1989 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon review from North America

Front and rear windshield wiper motors burned out.

Driver-side windshield washer nozzle stopped working.

Some clip that holds the exhaust to the bottom of the car broke, so now the exhaust system rattles at idle.

Many interior pieces (mainly dash and door trim pieces) have broken or fallen off.

Both driver and passenger-side lumbar supports broke and are no longer adjustable.

A small amount of black smoke comes out of the exhaust at start-up.

In the 17,000 miles that I have owned this car so far, it has been very reliable for me. No matter how hot or cold it is outside, it always starts right up for me!

It's an incredibly comfortable car for traveling. The seats are very comfy and dash controls are easy to see and reach...yes, even the stereo!

The only major complaints I have with my car are that the interior is very poorly assembled. Pieces on the dash and door panels are loose and rattle, if they haven't already broken or fallen off.

The cost of repairs is quite ridiculous. I accidentally broke the front, left turn-signal light cover and it will cost about $100 to replace. Even if you bring your Volvo to a good independent garage, repairs are still incredibly expensive, so keep that in mind when considering a Volvo.

Another complaint I have is that my Volvo gets very poor fuel economy. I never get more that 21mpg on the highway, with the A/C off. That's terrible for a 4-cylinder powered car! The lowest miles per gallon I got on the highway was 19mpg...terrible! My 4-cylinder powered Plymouth Acclaim on average got 35mpg on the highway and about 20-25mpg in the city. Much better!

My last complaint about my Volvo is that the 4-speed automatic transmission shifts very hard most of the time. It literally bucks into each gear... very annoying! I don't know if the transmission computer is starting to go or what, but it shifts very hard some days, and pretty smooth others.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the car though. However, my previous car, a 1992 Plymouth Acclaim was also very reliable for me. I was able to put 182,000 miles on it before it was totaled in an accident. I did have to make more serious repairs to my Acclaim as compared to my Volvo, like replacing the radiator, alternator, head, and shocks, but all of these repairs (except for the head, $600) were quite cheap to fix. Replacing the alternator was around $100, replacing the front and rear shocks cost under $150, and the radiator was around $200. All of these repairs were made somewhere between 100,000 and 160,000 miles. They were much cheaper in comparison to repairs on Volvos. A friend of mine had to have the A/C fixed on her Volvo. It cost her around $700! A few months later, the A/C decided to go out again. This time it cost her around $900! Crazy! I'm happy to say that the A/C NEVER stopped working on my Acclaim! I have a feeling that I'll be switching back to another used Acclaim soon, simply because they are much cheaper to own in the long run, and are actually better cars for traveling because they are quieter, more fuel efficient with the 4-cylinder or V-6 engines, and shift a lot smoother!