Our 2005 Volvo XC70
To start off my Volvo of the Week series I am using our very own 2005 Volvo XC70. We purchased this car specifically for our road trip. We decided on this trip over a year ago and I knew that the ideal vehicle would be an XC70. I looked for some periodically but came to the conclusion that we most likely would not find one in our budget. We were trying to find a vehicle that was decent on gas, had room to sleep in the back, had AWD or was 4X4 that we could get for cheap. I know it sounds crazy, but we just wanted something that would get us where we wanted to go. If it did happen to break then we won’n be out a bunch of money.
For a while I stopped looking all together. All of a sudden it was two months before our leave date and I had to find a car. Initially we had a deal set up with a friend to “rent” their Toyota 4Runner, but I kept looking for an XC70. Out of the blue I found this one on Craigslist about 40 minutes away from us. It had high mileage but looked to be in good shape.
The price was higher than I wanted but I figured with the mileage it had we could work something out. I have owned Volvo’s in the past so I was confident I could tell if it was worth pursuing. After a test drive and a good once-over I decided that this could be the one I had been looking for! I paid a mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection and then started negotiating. It took a few days, but they finally agreed to sell it to us for what we could afford!
So without further ado, here is our 267,000 mile 2005 Volvo XC70!
Before:
Here it is after I detailed it a few weeks later. I also purchased and installed some cross bars from a friendly gentleman on the Swedespeed forums, as well as a Thule roof box from Craigslist.
We are still working on adding curtains, a mattress for the rear, and some other things as well. But for now it is mostly ready to get on the road!
That’s all for Joe’s Volvo of the Week Post #1. Stay tuned for more Volvos!
