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Rescuing a Boring Car - 2003 Volvo XC70

TouzinFish

TouzinFish

Active member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Location
Boise, Idaho
In my continued efforts to clear phone/computer storage, I've been throwing a lot of my Volvo photo albums on Flickr/Imgur, in which case I might as well share them here, too.

Anywho...

In January 2020, we had a few rough snowstorms here in Idaho that my wife's Camry struggled with, so we decided to sell it in the summer in favor of an AWD. During spring and summer, getting an AWD car is a bit cheaper here since nobody's thinking about snow. So, in August, we picked up a 2001 Subaru Outback with a 5-Speed manual, I taught her how to drive a manual, and we listed the Camry for sale.
https://imgur.com/zSTg2r1
https://imgur.com/4UmgmAl

After finding a buyer, I offered to deliver the Camry to make things easier, and I'm glad I did. Why? Because sitting in front of her house was a filthy, non-running XC70, that's why.
https://imgur.com/23topnO
https://imgur.com/QUilPEt
Being nosy, I asked about Volvo, and she said it was due to be picked up THAT DAY by our local pick-n-pull junkyard (hence why she bought our Camry). I then asked how much the junkyard was paying, and she said only $125 since the staff had to come out to fetch it.

Still knowing nearly nothing about the car, I offered $200 and said I could get it the next day. She said yes. So, there I was, reserving a U-Haul trailer and coordinating to borrow a pickup truck for a 2003 Volvo XC70 that I hadn't planned on shopping for or buying. Must have been fate.

The husband, wife, and their daughter all had different stories as to why it was parked there, non-running:

Father: His daughter was driving it, she swerved for a squirrel, hit a mailbox, and that caused the radiator to leak and break down.
Mother: Her daughter was driving it, she hit the back of another car, and the car stopped running instantly.
Daughter: She was driving it, it started acting funny, and so she pulled over and had it towed home.
 
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On my way home, it dawned on me that I hadn't even told my wife about the Volvo yet, but luckily, she was cool with it. The next day, I showed up to find that they'd pushed the car to the other side of the road for easier trailer access. Then they signed over the title, handed me the keys, and that was the beginning of the journey.
https://imgur.com/sJ8QNlH
https://imgur.com/j9KxWas
https://imgur.com/XWFK9Aw
https://imgur.com/2hXdHb1
https://imgur.com/JGCiKvS
https://imgur.com/VduKnG2
https://imgur.com/A7BPaUQ
https://imgur.com/xOBkHJQ
https://imgur.com/zPtocOh
Before pulling out my come-along to winch the car up onto the trailer, I hooked up jumper cables, threw in a couple quarts of oil, and to my surprise, the XC70 started easy! However, coolant was indeed spilling out of a crack in the radiator, and the car was in Limp Mode with more dashboard warning lights than I'd ever seen on a P2 (and that's saying something). The car drove up onto the trailer under its own power, and I was able to get it home.
 
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When it was home, we took a peek and realized how gross the Volvo really was. They'd mentioned the car was primarily used for taking their dogs to the river and admitted to letting them back into the car without drying the water or mud off them first. Yes, it smelled bad.
https://imgur.com/oBZSqSk
https://imgur.com/3IImt0W
https://imgur.com/ZtzL83F
https://imgur.com/dkGclOn
https://imgur.com/p2mFZxq
https://imgur.com/E7m3Nvi
https://imgur.com/bdT07vE
https://imgur.com/0WxG5KT
https://imgur.com/27I1NK0
https://imgur.com/oS50k0g
 
As disgusting as it cosmetically was, my wife and I both liked the car and dug into it immediately for a thorough cleaning. She handled the interior, and I handled the exterior. For the interior, she vacuumed, used plenty of disinfectant, conditioned what little of the upholstery was intact, and cleaned the windows. On the outside, I used clay to get the sap and hard water spots of the paint, and then slowly worked through a hand polish and wax.
https://imgur.com/bbhXeCn
https://imgur.com/cpkDiKf
https://imgur.com/Xy4oZvA
I ordered a radiator from IPD so I could get the car driving above Limp Mode speeds (10mph? 20mph?) to get an assessment of what else it needed. I'd never done a P2 radiator before, so I was disappointed in how overly-complex it needed to be, especially compared to the old Redblock days. The worst part was that the car did appear to hit something, as the big bend in the crash bar showed, so while the car came apart easy, getting it lined back up on reassembly was rough.
https://imgur.com/gMz2jSf
https://imgur.com/YX4JZsd
 
