2000 Volvo S80
We bought a used S80 a few years back for what we thought was a screaming deal. It’s a beautiful car with the most comfortable automotive seats you'll ever sit in. Everyone who gets in it believes it to be a lot more luxurious than it is due to these titillating seats (genius marketing if you ask me). This is not slouch model, it has all the bells and whistles including heated seats, sunroof, leather, temperature gage, rear seat headrests, etc. It even has wipers on the head lights. It drives smoothly and feels solid, especially when you close the doors. No doubt Volvos are solidly built always scoring very well in crash tests, which is what lured me to this vehicle in the first place. Gas mileage is about 23/24 on average (it’s the non turbo model). The turning radius on this car is deplorable. After driving an M3, the acceleration leaves much (very much) to be desired.
For us, family is number one so safety for the family is obviously pretty important. The price seemed great for a luxury car, and even though it had somewhat high miles (over 80K) we felt being a solid reputable car that it should last a long time. Well, I didn’t do my reliability research very well and the car has been problems from the get-go. The check engine light comes on all the time. For a long time all of the lights, blinkers, etc. were going out one by one, with one headlight going out repeatedly every few months. Oxygen sensors have gone, the ABS unit failed, the throttle module, the rear bearing, gas cap door actuator and front strut mounts have all failed. It has just been one thing after another. So what does being solidly built really mean? I guess it's still structurely a tank, which is good. But not really good if the lacking economic feasibility prevents you from keeping it on the road.
Right now it is in the shop for the throttle module, which has been given an extended warranty to 250K miles because it was poorly designed/defective and because there was a class action suit on it. The problem causes you to go into limp home mode where the car can not accelerate beyond 5 mph. This happened to Cathleen the other day on the freeway, though fortunately right at our exit (after traveling for an hour returning home from
The bright side to this story is that when you have work done at the Volvo/Mercedes dealer, they kindly give you a loaner car. The one I have is a $45K 07 XC90 with 11K miles on it (despite the fact that the value of my car currently is about $5K). They called me yesterday to tell me the repairs would all be covered under the warranty but that it would be at least another 1-3 weeks depending upon parts availability. In this case, I told them they could gladly take their time and if they felt a more permanent straightover swap was in order, I woudn't complain at all.
2007 XC90 - 2007 XC70
The XC90 reviews are not favorable for reliability and so I would avoid buying a used one based on what I’ve read despite being attracted to their outward beauty (and those heavenly Volvo seats). The XC70 is supposed to have good reliability (prior to the 2008 model) so I might be persuaded to buy a non-2008 one of those used. As of 2008, they no longer make them with optional 3rd row seat (facing rearward) on the XC70 because that offering was cutting into their XC90 sales. But based on my Volvo experiences, I would probably shy away from this badge altogether. They are way too expensive new, and though seeming fairly inexpensive used, you will end up forking out the $$ any way. Volvos seem to have multiple weakness points which are designed to fail at 60K to 80K miles (these are big ticket items that I feel were intentionally designed flaws to generate additional service revenue). It is certainly fair to expect to pay more for a car with the safety/crash ratings that the Volvo enjoys, but I feel it is unethical to knowingly build in failure points on big ticket, or maybe it is ethical but unwise if badge loyalty is your objective (hence why Toyota and Honda lead in repeat customer loyalty).
The estimate for my repairs this go around is $1200. Fortunately is is all covered by the class action suite that was awarded due to the potentially dangerous ramifications of spontaneously going into limp mode while tooling along at 70 mph or trying to turn left at a busy intersection.
Verdict: don’t be enticed by the outward beauty and comfort of these cars unless you have deep pockets. A lease might be safe if you can get an affordable one, but don't plan to own one of these cars beyond 60K miles. People who don't know any better (and there are many) will step right into this as I have and will learn to hate Volvo, where the people who got rid of them before the problems start will continue to sing praises.
After a few hundred more dollars for a new strut mount and coolant flush, I’m expecting my S80 to be problem-free for a good 40K miles. Well, I can hope anyway, but that’s what I keep saying each time I drop hundreds on repairs. My intent is to pass it down to my teenagers to drive because of the safety aspects. I just have to know at what point enough is enough, and to perhaps cut my losses.
