2004 Volvo V70 Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: 2004 Volvo XC 70 by jrlombard

Reliability & durability

My wife and I are just about to roll 100k miles on our 2004 XC70 and it has been very reliable. Nothing but scheduled maintenance to report, and even the cost of said maintenance has been very reasonableâ€"on par with Hondas that we've owned. The key to Volvo ownership is finding a reputable and reliable independent repair shop. In my area I have a guy who loves, lives and breathes Volvo. If I only had the dealer, I'd own another make.

Safety & braking

Driver and passenger front airbags as well as SIPS (window curtain) airbags. The construction of the car and the safety features give my wife peace of mind when hauling the kids (both under 4) around town and on road trips.

Ride smoothness

The suspension is quite soft, and while not the best for twisty backroads, this car comes into its own on the highway. It has a very plush ride and between that and the amazingly comfortable seats, it's very easy to do a 6-8 hour road trip arriving as rested as when you left.

Insurance cost

Insurance isn't too bad, but depreciation is a killer. Like many second tier European cars, even the cost of maintenance takes a back seat to the cost of depreciation. Don't get me wrong, we love the car and it has treated us very well, but it would have been faster just to set fire to a pile of money.

Powertrain performance

With 208 horsepower moving over 3,800 lbs, fast is one thing that this car is not. However, once on the highway, passes from 65-80 happen fairly quickly. I almost always opt to downshift using the 'manumatic' option on the transmission, but even left in "D" the transmission is reasonable quick to respond.

Cost of ownership/deprecation is a major complaint, but we plan on driving it into the ground, so it's less of a concern. Gas mileage isn't stellar, but it's tough to complain about 28mpg in a relatively heavy, AWD wagon. Lack of horsepower and turbo lag are my biggest complaints.