We have a 2008 V70, purchased from a dealer as a CPO car in 2012 – nearly 10 years ago. It had 89000 km on it (55,000 miles), and it now has about 313000 km (194,000 miles) on it.
The car is used regularly for trailer towing, and is set up with a modified hitch receiver that will take the forces of a weight distributing hitch. The first trailer was an older Airstream weighing about 5,800 lbs loaded; the current one is smaller, scaling at 4,300 lbs loaded. (Yes, we don’t follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, but Volvos are very capable towcars.)
ATF was changed by the dealer shortly after buying it because the shifting was harsh. Changing the fluid solved the problem. I did a double drain and fill (using Ford Motorcraft Premium fluid) at about 140,000 miles because the 2-3 shift was getting harsh. So far the transmission is showing no signs of needing another change. The Aisin transmission is definitely a good unit. I have not added an auxiliary cooler, and I don’t believe one is needed.
The maintenance schedule required a serpentine belt replacement at 240000 km (149,000 miles). I did the work myself. The belt had significant cracking. Based on my experience, if a 3.2 has more than about 125,000 miles on it, you should get ready to replace the following: serpentine belt; idler; tensioner; water pump; READ drive pulley; alternator drive pulley; thermostat; intake manifold gaskets. Also, the vacuum pump should be removed, dis-assembled, cleaned and re-assembled with a rebuild kit because it will start to seep oil and get noisy. If you are paying someone to do all this work, $2,500 is probably a fair price. It’s not terribly difficult, but it is very time consuming due to the engine design. If you tackle it yourself, there are good resources online (including Youtube). A 10 mm gear wrench is advised; it will save you hours working in this tight space.
The READ drive and alternator pulleys are overrunning or one-way clutch designs that do wear out and stop functioning properly.
Speaking of the READ assembly, our’s has the needle bearing design (changed to ball bearings in 2010). While the oil change interval is specified as 7,500 miles, I change every 5,000 or so with synthetic 5W30 and a Mann filter, simply to ensure that those fine bearings stay clean. So far all seems well. The engine itself seems great; power, fuel economy, and oil consumption have not changed to any noticeable degree.
Non-maintenance replacements have been minimal; a CV boot, the fuel pressure sensor (about $50 if you buy online), front sway bar endlinks that finally failed at 170,000 miles (amazing compared to P2 cars) and a rear trailing arm bushing which had created an intolerable squeaking. Removal was easy enough, but installing the new one absolutely required a special tool. The only place I could find one was on eBay – out of the UK, because the Ford Mondeo uses the same rear suspension as P3 platform Volvos.
At this point, I have a leaking power steering line (the high pressure side), although I think the return line is leaking as well. I will be tackling that when the winter weather warms up a bit.
On balance, it’s been an excellent car with very few parts failures and no breakdowns. Everything still works as intended. As I do virtually all my own maintenance, costs have been reasonable. I have no idea how long it will last. I’d like to buy a newer replacement in a year or two to use as a travel car, but I think this one will hang around a few years longer as a daily driver/runabout kind of car.