Volvo Quality

[texas taco]

My wife is wanting to acquire a newer volvo V50 Sport Wagon. We have had Subaru's and Toyota's , but never a Volvo. Do any of you now how good of quality these vehicles are, and are they pricey to maintain? Are there any volvo owners here who could answer the questions?
For some reason she is getting tired of the Tacoma. She tire of people asking her why that mattress is on the roof. Her answer is "It my husbands dog house":wings:

 

[tdesanto]

My wife has an '05 S80. We love it. Smooth, quiet, plenty of power, great visibility, very comfortable. It's the only car I've ever driven long distances and felt refreshed afterwards. Normally I get tired after long trips.

They are a bit pricier to repair, but you shouldn't have to do that too often.

Brakes will cost more, as the european autos design their brakes systems to require replacement rotors (these cannot be machined for further use).

 

[ChuckB]

See sig :sombrero:

 

[James86004]

We have a 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R with over 200,000 miles on it. The engine is basically the same one in the car you are looking at. It has been a very good car, and is my wife's daily driver. Parts are expensive for it (the last alternator I bought was $300), and it is a bit of a pain to work on because the engine bay is cramped. Fortunately, you don't need to buy parts or work on it often. Our biggest complaint is it gets pretty crummy fuel economy. 18 mpg commuting in Tucson, and 23 on the freeway. Been like that since we bought it with 80,000 miles. We chalk it up to being a heavy car, like a Volvo should be.

 

[Beowulf]

I have one of the first V50 off the line. It is the V50 T5 M6. Absolutely love it. The Torque is great for shooting off the line. The T5 is just a great little engine. The normally aspirated version is not ok, but the turbo just adds tons of fun. I get around 24mpg and drive like I'm in Formula 1. It has plenty of room for a family of three with room to spare.

If you have any specific questions please let me know. If you are buying it brand new I cannot recommend the Overseas Delivery Package enough. Not only will you pay less than buying it off the lot, but you get a free round trip flight to Sweden for two.

So far I have not had any issues with the car. Besides the dust it seems just like the day I drove it in Gothenburg.

For more information on all this and more than you could ever want to know visit the forum at www.swedespeed.com

Here is a direct link to the S40/V50 section: http://forums.swedespeed.com/zeroforum?id=54

 

[Funrover]

Currently my DD is a 1980 Volvo 264 Diesel. I really enjoy driving it!

 

[upcruiser]

This is a timely post. A friend locally is selling a nice 850R sedan here in town and I was considering it for a DD. Only bummer is that they didn't sell the things in the states with manuals, and its not a wagon, which I would prefer. Anyone have any experience with how they do in snow? It has a good set of snow tires on it right now. I might be able to get it for $2,500 so it is quite appealing.

 

[redthies]

Just selling my volvo wagon tomorrow to finance another Landcruiser. I will miss it. They are awesome cars!

 

[texas taco]

Thanks for all the help! They seem to be a great vehicle. It is a shoot out between a Forester and the Volvo. TOUGH CHOICE----

 

[Saline]

We have an 05' s40 T5 AWD and love it. It's the sedan version of the v50. We really wish we would have gotten the v50 because of the additional space though. The car is a goat in the snow and get about 28mpg hwy. The quality seems great after 4 years also.

 

[ChuckB]

This is a timely post. A friend locally is selling a nice 850R sedan here in town and I was considering it for a DD. Only bummer is that they didn't sell the things in the states with manuals, and its not a wagon, which I would prefer. Anyone have any experience with how they do in snow? It has a good set of snow tires on it right now. I might be able to get it for $2,500 so it is quite appealing.

Kristian I have two friends, one who had an 850R and the other a T5, both wagons. The one with the T5 lived in Vermont and I know he had a set of snow tires for his wagon. I think with a good set of snow tires you will be good to go.

 

[redthies]

As I said earlier, I just sold my volvo wagon and the first guy to come look wanted it to replace his wife's forester. He said the cost to fix the subaru was at least double that to fix his own volvo. I say go with the ice rocket! And yeah, with snow tires they are stupid good in the winter. And virtually invisible to most law enforcement!!:sombrero:

 

[spencyg]

My DD is a '93 Volvo 940 Wagon. It is N/A with an auto transmission so needless to say it has absolutly no balls, but it is extremely smooth to drive, very comfortable, and can haul TONS of stuff with the rear seats folded down. I just recently acquired it for $1500 with 131k on the odometer, and I expect to see the north side of 250k before having any real issues. They are nice cars. I've been told by a few Volvo afficianados that post-99 cars don't have quite the quality in the drivetrain that the earlier ones did, but this may just be a bunch of geeks pissed by acquisitions and such....I'd say go for it. I'm trying to find an S60 for my wife to drive but shudder at the amount of money they get for 'em....

Spence

 

[ShortBusGeek]

I'd say it depends on the quality of the Volvo dealers around you. Our '06 S40 T5 AWD was in the shop around 15 times in the 2 years we had it before we finally traded it for the MINI Cooper. I really got tired of having to take it back time and again for having the same problems, and even then the dealer didn't really *want* to fix it. Once it was there because the brake booster pump started getting really loud to where it sounded like the bearings in the pump were going out. The service director said it's nothing to be concerned about... that if it went out and the brakes stopped working, you just pull over and use the emergency brake to stop... that's what it's there for. :Wow1:

Also had it in with only 13k miles on it with squealing brakes, only to have them give it back to me 3 times saying there's plenty of pad left. I asked them each time to please replace the pads, I don't care how much is left, it's probably a defective set. Wouldn't you know the 4th time I had it in for that issue, replacing the pads fixed the problem.

My sister-in-law still has hers, which she bought a week after we bought ours. She's had various electrical issues, having to have it towed twice to the dealership from her garage because it wouldn't start and was doing all sorts of funky things. Hers is also the T5 S40, but without the AWD. She as well had so many issues with service I had to call the general manager (whose cell phone number I had after having so many issues with our Volvo) and get him to keep the car an few extra days until they fixed the issue.

Maybe ours were just lemons, maybe it's an issue since Ford started running the company and they've slowly been turning it into crap. I don't know. Your mileage may vary, but I'm never buying a Volvo again.

 

[spencyg]

I too have heard that the late model Volvos are of terrible quality compared to the earlier models. I probably woudln't buy a newer one....

Spence