Anyone driven or owned a Volvo XC70

I'm looking at the 2004-06 model as a family wagon. I heard they have some common issues with transmission etc. Any other known faults or problems with them, are they reliable? Thanks

Too PP& S for me. Hubby bought me one, lovely car, but at that stage not quite my style.

friend of mine had a NZ new one no major issues until they got rear ended by a camry. The camry was pushed up to the wind screen and you couldn't see the damage to the XC until you looked underneath they didn't feel much of an impact and not hurt at all.

At that age really the only key concern is the stupid Toyota subsidiary made transmission that ruins what is otherwise a very robust car.

Early ones had some throttle body issues but those are generally sorted by that year.

My advice would be to get one that is really low km's then service the transmission with the CORRECT volvo fluid and filter every other year (assuming typical km's). That way you will likely get a fairly good run out of it. Otherwise buy one that has had a transmission rebuild and comes with a warranty from the re-builder.

The fluid directly from Volvo can be a hang of a price, however your local Castrol supplier can get you the same stuff (can look up the castrol name if you need). Castrol are the ones who actually make the fluid for Volvo so it's exactly the same stuff.

Other than that, be aware the timing belt will be due at that age if not done already. I find the 10 year belt life quite optimistic so don't muck around waiting until it's absolutely due. The 2.5's are easy enough to do the belt on, obviously you want to do waterpump, coolant and tensioners while you are in there.

Be aware that there are not a huge amount of third party Volvo parts importers, so parts are not as crazy cheap as VW and some other European makes in NZ. However you can get around this and it's fairly rare to need an item that isn't just a regular service part (like oil, filters etc which are all cheap enough). The idea is if you do need to replace something expensive come on here for some advice on the cheapest way to go about it.

Overall, aside from the crying shame that is the transmission. They are a lovely car.

Yes trans are a problem awd , looked at one imaculate condition but trans was blown & he was told $ 6-8 G to fix or replace so sold it as is . belive it went for couple grand .

Thanks for all he advice. Still undecided

Have you considered a VW Touareg instead?
Like any used luxury SUV it could still have some problems that may cost a bit, but parts are generally cheap/easier to get ex NZ. Likewise the problems you might have are not necessarily going to be a expensive as the transmission issue, also there are almost always cost effective repair options if you go about things right.
It's the nicer, better equipped vehicle too IMO. Similarly good value though.

If you don't actually need the height for serious off roading there are other even more cost effective but nicely equipped options out there too. Depending on your needs, a 4WD Passat could be a great option, or if it's the pop up rear seat you want a VW touran may even suit better. Just depends on what your needs are.

Thanks for the options, will check those other models out