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After swapping out the radiator and getting the coolant to proper levels, the XC70 Limp Mode turned itself off, and I was able to take it for a spin - it was horrifying. I'd never, NEVER felt suspension quite that bad before (and I've felt bad suspension). Numerous clunks and noises, the shocks/struts were pretty much nonexistent, and the car wanted to dart left or right randomly. I won't even mention the moment I hit an uneven bump. On the drive, it also developed a misfire and the cracks in the tires became significantly more pronounced. To be honest, we seriously considered bailing on the XC70 since the pre-2005 XC70's are still cheap here, but decided to tackle it anyway.
https://imgur.com/bP2AJAe
While I was able to diagnose a lot of issues myself, I wanted to take it to my trusted Euro shop with a lift and better lighting to get a better idea of what was happening. Most of my suspension bushings no longer existed - not just cracked, but entirely gone. Here's an example:
https://imgur.com/Mi8KRIc
This was the best bushing of the undercarriage:
https://imgur.com/ELAC7CD
Between them and me, here was the list of mechanical issues:
-Transmission fluid blacker than black.
-Sway bar endlinks barely holding on with very excessive play.
-Rear brakes metal-on-metal with the rotor.
-Transmission mount completely gone.
-Upper engine mount crumbling.
-Cracked timing belt.
-Weak battery.
-Swollen radiator hoses.
-Engine fan inoperable (damaged from collision).
-Belt tensioner failing.
-Power steering hoses actively dripping.
-Excessive play in both inner and outer tie rods.
-Shocks/struts blown out.
-Control arm bushings rapidly failing.
-Leaking transmission output shaft seal.
-Leaking transmission cooler lines.
-Original fuel filter from 2003.
-Differential cover soaked, might be dripped on or leaking.
-Tires shot.
-Cracked wiring to both headlights.
-Surging idle.
-Misfire, probably spark plugs - original plugs from 2003.
-Intermittent "Start Prevented, Try Again."
-Multiple OBD2 codes and cluster messages.

On the bright side...
-Transmission shifted great. Rarity for the early P2 cars.
-No rust.
-No other accident damages.
-Turbo was in great shape (surprising).

Slapping the dashboard let the odometer flicker, so we were able to determine ~213,000 miles.
 
Misfire was fixed with new spark plugs.
Timing belt was a total pain (I dislike how little space there is between the engine and fender well).
Tires were whatever was on clearance at Les Schwab.
Surging idle was just a disconnected vacuum line.
Otherwise just did the basics (air filter, fuel filter, fluid flushes, etc).

Here was the cabin air filter: :barf:
https://imgur.com/a/ZgB7l58
Air conditioning was much stronger after that.

For the bigger items like shocks, struts, and bushings, I totally lucked out by finding a junkyard 2004 XC70 with 60,000 miles (failed transmission, who woulda guessed; early P2 owners get it) on it. Yeah yeah yeah, I shoulda bought them new. But I was on a budget and this was a $200 car.
https://imgur.com/QjytwbD

I also found an XC70 with some IPD goodies. Undercarriage had full poly bushings, but of course I found this a couple months after I'd scavenged the 60k mile `04, so I left them behind. I've heard some mixed reviews about them causing unwanted squeaks and stiffness anyway. Since this isn't a sporty road car, I didn't really care.... and I was too lazy to do the work twice.
https://imgur.com/d6HYz4a
https://imgur.com/wqONu5h
 
I hate those poly upper engine mounts. I have so many people come in complaining about vibrations at idle. Lo and behold poly upper engine mount. The cars feel so much nicer without them.
 
Consider buying from FCP if you’re going to keep the car. Lifetime warranty has been nice. I’m not a fan of anything ipd… just about everything “Perfomance” has gone to shit

Nice find on the silicone… to bad it’s blue
 
I bought an 05 XC70 for 800 bucks about 6 months ago and I'm going through basically all the same things. Mine even had a front end smash that bent the radiator stack, but luckily nothing leaks.

Mine too was filthy and I got it to "tolerable" and thats where it still is today. Lucky for me the AC works. Well, after I shimmed the compressor clutch it worked. Next thing for me is a transmission flush.



I'll say this, if you are doing radiator hoses, go ahead and do the heater hoses as well. You have to remove all the same stuff to do it, so might as well do it all at once.
 
GTJordan said:
I hate those poly upper engine mounts. I have so many people come in complaining about vibrations at idle. Lo and behold poly upper engine mount. The cars feel so much nicer without them.
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Yup, I avoided them for a reason. I also get bugged when folks replace the upper mount but neglect the lower mounts.
Jack said:
Consider buying from FCP if you’re going to keep the car. Lifetime warranty has been nice. I’m not a fan of anything ipd… just about everything “Perfomance” has gone to shit

Nice find on the silicone… to bad it’s blue
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FCP's great, their shipping has been faster for me since they opened their new warehouse on the west coast several months ago.

