Hi, Wizard. I specialize in Volvo repair and have personally owned 50-75 Volvos over the last 12 years. Love these cars. I can say with 100% confidence that the rubbing is NOT caused by the wheels or steering rack and in fact is the little bumper block things mounted to the control arms with two bolts, they wear out, and allow too much steering angle and the wheels rub. Volvo knew this was going to happen which is why there is a metal rub guard mounted to the inner fender. Also, 18" wheels were standard factory equipment on S60Rs, 17 came standard on V70Rs. 17s are optional for the S60R. I would also strongly suggest checking the PCV system as this car has lots of oil seepage around the oil filler cap and at 120k I doubt it's been done and it's due just based on age. I bet everything under the blue engine cover is soaked in oil. Cheers!

DO NOT change the entire rearview mirror. I did that mistake, it has computers in it for the locking system and some other systems, you have to transfer the same circuitry over to the new housing if you want to change the entire housing, otherwise your car's central locking will not work.

I had an 05 back in the mid 2000s. Very heavily modified, one of the fastest in the country. It hurts me to see them looking this worn down.

These older Volvo Rs are getting harder to spot. The fact that the car was sent from 1K miles away to Wizard... I can tell that the owner really wants someone that can be trusted.

The transmissions in this generation of Volvo are from Aisin, the same transmissions used it Lexus and Toyota cars, I don't see why they wouldn't rebuilt it.

This iteration of 6 speed Rs are rare and worth saving. All Rs have problems even the 10k ones. Folks that own these are hobbyists at this point so yeah, worth fixing. Newer Rs are a handling package. This one came with a special engine, trans, brakes and suspension. Lots of $$$ to keep them on the road but still a special car.

The thing about repair cost VS vehicle replacement cost that is missing is that a replacement for that price would need a lot of those things (and maybe more) replaced anyway

The Car Wizard is a great mechanic and this is a great car. Still, I am just flabbergasted by people who ship their car from New York to Kansas just to fix their car. There is no way there isn't a decent shop near this customer that could do this same job. It's a Volvo, not a Ferrari Enzo (and I think even for that, you can go more local than that). Again, I wish the customer and the Car Wizard the best, but it's crazy to ship a car that far to get it fixed.

These cars are so interesting to me. I test drove one but didn't buy it. It was meant to be a competitor the BMW M3, obviously it wasn't quite as quick, but to this day has to be one of the cheapest cars with 300HP, AWD, and a manual transmission. Jeremy Clarkson did an awesome review of one on TopGear back in the day. Volvo really went a different direction on this car!

I’ve got a V70 of the same era (facelift P2) so great to see one at Omega. The 18” ‘Pegasus’ alloys were indeed optional and later standard on the S60/V70R. That rubbing on the inner arch is because the steering locks he has are for 17” wheels. I had the same problem on my car going from 16” to 18” Nebulas. I too have the same beautiful blue dials in my car! That steering wheel is aftermarket but very nice! Great video Wizard

I used to have a 2005 S60R with a 6 speed and 18s on it. I loved it. With that said, on the ones with the 18s, the stops for the steering get adjusted to prevent the tires from rubbing on the wheel well. Going from 17s to 18s, this probably was not done. The downside of adjusting it for the 18s is that the car has a massive turning radius. I had a Prelude Si 4WS at the same time as this car. It was a major change going from a car that could do a u-turn in about a 8 foot circle to driving the Volvo. I miss my S60R very much. I've been looking at them again recently.

Anyone cussing you out for an accident they had-not worth doing business with. I've spent more on a car's repair than it's worth, happy I did car had sentimental value and was worth it to me.

Even tho the Volvo is a special car, it is from New York with some miles on it. If the owner wanted a great mechanic to tell him no on the repairs, he should have towed to Eric O. of South Main Auto.🤷‍♂️

Yes I agree with you about the cold air intakes. Unless it's been properly tuned and setup for that, I would definitely advise the customer that it would be a good idea to go back to stock or perhaps see about getting it set up and dialed in properly.

I hope the owner properly takes care of this car now, there aren't many of those left 😢

I had a 07 V70R wagon and will say that they're one of the more tricky cars to fix as everything requires "software and coding".

The rearview mirror also contains the upper electronics module (UEM) which controls the keyless entry, power windows, and sunroof, among other things. The mirror is also self dimming. Unfortunately, it's not a cheap thing to replace.

It’s worth it! That’s a great car in solid condition now that it’s sorted. The client knows all the issues, unlike buying another used, it’s better for the environment, and way way way cheaper than buying a new car. Good for them and good for y’all for doing the work.

Well they wanted the best shop to look at it!

I loved my 05 S60. The issue was I had kids. The back seat is way to small in this sedan. I had a tune and catback exhaust. The inline 5 sounds amazing. Very cool car

The lengths people go to for their passion for cars is truly inspiring.

I love this car with a passion. You just have to be behind the wheel to appreciate it. This and the XC90 are very VEEEEERY good cars that will embarrass many more popular brands

The S60 R with 6-speed is getting quite rare here in Europe too. I could only find 5 for sale, starting at 13000€ with 270000km. There are none for sale in Sweden at all regardless of transmission. I found one V70R.

To think they would call and cuss you out for doing what they told you to do, because they were ignorant of how insurance companies operate. That's just childish.

I once read... "Volvos were built like tanks, last like tanks but also drive like tanks" lol... I have a c30 2013 5 Cylinder 2.4(the non turbo version) and it feels so smooth and well built...

You can tell by the plate this guy has found identity in this car and he’s holding onto it for dear life!

There is a pretty decent Volvo community in the northeast/new england/east coast regions, they should've been able to find a volvo mechanic more local, money no object i guess, it will be good car when fully sorted s60R/v70R are living legends

04 Rs are reliably the worst year, but the easiest to modify. 05+ Rs are A LOT better but are the hardest to modify due to coding and software BS. The fact that this has the M66 makes it worth tons more than if it was an auto too, it's worth saving.

Knowing the transmission has potential damage, I wouldn’t repair anything but the absolute necessities. Repair the air bag, the power steering rack and that’s it then drive it to the ground.

There is a bump stop on the lower control arm that is R specific. Some folks take those off to get a tighter turning radius. That may be why the tire is rubbing.

Thanks Car Wizard for all the content and especially the recent car buying guide for those that go to high schoolers and college kiddos

I've owned a 2004 S60 D5 Sport since 2007. Lovely car to drive, handles well, very comfy seats, fast and returns reasonable fuel mileage for the age of the car. But its a pain in the arse for things going wrong, and when they do go wrong theyre a pain to repair. It ate brake calipurs because volvo cut corners and used cheap ones, subsequently it also ate vrake discs and pads. It would wear out front tyres in no time at all, and my front tyres rubbed on those rub plates, the uk actaully has an MOT clause that says when the cat has its yearly test to ignore the rubbing,basically volvo designed the car wrong. The steering rack failed and it was a nightmare finding a replacement because volvo used numerous different ones on the S60. The exhaust flex pipe broke, had it repaired and it broke again, so I had fitted a custom stainless through flow exhaust deleting the cats in the process, which is legal in the uk for this age and fuel type of car. My car came with the R design 18" wheels which were way to hard a ride so had those changed to 17s which were much better. I had several pairs of wheel bearings changed on it, several top strutt mounts, drop links and the dreaded oil seal behind the flex disc blew out which cost a fortune to replace, I had the clutch changed at the same time. Then the serpentine belt snapped and got caught in the camblet due to the worst belt design known to man, this destroyed the engine ofcourse. But I wasnt done with the car yet even though it had over 260k miles on it. I had a used engine fitted and it gave it another chance until I eventually bought another car,an XC70. The S60 now has 279k miles on it. It had been sat in my field for 3 years before it was started, fires right up and ran like a dream, everything works on it, well it did until the nearside driveshaft broke. Its now too long in the tooth,needs too much suspension work and the body has started to rust even before it was laid up. Its now waiting to go to volvo heaven. Great car to drive but a pain in repairs.

I had a 2001 Subaru outback H6 that I put $5k into trying to keep it alive. It was worth $2500 on a good day. Engine let go a few weeks ago and I was left with $400 from a junkyard. Wish I never put that money into it, but I loved it so much and wanted to keep it forever. I'll never dump that much into another cheap car again after the experience I went through

If the steering rack has been leaking for a while, oil from the rack can erode the anti-roll bar bush. And Volvo anti-roll bar bush are molded onto the rod. So the only way to fix it is to replace the entire anti-roll bar. IPD makes an improved version of it but I hear it's expensive and it kinda squeaks

I have a '07 S60R too! I love this car, and right now mine needs a little TLC. I believe it is worth the investment bc these cars ride so well, accelerate like champs and look super in and out. Thanks for the video!

Insurance always wants to pay market value. That's why you need to make sure you keep all your service records, that way you can negotiate with the insurance company for the value based on having many new parts.

If that was my car I would have it towed to pick n pull as a gift.

Not saying the Wizard wasn't a good option, but there are so many great independent Volvo shops in the Northeast that could have done this properly. Ithaca NY... Connecticut... etc. Maybe the owner just wanted the car to have some internet fame 🤷🏼‍♂

Its a Volvo and its an R,, absolutely always worth it.

I agree with his recommendation regarding K&N air filters. They do not filter very well and really do not increase air flow enough to be noticeable. But that oil can get on hot wire MAF sensors and cause the wire to break during the device's cleaning cycle on engine shutdown. Great video!

I can see falling in love with this car but it might be wise to fall in love with a newer model in better condition.

A volvo S60 R is always worth saving!! Im from sweden and this is a very good car :)

My son is a mechanic at a Volvo independent shop in Pasadena, CA that has been in business since the late 70s. Volvo's are so highly valued, that customers regularly put more money in them that they are worth. The cost of repairs relative to the value of the car is generally not an issue. Rs in particular are very sought after.

I just flew from NY to Chicago last week to drive a 60k mile s60R back home. Did brakes , fluid, paint correction the day i came home

It’s not just a car for this owner. To spend that much. Sentimental or desirable by owner.

I remember when I was doing mots (inspections) on these there was a memo about the tyres touching the inner wheel arches as it wasn’t to be considered a rejection and completely normal, hope you read this wizard!

I’m new to the channel and I am so glad you mention repair vs market value because I’ve had friends that are tuners that well had a similar situation where the Judge flat out said the car is worth “X” keeping the car running is your problem

I had an 07R and loved it! One minor detail i caught is that you mentioned the strut tower brace and that is only an upper motor mount. You have to add a strut tower brace along with the motor mount to get the stiffness that a brace provides. Totally worth sending to The Car Wizard! Only have these cars looked at by a trusted mechanic. Bad work is why i eventually needed to let mine go.

Actually if the customer still has full collision coverage on the car a lot of times insurance will credit the customer for the services rendered into the vehicle thus far. I actually had that happen to me twice in the past 2 years with my 2014 Honda CR-Vs. I got very lucky because you're right a lot of times it doesn't work out that way! So as a suggestion you might want to ask the customer if they still carry full coverage insurance on the car that way in the event that something like that ever happens where the vehicle is totaled, then you can tell the customer to contact their insurance company and see if they can submit their service invoices to their insurance company for reimbursement. Hope this helps!

Something to check with the transmission popping out of gear is that it could very well be stretched shifter cables. That's a common issue for M56 Volvos like 850s and later P80s which causes them to pop out of gear and not go in certain gears correctly, so I wouldn't be surprised if P2 Volvos are also at the age where that's becoming a point of failure.

It’s great to see people hold on to these! I have my 06 S60R 6-sp. with 276k miles! Running strong and just doing the maintenance in it is fun. The more I work on them, the more I appreciate the car itself.

Man, I really hate the steering rack in those things, they're so expensive and no matter how well you treat the car it IS going to break

We live in a metropolitan area of over 165,000 people, and yet, I’ve only found one honest mechanic in the 12 years I’ve lived here. That is why someone will spend $1000 to ship their car to an honest mechanic like the wizard.

Magic blue! Beautiful car, good on the owner for wanting to save this. Expensive unique spec but so worth owning.

Great points W. Unless someone has an emotional attachment to the car... like it was his 1st car etc etc... move it on if repair is close to replacement cost of 'like for like' car!

$8000 to repair a 16 year old Volvo? Wonky tranny not included? $2300 to get it to Kansas and back to NY? $5000 to get a decent paint job? I dont fault Wizard. Volvo owner needs to revisit.

extremely fun cars to drive, very comfortable and the power band is fun. Knowing how to work on them and the tricks and tips to them can save $$.

Watching from the Netherlands! Love the stories!

I always found rebuilding manual transmissions really fun work. It's not that difficult if you keep the parts in the correct order.

That is a compliment to you that they would spend the money and take the time to have that come to your shop. My only question is though when you add what you're going to be doing to it and then they get back to New York and have to put a transmission in it they'll have more in it than it's worth

If it's on the edge of total write-off without the 4k gearbox rebuild, it's over the edge, clearly.

Hi, once I pop the hood and see modifications that I didn’t install then I know that it was beat. Someone thought they were driving the Nurburgring on a regular road where probably the engine was not brought up to temperature for a prolonged period of time. I had an TI Sport AWD when it first came out and we drove it for about 2 years and then traded it and got great money for it. Unless you really need AWD it’s just a waste and something else to fix and the excess weight is not good for gas mileage. The Volvo’s were nice but you need to be rich to fix them out of warranty!! Great Videos!! Thank You 🙏

I have had a couple of vehicles repaired that were supposedly mechanically totaled or totaled by the insurance company. I had my reasons for doing so and would never blame the mechanic if my vehicle was wrecked. Most recently I bought a 2001 Saturn LW300 back from the insurance company after the insurance company totaled it after an encounter with a deer. The vehicle only had 70k miles and was in very good condition and drove perfectly. I bought the vehicle back from the insurance and sourced used parts to repair the very minor damage. Still using it as an "EXTRA" car five years later.

I had a T5 850 And they are a Blast to drive,Very addictive.. adrenaline Rush And that 5 Cylinder burble,Love it..

For a 16 year old NY state car it doesn't have that much rust. Some car would've disintegrated at that age.

Those generations of Volvo R's are definitely worth keeping up. So happy to finally see one on the channel! I'm looking for a V70R myself.

That rubbing from the front wheel is propably caused by worn out steering limiter. There are different thicknesses of them, depending the wheel size the car came with, and they will wear with age.

I knew someone with a Volvo 850-T5. Now tat was a seriously impressive car. I cannot conceive anyone needing much more actually.

Finally while lowering the car down of the hoist we see scratch marks in the lower part of the bumper bar. Let's go up this 4wd track, my S60R has all wheel drive. Yeah, right.

Very surprised customer wants to put so much money in this thing considering how beat up it is externally for only having 120k miles. You would think it would be immaculate from outside if they are willing to put 8k+ $ into it. Kinda strange 😂

Great the client goes for it! Hope we get a heads up once the work is done.

Wow I used to work at white plains Volvo and I remember seeing this car with the plate!!! That’s crazy

It would have been worth it for a V70R. With Space Ball. And Atacama interior.

My daughter's 2007 XC70 was purchased with 163K miles. Her first car...$5995.00. Remarkable seats, remarkable heating and cooling system. A tank. Totally great car. However, expensive to maintain. At 214K the head gasket started to fail for unexplainable reasons....never overheated....at least when we had it. Donated it to a radio station. I can understand why the owners want to keep the "R Type."

They must really love that car… even if they searched for another one that wouldn’t undoubtedly have issues, maybe the devil you know… my wife n I put more into our06 Cummins mega cab to customize for her with paint, new leather, upscale sound system because it was cheaper than new and had 120k on it she loves it and whatever she wanted I did because of her cancer, sometimes the reason outweighs the practicality. Keep them coming wizard .

The repair cost is always a tricky one. I've had people with cars which were, effectively, totaled given the mechanical repair needs and some body damage ask about what they should do. I told them it's only worth scrap value at the junkyard--which isn't going to give much even before factoring in the mechanical issues and body damage. So it needs $3k in repairs and you can get $250 from the scrapyard? What are you going to buy for $2750 these days? There's something to be said for the old saying "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't." At least you know the maintenance and repair history of your vehicle, as long as you've taken care of it then that $2750 is better-spent fixing your old clunker than buying someone else's problems. But then comes the inevitable issue of insurance value--some insurance companies are good enough to where you can send them recent repair bills and they'll partially return some of that value to you in the case of a total loss but you'll never get your money back. That's always a big consideration which often goes overlooked when investing in repairs to a vehicle--will you get your money back if someone isn't paying attention and rear-ends you tomorrow and totals your car (ask me how I know this one). Fortunately you can often declare a value with your insurance company, generally with a modified vehicle but you can usually press to declare what you believe your vehicle is worth and pay the extra cost to insure it for that amount.

RE Calipers If the steel connector to the caliper is rusty, I would remove the caliper, fix it in a vice and use oxy or map gas to heat the connector. That might be enough to loosen it. Worth a try before binning the caliper. Great channel!

If it were a wagon I might put that much money into it. Not a sedan though.

Pocket the guy's deposit for your time and tell him to pick it up or haul it to the razor blade factory.

Actually all P2R’s came with Pegasus wheels from factory, the only wheels the clear those “big” front brembo brake calipers. And No the interior mirror isn’t that simple to just replace, it houses the key remote antenna and will need to be reprogrammed if changed, unless you move the electronics over to the new mirror. The rubbing isn’t really an issue as almost all P2s do that, check the steering stops on the control arms.

