Reliability of pre-owned Volvos?

[Susan in TN]

Dh's car is dead, so we are looking for a new-to-us vehicle. We have found a few likely candidates (under $5500 and under 120,000 miles) and most of them are Volvos. (We do have to make sure you can fit a double bass, which can be managed either with a wagon or by moving back and down the front passenger seat )

 

Anyway, we are looking for something reliable and not too expensive to fix (either at a shop or DIY) if repairs are needed.

[LaxMom]

We bought a '98 V70 wagon with 112,000 miles on it 10 years ago. It's still going. Pre-Ford Volvos go forever. I can't speak to the integrity of them after Ford bought them, but those are the newer ones, anyway, so there may not be enough age/mileage on them to make a call.

[suzybluecheese]

We had a V740 from the early 2000's that had fuel pump issues.  It's been a long time ago, so I'm having trouble recalling the issue.  It seems like the booster kept having to be replaced or cleaned out.  It cost an arm and a leg to have it done.

 

 

[nrg]

I drive a 1988 Volvo 240DL wagon that I bought in 1995. It now has over 600,000 miles on it. Nothing is electrical--windows, etc. The AC died a while back and is too expensive to fix in light of the relative value of the car.

 

My son drives 1992 version of the same model. It has @300,000 miles on it.

 

We have a spare car waiting for my missionary son to get home. It is a 1991 740 wagon with @250,000 miles. It seems to thrive on electrical problems, though.

 

We have been through a few other cars along the way, including a van, a Subaru, and others. the Volvos just never die.

 

Sons are musicians-we ahve fit a string quartet and their instruments, but never a double bass.

[Liz CA]

I've had fairly good luck with Volvos. I would definitely recommend having a trusted mechanic look it over. At least you should know what repairs will come up or if there is a major issue to deal with immediately. My last Volvo ran over 300,000 miles and the one I am driving now is already at the 200,000 mark. DH insisted on getting a used Volvo that was built prior to 1998 or 1999 (?) - can't remember. After this, Volvos were built by another car company and were not deemed as reliable any longer.

[Tap]

Before you decide, I would make sure you have a good Volvo repair person in your area and find out what they charge for repairs.  Repairs on a Volvo are usually very expensive and since some repairs require an import mechanic, they can get extremely expensive if you don't have one close by.  (Same with VW, BMW etc)

 

We have an early 2000s S40 for ds.  We bought it from the original owner who was fastidious about maintenance and repairs.  It seems like a good car, but I do not like to drive it At All.  There is something about it that seems off to me.  2 mechanics have cleared it for a 'good sound car' so I think it is just me. Ds loves it and actually prefers it to driving my 2013 Subaru.  

[bettyandbob]

I had a Volvo years ago. I really did like it, but repairs, even routine maintenance was very expensive. I ended up replacing it with an American car because I could afford the repairs, even if there were a lot of repairs.

 

Double bass--that's a tough fit. My nephew lugged that around for a while. I think my sister brought the instrument with her when they looked at cars. I hope you find something suitable, but I cannot recommend the Volvo if you need inexpensive maintenance.

[gardenmom5]

depends upon the age. 

 

I had a 71 wagon that was running while the body was falling apart due to weather exposure.  the engine/transmission showed no signs of ever dying.  we sold it for the same as what we paid for it.

My mother had an 89 that was very reliable - despite everything she did to the poor thing.  (kept her safe . . . . )

do keep in mind - Volvo's can cost more for parts for repairs.

[Susan in TN]

I had a Volvo years ago. I really did like it, but repairs, even routine maintenance was very expensive. I ended up replacing it with an American car because I could afford the repairs, even if there were a lot of repairs.

 

Double bass--that's a tough fit. My nephew lugged that around for a while. I think my sister brought the instrument with her when they looked at cars. I hope you find something suitable, but I cannot recommend the Volvo if you need inexpensive maintenance.

 

This is good to know - we have an import repair shop near us, but I'm hoping to avoid spending too much in repairs.  It's always a tough call, isn't it? 

