[c_lee]

I wonder how many of these V70 ( or 850 ) TDI's remain on the road these days.

They were quite an expensive car when new in their day.

I have one that Iv'e had for a few years now and it has just passed its MOT at just shy of 216,000 miles.

Mine is an automatic and the only major problem I have had is regarding the ( sealed for life - ??? ) auto box which I had to change about 4 years ago at about 187,000.

I did that auto box change myself so it was relatively cheap cash wise - time wise it took a while but, on reflection, was well worth it.

I tow with mine and have an additional ATF cooler fitted since the auto box change.

I didn't have any doubts about towing my caravan to the South of France about 18 months ago and covered 2,640 miles overall in 6 weeks and at 29 MPG tank to tank over the whole trip, that being mostly motorway towing at speed.
On saying that, I did have a minor breakdown on the Auto-route in the Massif Central which I was able to fix by the roadside off the motorway.

Being almost 20 years old it does have a few cosmetic scars but that doesn't impact on the comfort and flexibility.

We'll be continental touring with the caravan again next year for the 4th year.

I keep thinking I should attend to the scars as the V70 in red looks great when really well looked after but I'm not sure I have the bodywork skills required.

I don't plan to change soon.

Colin