When my parents started to looking into buying a volvo for me as a first car, i had my serious doubts. We went from 240DL all the way up to a 2004 S60R, and then back down. My parents wanted safety, that was it. The volvo s70 was a fairly cheap car that provided ample security and safety.

interior:
The car is very comfortable inside. mine has lumbard support and leather seats and i truely enjoy being in it. My mom owns a Jaguar Vanden Plas, and although my seats arent as comfy as those, the seats in the volvo s70 are really something else. However, i dislike the car's boxy interior. It was the first thing i realized when i stepped into the car. However, if you are 16, boxy is better because you know where your car ends...and where the tree begins, so you have a bit better judgement. Also, i think that the double din stock head unit (816 i think?) is very week. it doesnt even play burned cds! However, my car does have 8 speakers, which is nice. The car also has a built in amp. Anyways, i upgraded the head unit immedietly and am very pleased. Back seat room is fine, and comfortable as well. The cup holders are in a stupid position if your car is a manual, which mine is, so i never use them. Also, the idea of putting the emergency flasher button where it is is very stupid if you have a manual transmission, whenever i am shifting fast into third, i always hit them and turn them on which is annoying. I have a theory that the car just wasnt designed for a manual transmission... The only real complaint i have with the interior is that if you have an s70 with a manual transmission, the clutch and brake pedal are insanely close to each other. I can use one foot to depress both. however, even the s60r had this problem if i remember correctly, so its just volvo's design. I am a 6'2'' 16 year old who fits very comfortably in the S70. The center console is very lacking and small, but is a comfortable arm rest. the instruments are very clear, especially the spedometer, which is nice, however i would have perfered the tachometer to be in the center (again not set up for a manual transmission). The headlights turn off when you take the key out of the ignition, which is very nice so i always leave them on (SAFETY bonus on that one volvo thank you!) Power seats and seat warmers are a nice option and work well. Also, the passenger seat belt buckle is very large for some reason and sometimes gets caught in the door and breaks off one of the courtesy lights or whatever they are called. Also, the trunk light is very lame, you have to find it and manually turn it on. It is hidden in the car, and at night time, you dont want to be searching for a supid switch to turn on. it would have made a lot more sense if they had just used an automatic light...

Engine:
hehehe :) well i have 5 friends that all own s70 glts so they are fairly popular amoung teenagers for their safety. What parents dont really realize is that although the car is a volvo, it still packs a punch. I have done 132mph in my Volvo S70 T5 and i believe i could have done more if the electronic governor didnt kick it. Although you probably dont want to be traveling at those speeds in a box, the S70 T5 is capable of reaching them. Second gear for the t5 is the best experience. You really feel the turbo kick in at 3100rpms. Your head is sucked back into its headrest and you just grip the steering wheel. Although it does 0-60 in 6.2 seconds with the manual transmission, it feels significantly faster. The engine is an straight 5, but it is sideways for safety reasons. Still the engine outputs ample amounts of torque. My friend has a 2004 BMW M3 and he was impressed at the volvos capablities. However, you must remember that the s70 is a front wheel drive car, therefore its starts are no wheres near as strong as a rear wheel drive car. The s70 glt is also fast, but obviously not as fast as the t5. The glt just has a smaller turbo, and the base s70 has no turbo. The base s70 does 0-60 in 9.2 seconds, which is comparible to an SUV. however, if you are a male teenager and you want speed, dont let this bother you. The interior will really make up for the loss of power! (buy it, chip it, flip it :) if you really care for power...

Transmission:
I have not driven an s70 t5 with an automatic transmision, but i know that it has 3 different settings, sport, economy, and like winter or something else. Anyways, i am sure the automatics transmission is fine, shifting at high revs in sport to maximize the output of the small engine. However, the manual transmission is a different story. First of all, i would like to point out that the only car i had driven prior to the s70 was a 1970 Land Rover Series IIA. If one word could describe that car, it would be 'hardcore'. I had to double clutch to get into second, and i feel the same way with the volvo's transmission. It can be very notchy and sometimes unpleasant to drive. Getting into second gear requires some concentration and force sometimes. The syncros on my car are fine, its just the s70's transmission i guess. The brake pedal and the clutch are very close to each other, and as someone who wears mens size 12 shoes, in the beginning i had to keep my foot always on the clutch orelse i wouldnt be able to find it :) Now with time, it is easier to find, but still the clutch and the brake are very close to each other. Also, the clutch is very long, and releases an inch from the end. sure, it allows you to shift very fast, but if you are just cruising around, you get impatient while trying to release the thing smoothly. Not really a problem, just takes more getting use to i guess, but you should know about it. Oh yah, if you buy this car, at 5100 rpm, the engine dies, so always plan to shift at 4700 during races...

