New Owner - 2000 V70 2.5D - Advice

[bopowarls]

Good morning everyone.

Purchased a new work horse this weekend which will sit next to our 19 reg V90 Cross Country (and an F30 330D BMW) and bagged the following car locally:

2000 Reg V70 badged 2.5D - It has the VAG group engine D5252T
110000 Miles
12 Months MOT no advisories

It didn't have any service history. I bought it off a trader who had purchased the car from an older bloke in Kent around 2018 time. The dealer had planned to keep the car for himself and use it once his Merc died. It never died so we put it up for sale quite cheap. I managed to message him within a few minutes of posting the ad and whilst talking he had about 40+ messages (he sent a photo of the facebook requests). I put a deposit without seeing it and drove to Stoke to pick it up the next day.

Good things:

1. Excellent condition inside
2. Has heated seats!
3. Low miles for this engine model
4. All the heating / aircon work!
5. Has a sunroof
6. Mechanical it drives really well. Smooth gear changes, clutch is good (assuming original).
7. Cambelt / Aux Belt / Tensioner + waterpump changed in 2018 (I have recepits) and only about 6k miles ago.
8. Receipt of work done on hand brake. Hard to read the writing but can make out handbrake work
9. New brake pads all round

Bad things:

1. Headlights full of condensation and grimey.
2. Gear knob and gaitor need replacing
3. No service history
4. Discs look like they need replacing soon
5. Alloys are in terrible condition
6. Body work not the best - lots of scratches and paint not so good in some areas
7. Plastic trims / bumper faded badly
8. Build up of condensation inside over night. Not overly bad but definitely water ingress from somewhere. One suspect area is probably sunroof seal?
9. Wipers need replacing. Bought wrong type last night and need to return these for another type..

Plans going forward. Some advice here would be appreciated.

I have a ex-volvo tech / Independent doing a major service for me on Wednesday. Oil change, oil filter, diesel filter, pollen filter, air filter, brake fluid change, coolant check / top up. And a good looking over underneath etc. Going forward I will be servicing her myself but wanted a thorough checking by a more competent person that me to begin with for peace of mind.

I want to improve some things visually but don't want to spend a fortune.

Here is what I'm looking to do and would appreciate some advice:

1. Wheels - the alloys are so bad. Options to either refurb, buy new alloys or buy steel wheels. I quite like to look of steel wheels. Has anyone done this?

2. Replace the front and rear brake discs. There seem to be a few options for the front size and don't know how to check which would fit mine? 305mm, 286mm or 320mm? Rears only 288mm comes up.

3. Headlights - Should I just remove the headlights and try to clean or just change them out? I will try and get some photos later.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Owen

[Georgeandkira]

Congrats on finding a 2000 in good shape. Best of luck with it.

Wheels: Who cares? I say that jokingly as you laid out the options. One question is how much do you want to spend?
If the tires are OK and spin well at speed you can take your time finding a set from a breaker.
If you go the steel wheel route (which is fine by me) you'll either find a set of 4 or you won't. Replacement steelies here (No. America) are available through Dorman or TireRack but hard to find otherwise.
I have a set of 16" steel wheels for you but they're thousands of miles away.
Consider going for Volvo wheel covers over the very cheap ones commonly available.

Rotors: Changing rotors is no big deal at all. Go Volvo or KNOWN good quality aftermarket. You might want to do that first as you'll have to measure them to order replacements.
Keep the numbers in mind. You don't want to score a set of 15" steels only to find they don't clear your brake hardware.

Headlights: I've seen videos in which the glass "lens" is coaxed off with a heat gun and a sharp knife. Clean it up. If the thin silver, reflective coating is gone you can try your hand at resilvering with paint. Never have I seen a post regarding the longevity of such a repair.

[petrohl34d]

I'm jealous of your low miler!

This is the forum specific to that model. https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Regarding your questions though

1: New Volvo wheels for this model are easy to find and inexpensive, check the For Sale section in the link above. Most guys on here are purists and prefer the standard look, but I've had everything from Jaguar to Ford wheels on mine (with custom adapters).

2: I replaced my front discs and ended up ordering the wrong size online. Most people recommend the standard Volvo discs and if you go directly to Volvo, obviously they will be able to tell you which ones you need. I got the measuring tape out when the wheel was off and then ordered the correct size and never had an issue with aftermarket discs.

3: This is a common fault and I just took the covers off the back of the lamps to cure it. Alternatively you'll need to reseal them or buy new units.

[bopowarls]

Originally Posted by petrohl34d

I'm jealous of your low miler!

This is the forum specific to that model. https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Regarding your questions though

1: New Volvo wheels for this model are easy to find and inexpensive, check the For Sale section in the link above. Most guys on here are purists and prefer the standard look, but I've had everything from Jaguar to Ford wheels on mine (with custom adapters).

2: I replaced my front discs and ended up ordering the wrong size online. Most people recommend the standard Volvo discs and if you go directly to Volvo, obviously they will be able to tell you which ones you need. I got the measuring tape out when the wheel was off and then ordered the correct size and never had an issue with aftermarket discs.

3: This is a common fault and I just took the covers off the back of the lamps to cure it. Alternatively you'll need to reseal them or buy new units.

Thanks for the info. I've managed to bag a new set of black steel wheels (the look I want) off ebay. The only advert which was the exact size / fitment I needed!

My Volvo is the Mk2 but the very first one and was registered September 2000 so believe this is the right thread?

[petrohl34d]

Originally Posted by bopowarls

My Volvo is the Mk2 but the very first one and was registered September 2000 so believe this is the right thread?

Ah right, I didn't realise that the P2 came with the D5252T engine in it.

[bopowarls]

Originally Posted by petrohl34d

Ah right, I didn't realise that the P2 came with the D5252T engine in it.

Yeah apparently it was quite rare or at least rarer.. That's what the dealer told me anyway haha