There is a 2005 sport wagon local for sale with 154K on it. Engine/trans got replaced at 140K due to failed timing chain with one from donor car that had 75K.

Car looks to be well taken car of, very clean with no obvious issues. The timing chain issue worries me. Any specific thing I should be on the lookout for when I got test drive it etc?

How dependable is the engine/trans in these? I have no experience with the platform and have to go buy what I'm reading in the forums/reviews of the car.

Have 3 young kids and this would be wife daily driver, just don't want to put her into a dud...

I have spoken with seller via email over last few days, He says car has DSC, has been serviced using all synthetic etc... have to take word for it till I see the receipts, maintenance records.

 

Failed timing chain? That is very rare in these engines. I can't say that I have ever seen a post on here since I have been a member where an engine failure has been traced to that. If you change the fluids regularly and drive like an adult chances are you should be good.

 

To be specific he says it was the timing chain guides that failed. Had a friends 2000 something XJS fail on him literally while sitting at a parked talking to me on the phone. But Since this is a totally different engine etc I was not sure if thats a continuing issue... sound like it's not from what your saying.

 

One question I guess is the transmission... All over the web people seem to be talking about sudden failures, remains me of the issues that the 94-95 mercy had with the week reverse... has the issue been address and is there anything that a person can do to avoid it?

 

If the car shifts smoothly when you drive it and there are no unusual noise that is about all change the fluids regularly, especially the transfer case. Sounds like the current owner was fastidious about maintenance and ask him about that sort of thing. That is about all you can do. Most of the other issues you might face are pretty much straightforward to address. Seems like the earlier cars had most of the teething issues and by 2005 the car was pretty well sorted. If anything goes wrong just do a search on here and most likely it has happened to someone else and has been addressed. There are plenty of helpful and knowledgeable people on here willing to help.

That said, keep in mind you are buying a car 11 model years old and things can start to wear out. If you are going to use it as a daily driver and expect it to be 100% reliable at all times then you might be disappointed. I don't mean to scare you as these can be great and reliable cars, but you have to be realistic. No matter how nice it might look you are not buying a new car and will have to probably put a little money into her from time to time. I had 160K on my car when I sold it with almost 120K of that put on by me and it was one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned and I was good about keeping up with maintenance. However, it was starting to need some work to address some worn suspension parts and some new tires; stuff that was easy enough to address, but would cost some money. In the end I decided it was time to get something else after 7 1/2 years. Had I spent the money I'm sure it would still be running and looking good.

Good luck and let us know how it ends up.

 

Sounds good. My daily driver is an 85 Euro 300TDT thats about to turn 300k 95 of them by me. It's got a lot of life left. Maintenance is everything.

 

I purchased on 06 wagon with 80K miles for $6k about 4 months ago. I purchased it because the transfer case was replaced with a rebuilt used one. The wagons are rare, but don't let the seller try to convince you that is it worth more than a regular X-type.

I'd check to see if he had any issues with the transfer case or viscious coupling, If yes, when was it replaced?

Based on the mileage, I'd only pay in the 4K to 5K max.

Our X-type wagon makes a great winter car. Handles nice in the snow with DCS and studded snow tires.

 

he's at 5200. both engine and trans replaced with 75K units at same time 15K ago. We are treading carefully mainly cause I was burned on a 2000 540I sport wagon a couple years ago. I like the wagon, so right now it's between this car and a 2005 Volvo 2.5T with 125k AWD and 3rd row for same price which wife likes as well. Both cars are close to each other so we plan on driving 2 hours to see them this coming weekend IF they are still avail. If not, wasn't meant to be

 

I assume you are looking at the XC70 wagon? I have both an x-type (sedan) as well as two XC70s, a 2004 and a 2006. I can see arguments for both the x-type and XC70 wagons, but I would tend to choose the XC70. First, the Volvo is safer - the thing is built like a tank. The seats are very comfortable compared to the x-type (or almost any other car, I'm told). The acceleration is surprisingly good considering it's size, thanks to the turbo. It's definitely the car of choice when we need to go on a long trip.
Early models of the XC70 (2002-3 mostly) had transmission issues but by 2005 they seemed to get over that. The leak detection pump is a common problem ($300-600 to fix), but I have not heard of many problems with the transfer case (they call it the angle gear). The down side is they can be very expensive to fix (especially at the dealer) when something does go wrong. The x-type is also a good car, reliable, very stylish, and well, it's a Jaguar. But, the wagon is a "version" of the sedan, while the XC70 seems like it was designed from the ground up as a wagon (although it does use the P2 platform.)