Exterior:
One word- 'brick'. you are driving a brick with 4 wheels and an engine with a turbo in it. some people like the boxy appearance, others hate it, but as a new driver, it helps a lot. you really know how close you can get without hitting anything. again, with time, any driver knows how close his car can get, but the s70 makes it a lot easier to judge. I dont have the spoiler on the back of mine, but it looks pretty cool. The car is a little noise once it reaches 75 miles per hour also. But this isnt a problem at all, just natures reminder to turn up your stereo. if you are one of those people who cares about noise, get a better set of tires, dampen your doors, get a awesome sound system, and you will be fine. Just imagine the wind noise at 132mph and you will have to remind yourself you are not in a convertible :) nah it isnt that bad :)
(**UPDATE**- the exterior might actually make it a safer car because it is easy to tell when it ends. This means teenagers will spend less time backing into things because they actually know where the car ends. A minor point, but it might actually save a lot of money in simple repairs. Also, the bumpers are plastic, which makes bumping into things not that bad (at slow speeds of course))

Safety:
For God's sake its a Volvo! It is nice knowing that you can drive your brick into a wall at 60 miles per hour and get out and then buy a new one just to do it again. For parents, it really cajoles the mind. S70s have 6 air bags. 2 in the front (one steering wheel one for the driver, one dashboard one for the passenger), and then side airbags on the sides. The side airbags also cover the back seats, so that is a cool feature i guess if you are driving other people. Because it is front wheel drive, handling is much improved, and if you do ever get into a slide, you simply just have to turn the wheel in the direction you want to travel, which makes things very simple. I would recommend that you get a pair of high quality front tires, since they sometimes do slip under hard acceleration. My only complaint when it comes to safety is the spare tire they give you. I mean talk about lame. This thing is mounted on a 15'' rim, which is an inch smaller than what my car currently rides on! The car came with 16'' rims, but the spare is 15?? how does that work! Then when you take a look at the tire they gave you, you swear to yourself that the red circle cross over the 50 should really be a red cricle cross with the number 35 written. The thing is really pathetic. I wouldnt want to go over 35 with it on my car. Plus it says to inflate it to 60psi. Mine actually wasnt inflated at all when i got it, so if you own an s70, check yours. Anyways, 60psi is crazy high, the gas station pump wont go over 50! I currently run my front tires at 36 and my rears at 38. And someone tell me whats wrong with volvo's engineering team when it comes to rear fog lights! I only have one! and every volvo up to date only has one! They safe its a safety feature, so people dont confuse it with brake lights, but you gotta be a real idiot to confuse rear fog lights with brake lights. No one on the highway just decides to flip them on, most people only turn on their lights when they first get into the car. Seriously, i have one rear fog light, and it looks very funky. I mean talk about security, i feel that if i turn on my rear fog light, a cop might pull me over for having only one brake light. All i want is my other freeking rear fog light and i will be happy.
(**UPDATE**- dont crash any car please. Volvos might allow you to survive a crash, but they MAKE IT EASIER TO CRASH TOO by being front wheel drive. If you want to not crash, get a subaru all wheel drive with limited slips and really wide tires and take a couple of racing courses. If you want to crash buy a front wheel drive car. also i had no clue what i was talking about when i talked about the spare tire when i first wrote this review. i am sure it is fine, but i still wouldnt drive it over 45mph)

Reliability:
I am 16, and i dont pay the bills when we take it to the shop, but basically, if you take care of it, it will last a long time. Volvos go forever. Check the volvo high milage club, they have a volvo with 2 million miles on it. Sure they are expensive to fix, but remember, they are from Sweden, of course they will be expensive to fix. I will also include gas milage in this section, i get 21.6 miles to the gallon currently, and thats with shifting at 4k rpm, so pretty good. (**UDATE**- ya right, my milage decreased significantly due to racing the engine and well racing up windy steep roads. My milage fell down to 14.7 mpg)

