1989 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon review from North America

I consider the following to be non-routine maintainance...

When I first bought the car, it needed the following parts replaced:

-Front and rear windshield wiper motors.

Since I've owned the car, the following parts have been replaced:

-Alternator.

-Several engine and transmission gaskets and seals.

-Water pump.

-Transmission bushings.

-A/C compressor clutch.

This car is my first Volvo and is an extremely good value. I consider it to be trusty and reliable. It needs repairs once in awhile, but they are always easy repairs that can be done in a day. Because I take my car to an independent Volvo mechanic whom I trust, repair costs have actually been very inexpensive, especially for a non-American luxury car.

It is extremely safe, reliable, powerful with the turbo, comfy, and inexpensive to own.

My only complaints about the car are that it is no fuel miser! Granted, for a mid-size, luxury family wagon of the 1980's, gas mileage is nothing to frown upon, but it is nothing to smile about either. To make it even worse, the engine requires premium fuel because it is a turbo. Another major complaint is the drive-ability of the automatic transmission. It holds each gear too long and shifts quite harshly, unless you are accelerating at a snails pace. Not what I'd expect from such an otherwise refind car. The A/C is failure prone and hard to keep cold in warm weather. My last complain concerns the power of the car. This is a pretty quick wagon, but it takes off from a stand-still very slowly until the turbo spools up after a couple of seconds. This makes pulling out into busy roadways a little scary. I think for how much torque this car produces, it should have snappier power delivery with less turbo-lag.

The pros of this car far outweigh the cons to me. It's a quality vehicle overall with thought obviously put into it's design. These 740 turbos commonly last 300,000 miles! I hope mine lasts that long!