Ok…so I am looking for a car to buy and I did lost of research and asking questions. I found two and have no idea which is probably better-one has a new timing belt while the other has a new transmission…so…
2006 Hyundai Santa Fe limited 4wd with 124,000mls and new timing belt…vs…2004 Volvo xc90 with 134,000mls and new tranny…which one???
THanKs in advance!!!
No brainer: Hyundai.
You couldn’t give me an out-of-warranty Volvo.
The Hyundai is the better choice by far.
Do you live in an area that has frequent snow? (do you really NEED 4wd or awd?)
The Hyundai is by far the better choice. It has a longer life expectancy and repairs will be less frequent and far less expensive. Equip it with good winter tires and you’ll wonder why anyone needs AWD.
I agree with the others, but I want to point out an additional factor in favor of the Santa Fe:
Replacing a timing belt is normal maintenance, so this is a good indicator of the previous owner having done what is needed to keep the vehicle running for the long term.
On the other hand, replacing a transmission after just ~130k miles is an indicator that the previous owner(s) did not have the transmission fluid changed every 30k miles. And, if they skipped that part of the maintenance package, can you imagine what other types of maintenance they skipped?
I have owned many different makes of cars over the years–including one Volvo (never again!)–and none of them has ever needed a transmission overhaul/replacement–no doubt due to my having maintained them properly through lifetimes that far exceeded 130k miles. Even the Volvo, which was an unmitigated disaster in virtually all other respects, never needed a trans overhaul.
Skip that Volvo, and focus on the Hyundai.
Make mine another vote for the Hyundae, for all the mentioned reasons.
Someone would have to pay me to take an 8 year old Volvo XC90 off their hands. And they’d have to be offering decent money.
The Hyundai has a decent reputation for reliability and is cheap and easy to repair. The Volvo has a reputation for needing frequent repairs, can be difficult and labor intensive (and therefore expensive) to repair, and parts can be very expensive and, in some cases, difficult to find. The recent transmission replacement indicates the Volvo probably led a hard life with negligent owners, while the timing belt replacement on the Hyundai indicates someone actually took the time and expense to do a relatively costly maintenance (non-breakdown) item, which means the vehicle was probably fairly well maintained. If I were in the market, I would definitely consider the Hyundai. On the other hand, I wouldn’t trade either of my vehicles (domestic makes averaging 17 years old and over 200k miles) for a 2004 Volvo XC90, new transmission or otherwise. Too much of a money pit.
JMO, but it depends on what a careful inspection of both vehicles shows. The point could be made that if someone put off a basic timing belt on the Hyundai for 124k miles then what else has been put off or never done.
There’s also the peripherals related to the timing belt. If they replaced the belt only and did not change the tensioners and water pump then in all seriousness the job needs to be redone; unless you’re a gambling person.
Ask to see the receipt on the timing belt first.
If these are your only choices it’s a sad situation. There must be a thousand other vehicles out there from which you could choose. Maybe more.
If this is it take the Hyundai.
You don’t want to own a seven year old Volvo with more than 100k miles on it, regardless of what has been replaced.
I’d look around a little more.
ThanKs for all the help!!!
Unfortunate for me, some one else knew the Hyundai was a no-brainer before me…its gone:/ oh well!
I wouldn’t get down in the dumps over that the Hyundai. Whether it was a superior car compared to the Volvo is anybody’s wildest guess.
What if the Volvo was actually maintained to the hilt and the Hyundai had been overheated 6 times and got oil changes only when someone felt like it?
Someone could be posting on this forum next week about major problems on a 124k miles Hyundai they just bought… 
Patience and foot work will pay off in the long run.
How can you verify if a vehicle has a new timing belt?
Short of tearing it apart yourself you either have to rely on the person saying so being dead honest or seeing a copy of the repair order where it was done. Paperwork is preferable and unless someone who claims this has been done can provide paperwork to prove it then it should always be assumed that it hasn’t been done at all.
Many people are oblivious to a timing belt job or don’t think much about it until it’s time for that job to be done. The cost often runs 500 to 1500 dollars, all depending, and more than a few people will choose to unload the car rather than spend that money on a timing belt service. A fair number of them (dealers and private sellers) may lie through their teeth about it too.
Any paperwork should have an accounting of parts used and it should show tensioners and water pump along with coolant being used in this repair.
“How can you verify if a vehicle has a new timing belt?”
Isn’t it obvious?
As ok4450 stated, the only practical way is to have documentation of the timing belt change that includes the make, model, and model year of the vehicle in question. The main reason for demanding documentation is that people will lie about vehicle maintenance, and even if a seller is not lying outright, many people have a strange concept of what constitutes good maintenance.
If the timing belt replacement was done at a dealership, the invoice will likely also include the VIN of the vehicle. That would help to ensure that there was no switching of paperwork in an effort to make a non-maintained vehicle look like one that has received proper maintenance.
In my opinion, anyone who buys a used vehicle without actual documentation of all of its maintenance is being extremely foolish. If a seller makes a statement such as, “I never save maintenance receipts”, that indicates someone who takes a very casual and negligent approach to maintenance. After all, if someone doesn’t retain those invoices, how would he/she know when important maintenance procedures are next due?
Even something as mundane as proper oil change intervals is vitally important if someone wants to buy a decent used car. While the result of the lack of proper oil changes will not probably show up in as dramatic a manner as a broken timing belt, accumulated oil sludge will eventually kill an engine. Thus, documentation of even a car’s oil changes is important if you want the best possible chance of getting a reliable and durable vehicle.
Buying a used car always has the potential for risk, but that risk can be reduced to a very great extent by limiting your purchase to vehicles with full documentation of maintenance.
Now that the Hyundai is gone - do not buy the Volvo. The XC90 looks nice, has great seats, and drives great. Problem is that it has a horrible repair record, even above the norm for Volvo and Volvo’s are generally require frequent and very expensive repairs.