Things to remember:
-If you want a manual (very rare) know they are notchy and the pedals are close. (**UPDATE**- not that notchy actually)
-Interior is extremely comfy, seats are well designed and everyone loves them. Definetly get leather if you can.
-6 airbags- 2 front, 2 side front, 2 side rear
-Stock headunit is weak, upgrade if you like to listen to burned cds
-front wheel drive means good tires on the front, better handling, and easier recovery from slides, but slower starts. (**UPDATE**-- THIS IS FALSE AND BAD INFORMATION-- FWD means the volvo slides very easily on wet terrain at high speeds. off road is better, since the engine weighs down the front tires allowing them to get better contact with the mud. it is almost impossible to recover from a front wheel drive slide. starts are slower, and you wont be able to get traction in wet conditions if you accelerate hard with turbo). I dont think handling is really improved by front wheel drive. get a short wheel base car if you want handling (BMW M3 or Mini). Also tires wear out fast on front wheel drive cars around the edges. I went through a set of really nice tires in 2k miles. Make sure to rotate often or you will wear out the edges. however, the rear tires will last forever if you arent powersliding. All front wheel drive cars are good for is powersliding i think (pulling the parking break and locking the rear wheels at high speeds (30mph); power can still be directed to your front wheels allowing you to control the slide better which results in faster race times).
-t5 engine is a lot stronger than you think
-you are in a box, you know where the car ends and the new porsche begins, so dont worry about hitting it
-get a new spare tire asap
-the fog lights are pointless and are only there for looks in my opinion. the rear fog light just angers me, and the front fog lights, although they look awesome, dont do anything in terms of visibility. Seriously.

I bought my volvo s70 t5 for 10k, which is an awesome price. It is loaded with every feature except the spoiler, and i enjoy all of them. Overal, a really great car for a 16 year old. I feel that this car has the ability to suit all of my needs until i am 40, seriously, i wish it would last that long. It has the luxury that you only see in 50k cars, and does shockingly well performance wise for being front wheel drive. I would highly recommend this car to anyone of any age just because it really is the perfect all around car. I saw a woman today driving a black s70t5 with tinted windows and a spoiler, so i raced over to her and turns out she was about 70 years old. This car appeals to everyone, and suits everyones needs! get it!
site to check out if you are planning on buying one-
www.swedepseed.com
www.vovlospeed.com

By the way, i could care less what you think of my spelling, grammar, or vocab. i spent a good 45 minutes writing this review instead of working on automating a program for a company that i am interning for, so unless you appriciate it, leave me alone.


***UPDATE***
I owned this car for less than a year before i discovered it wasnt the right car for me. It wasnt the volvos fault, i just needed more space and more off road ability as i like in a pretty rural area. What i did notice though was how unstable it was on wet windy roads at high speeds. Now of course the average driver isnt going to be racing on wet windy roads, but i felt very unsafe in the volvo driving to and from my ranch. If a turn was taken to sharp at a high speed, the front end of the car would loose control instead of the rear like in all front wheel drive cars. I considered this very dangerous, since it is almost impossible to regain control when you loose your front end. Steering is absolutely gone. Unlike a rear wheel drive which is "fun" to loose control or do doughnuts in, the front wheel drive volvo is a lot more dangerous. However, ALL front wheel drive cars will have this problem and i have nothing against Volvos. They are fine great cars, but the front wheel drive is scary if you arent prepared. I just wanted to update this review and warn anyone (mostly teenagers) who think it would be fun to try to race their volvos up a windy wet road. DONT. Because you will loose control very easily and it isnt "fun" because its the front of your car that fishtails, not the rear. Again, i am not advocating against this car, but i wanted people to know that if you plan on buying a FWD car, then be aware of this. I got a new 2005 toyota tacoma and hopefully i will be able to review that soon and let you know how it preforms. (btw it is rear wheel drive or 4 wheel drive!!) I ahve something against FWD cars and i think the dodge viper is front wheel drive, so who knows. Volvos also have narrow tires (205/55s) which are another reason why they slide a lot. narrow tires with front wheel drive might be ok for off roading (not that volvo s70s are good for off roading...) but they arent great for aggresive street driving)
Amount Paid (US$): 10000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1998
Model and Options: T5M, every option except spoiler