 

I guess hauling the bass around while car shopping is better than getting a car only to find out it doesn't fit! :glare:

[Liz CA]

So...I wanted to bump your thread for the evening crowd...and I looked up pictures of a double bass. It's just a giant violin??  :) You need to get a Volvo station wagon and fold down the backseat.

[gardenmom5]

My nephew bought a VW van so he'd have room for his cello - and still have room for other people with their instruments.  (and one of them may well have been a bass. he may even have one of those too. I've a recollection of his story of starting a new high school and a bunch of scary dudes coming up to him and asking "do you play bass?"   he's now a professional musician.)

 

 

[kbutton]

We've had a used Volvo for a year and love it. My husband used to work with an import mechanic (at a totally unrelated job--we know only the basic about cars), and he loves Volvos. He showed us the stack of "alerts" (not sure the technical name) that mechanics use to keep tabs on typical issues with various cars, and the lists for Volvos are shockingly lower than most cars. In addition, he said that a good mechanic will often know about fixes that are less expensive without cutting corners (I think aftermarket parts?). Anyway, he's not sloppy in his work, he's frugal on behalf of his customers, and he's nuts about Volvos. He's owned a number of them himself. He said that our wagon should last 500,000 miles or more if we do the scheduled maintenance and don't have major rust issues (they salt the roads around here like nothing I've ever seen).

[Cera]

We had a volvo that was a money pit.  The quality really went downhill after the company was sold to Ford.  Also, the repair cost with a volvo is much higher than other brands of cars.

[Cafdog]

The older Volvos were much better built than those made in the past 10+ years, IMHO.  I had a 2002 V40 wagon - worked great until 70,000 miles, then nothing but (expensive) trouble.  Many other people I know had the same experience - great for about 50,000 - 70K miles, then kaput.  I traded mine in for a Honda CRV - I'll never buy another Volvo again.

[aggieamy]

I had a 2005 (?) Volvo S80.  It was beautiful and comfortable and up to 100k miles it ran great.  Then things started to go wrong.  Last year we put $5k into getting it fixed.  In August DH and I had a discussion on what to do with it.  I told him it was running really poorly and I didn't feel comfortable driving it any longer.  He got an estimate to get it fixed (another $5k) and basically said I needed to live with it because we weren't getting a new car and we weren't getting it fixed.  The next time we went someplace I suggested we drive my car and gave him the key.  It died in the driveway twice and then twice on the way to the car dealership where he decided to take it immediately.  We got $3k for it on trade in and felt like the happiest people ever. 

[TXMomof4]

We had a 1992 240 wagon. That thing was amazing. Dh drove it and called it his battle wagon. We traded it and I still regret it.

[Liz CA]

The older Volvos were much better built than those made in the past 10+ years, IMHO.  I had a 2002 V40 wagon - worked great until 70,000 miles, then nothing but (expensive) trouble.  Many other people I know had the same experience - great for about 50,000 - 70K miles, then kaput.  I traded mine in for a Honda CRV - I'll never buy another Volvo again.

 

What a shame how Ford brought such a good car down so fast. The older Volvos were known to go to 200,000 before you had to think much of repairs.

[Liz CA]

I had a 2005 (?) Volvo S80.  It was beautiful and comfortable and up to 100k miles it ran great.  Then things started to go wrong.  Last year we put $5k into getting it fixed.  In August DH and I had a discussion on what to do with it.  I told him it was running really poorly and I didn't feel comfortable driving it any longer.  He got an estimate to get it fixed (another $5k) and basically said I needed to live with it because we weren't getting a new car and we weren't getting it fixed.  The next time we went someplace I suggested we drive my car and gave him the key.  It died in the driveway twice and then twice on the way to the car dealership where he decided to take it immediately.  We got $3k for it on trade in and felt like the happiest people ever. 

 

So sorry Amy. I am just disgusted that a 2005 is already dead when it should be running until 2020 if Volvo had built it - and not Ford. O now understand why dh was so adamant that we bought one older than 2000. This is a "vehicular tragedy," the end of the Volvo era. :closedeyes: