Alright so I just purchased a 2004 s60r auto with 211k on it. other than a few minor things it seems to be in excellent condition and it drives great, sure does move. what I was hoping to learn is what would a general value be on this car? I think I got a pretty good deal on it but I cant find any other vehicles like it for sale to compare.
Other than basic maintenance is there anything I should be watching for or doing early on these things? I imagine like most turbo high performance engines they have their quirks.

Bean and JordanRules will eventually comment on this thread. Rabin has a pair of Rs and Jordan is a Volvo Tech in Edmonton. There will be others who keep up on these cars, unlike myself.

The engine is pretty solid, about all you need to do is to keep fluids in it and timing belts on it, and perform basic maintenance. The water pump is driven by the timing belt as it is in most more modern cars, so while you're doing the belt you may consider doing your pump too. DO change the tensioner and idler pulleys as well - that's just cheap insurance.

Where this car falls down is in the drivetrain. The history of the Volvo automatic transmission from 1999 has it's ups and downs, and variations have different care and feeding requirements. Same goes with the AWD systems - later is better, but none are bulletproof. Make sure your angle drive isn't leaking, and if it is get on it. If you have the fancy electronic suspension, make sure you read up on replacing that, as there are methods that are somewhat cost effective and methods that aren't so much.

Otherwise, your car is a pretty reliable thing. Enjoy it!

that was going to be my next question, whether it was a belt or chain. I will find a timing set for it with water pump for sure thanks for the input

Yup I'm a tech at Volvo Edmonton. I have an 04 V70R

04 auto still used the 5 speed transmission. They're sort of detubed in 1st and 2nd. They are a pretty reliable transmission. By 04 the transmission family had been around a while.

As mentioned, check the bevel gear for leaking. If it's leaking I recommend having it resealed. To test the angle gear and splines on the connecting sleeve, crawl under the car and try spinning the prop shaft (the one that runs front to back). If it spins around and around when the car is in park, the splines are stripped and you'll need a sleeve and angle gear.

Other things to watch out for.
Shocks and struts leaking- they're very expensive. Check rock auto for non Volvo branded ones.
Front upper spring seats- they separate. You can put a pry bar and s light under the cap and lift. Inspect the rubber. Should be solid and intact.

Those are the big things.

We don't typically change idlers or water pumps just because. Only if the pump is leaking or a bearing is nosiey. Honestly I've never seen a bad idler. Water pumps get changed if they're leaking or weeping from the weep hole. I've only ever seen 1 do this on the first interval. Second interval I always change the pump. Volvo branded parts are best.

What color interior? What color exterior? They range in price from 7-15k it seems.

I paid 4k for mine but it needed a transmission and down pipe.

Jordan

Exterior is dark grey interior is that orange color. It has the red exclamation sign of the dash. Says chassis calibration needed or something. My scanner won't read the module that's throwing the code.

Nope a normal scanner won't read the suspension module.

Likely source is bad shock/strut or accelerometer. Try doing a battery reset- disconnect the ground cable on the battery and leave it off for a bit then hook it back up. Also look at the wires above each front axle. See if they've rubbed through on the axle. The wires go into the strut and into the accelerometer.

Look for a China knock off vida. Research in swedespeed to see which version people are currently having good luck with. Vida is the diagnostic program Volvo uses. It will allow you to scan and see proper codes for every module and network in the car.

Jordan

Nice color combo, the exterior is called Titanium and the interior is called Atacama. On Swedespeed that combo is referred to as Titacama...

As Jordan mentioned looking on Swedespeed for the current copy of VIDA people are using I would definitely recommend signing up there. This is a pretty small local forum, and most of us are in to RWD Volvo's so not a lot of the FWD/AWD cars here. That said Jordan and Rabin (Bean) are a wealth of knowledge and can definitely help you out, but if you're looking for a bigger sample of like users Swedespeed is where it's at for your caR.

Late to the party - I blame Netflix... Most recently House of Cards - but I digress.

Congrats on the car! My 00V70R has the first year 5sp auto and it's a damn nice transmission. I did a lot of research and have gone with AMSOIL ATF (meets 3309 spec) in 40k ish change intervals since purchase at 120k and the car shifts better than most new cars I've driven. Key I believe being quality oil and regular fluid flushes.

Ditto to all the other things mentioned, and the jobber brand shocks to look for are Monroe's at Rock Auto. Monroe made the OEM ones so they're OEM quality. 04's are the easiest of all cars to fool if you want to replace with non adjustable shocks - I believe it's just a resistor that's needed. I personally moved the strut accelerators from the strut to the body on the front on my 06V70R and I have been absolutely impressed with the stock adjustable suspension. Themove made a huge difference on my car. Car has 108k miles on it and records only show 1 rear strut was replaced under warranty, and my front driver has started to leak - but I found a guy selling new struts and mounts online for considerable savings so those will go in this summer.

Another thing to mention (although not positive the sedans were affected), was the rear hop experienced when hitting a sharp bump. My car used to have a pretty severe side hop with the Hankook Evo performance tires when I first got it. After a ton of research and looking at suspension fixes - winter came and the 215-55-17 tires fixed all the side hop. When the summer tires wore out the following summer, I installed Michelin AS3's and they've all but eliminated the side hop. Running theory being the car likes a little more sidewall compliance and then the suspension works well - too stiff and the bushings deflect and the car hops on impact.

Oh - if you need to do brakes, I installed Hawk HPS pads thinking they'd be even better than OEM, but not so much. I liked the bite the stock Jurid pads had - made the brakes seem touchy, but when you get used to them other cars just seem bad. HPS are OK - and the brakes still make other cars feel bad, but I'd go back to stock pads again next time.

Have fun with the new car!

Rabin