 

After many years of owning Volvos I am back to Jaguars and love the experience. I almost bought a wagon and loved the style and exclusivity of such an uncommon car with common components.

That said I would strongly suggest you go with the Volvo for the stated use if it has documented maintenance. In my experience any thing touched by anyone outside of the factory is an unknown.

There is what appears to be a nice Jaguar wagon with a simpler story listed on CL around Hilton Head you might check into.

 

Thanks good to know. An we are looking at the XC 90 SUV, not the wagon. Already know to go with the 5 cal 2.5turbo as it seems to be the most reliable platform. I see the wagon your speaking of and it looks exactly like the one I'm looking at, 50k less miles but 3k more in price.

 

The rest of the car still has 154K, even though the engine and trans has close to 90K. From my perspective it is kind of like gambling. You are playing the odds that the 154K car wont have $3K in service more than the 50K car over a given timeframe. (Of course the 50K car may have the same engine and trans issues 25K down the road)

Suspension parts, shocks, bearings, brakes, hoses, radiators all age due to miles on the car. If you do your own work on the car, $3K can buy a lot of parts. If you pay to have the car serviced, $3k isn't many visits to a shop.

The other thing you can do is run the math. Calculate how much you want to spend on a car per month. Multiply it by the number of months you plan to keep the car. (Say $200/Month X 3 years = $7,200.) The $5.2K car would give you $2K in planned money for service on the car. The $8.2K car would cost you around $225/month so you would me money ahead on the less expensive car.

Unless you have several cars you can use to drive, having a reliable commuter car is King. Sometimes spending more to begin with buys you the reliability you need.

By the way, the Average car payment in the USA is $483/month. (Used cars are $437/Month.)

 

Great advice. I think the second car in this particular example actually has 90K so, all being said, both about same milage on engine trans. Without seeing maintenance records guessing what else has been replaced over time is just that on either. in some cases, the lower milage car if there is an extreme difference can indicate there was some issue that kept car off the road for a period of time. )I have a 93 civic eg thats a perfect example, car had 73K original miles on it when I bought it in 2014. From pictures it looks great... when it arrived it had a blown engine, the dipstick had been eaten by the trans, the car basically required a complete rebuild. Fortunately a co worker had a 99 civic with major cosmetic issues that I got and used it's engine and 5 speed and stock wheels. Then replaced shocks, tie rods, axles, pinion, radiator, starter, A/c, heater core, shocks, muffler, and tires. (drive the car to work now and have put 15K on it.) Fortunately I can do 99% of the work myself.

Of course being able to do said work is limited by modern electronic systems if you don't have access to the dealer computer or a high end snap-on. And trying to manually troubleshoot a failed module can be an exercise in futility without one.

The plan for the wife car is simple, I'm going to deposit 150 every 2 weeks into a savings account to be used on any repairs whatever car may need. What ever is still in account at time of replacement will be used toward new car then repeat. OR buying an extended bumper to bumper warranty for the going price of 3k (I checked). Which is a viable option since they do interest free monthly payments and would free me from having to do said repairs myself and offering a warranty on any work performed.

Just have to decide, would I rather deposit cash and hope I don't have repairs that eat it all so there is some left over, or spend the money up front and it's gone if I use it or not. I guess piece of mind and convenience have to be factored in as well.

In this example, the difference in cost is actually the price of the bumper to bumper warranty making the higher milage car a better option in the long run. Warranty covers car 10 years 100K.

In the end it might be moot cause she really likes the XC 90 and has found one with 125k in gun metal grey with all the options and the right engine with AWD and 3rd row seating... for same cost as the wagon. I have a feeling that's the direction she is going to go.

 

BTW, this is my opening email on any car I look at...

Like the Volvo and we have been looking for the right one for a couple weeks now. Your about 1.4 hours away from us so before we make the drive down I’d like to ask you some questions. Are there any obvious issues, body damage, rips in the seats, dog chewed up the doors, oil pouring out of the engine, inside of the car covered in fur, glue , ink or red Slurpee, Hard shifts/no shifts into any gear, cracked glass, missing or broken buttons, shorts of any kind causing stuff not to work and Savage or rebuilt title. Can we get the VIN so we can do a CarFax. Do you have any maintenance records on it? Believe it or not, everything listed we have seen. Thanks

 

Unless you are a smoker you might also ask if it has ever been smoked in and ask for photos of ashtray and lighter tip.

forums.swedespeed.com is a great source for information on things Volvo.