Been waiting for this kind of Volvo content for years. I'd love a deeper dive into Volvo vehicles the way you have done for other brands. The P3 cars are actually an insane bargain right now for the quality you can get for under $15k used, and if well maintained, they will LAST. The 4C suspension is EXPENSIVE though! I'm fine with my standard suspension setup.

17s are rare, 18's were an option, but those Pegasus look like reps. Unless its super low miles its not really worth it for 8k. Most I've poured into one is 3k and even after that the interior was cleaner than this s60r. M66's for this year are really hard, I would honestly look into finding them a replacement m66 from a s40 awd as that's more available. The brakes can be very hard to find as they're popular to use on other platforms with adapters.

Had one of these, tire rubbing is due chassis not designed for the wide wheels. Also would eat front bushings in 25kmi. The drive shaft exhaust rub happened on mine when hitting rain or snow, the exhaust heat change would flex into the drive shaft. It would squeal for about 30 seconds and go back to normal. Car was great to drive, very fast and had comfortable seats. The back seat was small for the size of car.

I have an 01 S60 T5. I’ve owned it for 21 years. It sat for a while and that really did a number. It had a ton of things to fix recently to make it a daily driver post-pandemic. Did a new rack (insanely expensive) + pump and housing, both fuel pumps (huge tank with two sides), full suspension, PCV, timing belt, crankshaft adjustment, full brakes and rebuilt the exhaust. It’s something you can only do for irrational reasons. I dont regret it though 😊.

I love these R's, but this is a pretty beat up one for its age and mileage 🤔

I had to sell my V70R as I was not willing to spend the money on repairing the 4C suspension and replacing the Brembo rotors and pads. Just the shocks and brakes was almost the value of the car.

I am always amazed at the 'normal wear and tear' on cars that are not much older than mine. I bought my Jeep new in 2010 and it has 110k miles. It still looks brand new with perfect paint, no rust or corrosion, perfect interior etc. It baffles me how some cars just age quicker than others.

You know your a good mechanic when you have people bringing their cars from states away but honestly when I get a better car I wanna do the same thing

Yes honest mechanics like you Dave aka Wizard are hard to find even here in new york state. So it seems like its important to this car's owner to choose your shop to get the job done right.

I have one :) Wouldnt replace it for nothing but still turning radius is atrocious :)

Mrs. Wizard is completely right, there's a ski pass-through in the middle rear seat

10 years years ago my wife and I gave my daughter her Volvo XC90 it had 75,000 miles on it now it has 150 still looks great and runs fantastic she just graduated from college we gave it to her when she was 16

We purchased a S60 for our son (has the pegasus R series wheels and original wheels with snow tires) for $6k two years ago and put about $6k into in in repairs. Still feel good about the car, he's happy with it as well. Cars are just so damn expensive now, it's all relative.

Are the repairs worth it for the car itself? Up to the owner I suppose. But was it worth the $1k to ship it to the Wizard? Absolutely. If nothing else, it shows the level of honesty and trust that Wizard has in his shop's work resonates with the viewers. and that's awesome to see. :)

Love the space ball shifter. My dad had a S60 T5 (I think) with that shifter. I wanted the car when he was done with it but he hit a deer one morning going to work and totaled it. I was kinda bummed. He bought a new '15 WRX to replace it. He didn't go with another Volvo since by then no new Volvos could be had with a manual. I would have loved to have a V70R in the glorious teal color with brown leather interior. Alas, it just wasn't meant to be.

1. Wheel rubbing is caused because angle limiters are worn. Just replace them. They sit on the lower linkarms 2. Steering angle sensor. There are companies that offer refurbished units for half a price of the new one. 3. Would be good to service haldex awd system as well. Oil and filter replacement. Otherwise the pump can worn out. Those are such a nice cars to drive. I think worth saving.

That steering angle sensor issue is all too common on the P2 platform. I have the same issues on my XC90... gotta get that fixed soon, haha. Sometimes, it's not too hard to fix, being usually a dirty optical sensor lens.

This is why you see so many old Volvos for sale on craigslist really cheap, because even if you get the Volvo for free, are you going to spend anywhere from $5000-$15,000 to fix it. Because of this, I no longer want to own a Volvo. There is no such thing as a “bargain” Volvo

Oh wizard. My V70R is definitely coming to you if I can’t fix this god damn AWD

Having owned one I would upgrade to the next generation S60 T6 R Design with an inline six.