click for more info.

The AWD haldex can die because of a connector (but much more reliable than the previous (up to 2003 or so) AWD) . Mine is still working. Just last week I tried driving up a small grass incline and it failed miserably: both left wheels spinned and supposedly it should brake those and thus send power to the right wheels, but either I didn't floor it enough, or that system sucks.

My D5 has had power-issues ever since buying it and getting a donor D5 engine (the original had a leaking gasket, former plod-car, so thought it prudent to just replace the entire engine). After pretty much ruling out everything else, next step is cleaning the turbo.

It is falling apart faster than I can repair it (I am chronically fatigued due to an illness, normal people might be able to keep up with the rate of decline :cool:)

I have a leaking drive axle with fairly new gaitor and my brother-in-law has a leak in the same spot (2WD 2004 D5 auto) and cannot find a hole in his gaitor either, so that has us stumped.

All-in-all it is fairly reliable. :teeth_smile: and all things mentioned above are just random quotes and things I encountered.

I've had a 2006 D5 Geartronic awd for just over a month.

It's been well used pulling a heavy trailer and garden clearance, and with roof bars in use, so I've not even checked the fuel consumption.

The gravel quarry I use has a steep steel ramp up to the weighbridge, even when it's slick after heavy rain the car pulls the trailer, which weighs over a tonne, straight up, my previous 2wd struggled doing the same task.

I live in the country with narrow roads, sometimes we have to go off the edge of the road to allow tractors to pass.

I have no problem getting back onto the road, again the previous 2wd would sometimes slip and slide.

Mechanically I've replaced the top engine mount, I knew it was faulty when I bought the car.

So far, I'm a convert to Awd!!