Thank you all for your advice and shared enthusiasm. I have added a photo of the 3 Rs after undergoing washing/waxing a coupe weekends ago. L to R are the 05, 04, and 06. In response to a few comments and questions, i offer the following:
What's next after 300K? My son just picked up a 2010 S80 V8 with a little over 100K, that's what's next!!!! : ) Engine/exhaust sounds fantastic! It just needs to be registered, which will take a while due to DMV closures, etc. He is confident in driving the R around CT where he lives, and we certainly don't have any concerns with it breaking down other than not knowing when the fuel pump is near its end. Other than that, the car is very solid. Maybe we'll do a pre-emptive fuel pump replacement?
PCV system: yes they are a pain. We DYI them. Fortunately you should only have to do it once. I failed to mention that we replaced all the coolant/heater hoses when we did the PCV in this 05. Thanks for the advice to pull the oil pan and clean out the flame trap passages. We did not do that, but maybe we should have. As a note of what synthetic oil does in terms of cleanliness, my 06 V70R just underwent the PCV system replacement (did it over my winter break in the garage). This 06 (with over 255K) was fed almost exclusively synthetic and oil was changed by previous owners at 5K intervals. Very clean PCV system in the 06. Very little sludge build-up.
On the 2004 V70R (bright silver one), which was mine, but is now owned by my other son, it is at 225K, was a Volvo CPO. Only major issues we've had with that car was the Angle Gear whining (which was thankfully covered by the CPO warranty), and the CEM which we had to replace with a XEMODEX unit a couple years ago. Underbody/rest of body has Zero rust. Only things that are rusting are the strut bodies and a couple brackets. Slightly lowered on IPD springs.
My 2006 V70R (dark silver) got the full T-belt, WP, coolant, coolant/heater hoses, some motor mounts, SNABB big intercooler and intake hoses, plugs, PCV system replacement this past Dec/Jan. With 259K on it, i have no reservations about taking it on long trips. Slightly lowered on IPD springs.
All in all, great cars. I'll probably take ownership of my son's 05 when the S80 V8 gets registered.
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