HiSPL said:
I bought an 05 XC70 for 800 bucks about 6 months ago and I'm going through basically all the same things. Mine even had a front end smash that bent the radiator stack, but luckily nothing leaks.

Mine too was filthy and I got it to "tolerable" and thats where it still is today. Lucky for me the AC works. Well, after I shimmed the compressor clutch it worked. Next thing for me is a transmission flush.



I'll say this, if you are doing radiator hoses, go ahead and do the heater hoses as well. You have to remove all the same stuff to do it, so might as well do it all at once.
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Funny yours had the same damage. I like the 05-07 years better, like yours.
 
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After days (weeks?) of junkyard scavenging, wrenching, and slapping my knuckles on cold metal to result in moderate levels of crying and/or pain, the car came together. There were a few things, like new front struts, that I had a shop do since compressed springs give me the spooks. An XC with fresh suspension drives super nice, 10/10 recommend. And while I was going to replace the seats, the way they were broken-in was peak comfort, so I decided to leave them in the car with seat covers.

Luckily, after dumping dozens of hours and thousands of dollars into the silly car, it was pretty reliable. In fact, my wife and I daily drove the car and took it on many road trips with zero problems for over a year before any problems crept up. It used about a quart of oil every 500-1,000 miles, but I expected that out of a neglected engine with over 213,000 miles.

Some pictures I took over the year...

Following parking rules:
https://imgur.com/Ly2Ob66
https://imgur.com/8uEIeYl

Assisting a dead E30:
https://imgur.com/u17V6xo

Exploring some logging roads and hiking trails south of Stanley, Idaho. After one particularly hard bump, the odometer cluster display worked perfect:
https://imgur.com/w3YFeIP

Camping north of Garden Valley, Idaho:
https://imgur.com/AwpHimN

Visiting Balanced Rock, near Castleford, Idaho:
https://imgur.com/Az5az9Y
 
After a year, the XC70 began having some issues again, mainly the pesky "ABS/Skid Service Required" message. While I initially ignored it like a responsible person, the car began randomly engaging ABS without any notice. I forget which sensor I replaced, but I was able to take care of that with junkyard parts.

On a trip down to Twin Falls and back from Boise, the car nearly stranded us at a gas station with the "Start Prevented, Try Again" message in the instrument cluster. After doing a quick browse of a questionable Reddit article, I assumed the ignition was not getting a clear signal from the key (these cars have iginitions that "read" the keys to prevent theft), so I removed the steering column cover, took our spare key from my wife's purse and taped it to the receiver on the ignition tumbler, and the car started. In a "hey I'm not necessarily proud of that" moment, I put the steering column cover back on and we left the spare key taped in there for the rest of our ownership.

Eventually, after nearly two years of being a mostly trouble-free car, we decided to sell the car since we had three other Volvos (`83 244 Turbo that I still need to make a thread for, the Frankenwagon, and the unkillable `86 240 Wagon).

Knowing how the XC70 looked when we got it, I was pleased with how much better it looked when we sold it.
https://imgur.com/QZSvfAB
https://imgur.com/MzL546H
https://imgur.com/GzMHxIg
https://imgur.com/obDhaMN
https://imgur.com/FxxXpAc

The buyer was a P2 XC70 collector and enthusiast (I didn't know that was a thing, but hey, to each their own) who planned to use the car as a parts hauler for his other 10+ P2 XC70's. Either way, it went to a great home!

That's a wrap on this thread. Thanks for letting me clear up some phone storage but putting this here.
 
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nedc said:
Great thread- how much did it end up costing you to own/drive it for 2 years? Break even or lose $$?
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Thanks!

Rough math:

Car purchase: $200
Tires: $550
Tallied-up FCP Euro, IPD, junkyard, repair shop, towing, and O'Reilly parts receipts: $3,600
Cleaning Products: $100

So that's $4,450 for a completely gone-through XC70.... a little on the high side considering the 200,000+ miles, but otherwise not bad, especially with how well the paint shined up, no rust etc.

We put over 20,000 miles on it.

Sold for $2300.

So on paper it looks like we lost $2,150, but at 20,000 miles of hard use, that's about 11 cents per mile? (I'm not a math-ologist).

Assuming the math was correct, having a sturdy, comfy, capable Volvo wagon for 11 cents per mile (and no car payment) seems like a decent deal.
 
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