Faults:

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.

General Comments:

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!

Faults:

- Alternator Replaced

- Various Seals and Gaskets on Engine and Transmission Replaced

- Transmission Bushings

- Front and Back Windshield Wiper Motors

- Besides these repairs and routine replacement parts, nothing else! Still on the original turbo charger!

General Comments:

A Terrific car! Slow take off power, but great torque and power once the turbo spools up. The only bad side to the turbo engine is that it devours gas... EPA 19/24 and REQURES premium fuel. But I suppose that is not too terrible for a midsize luxury car of the 1980's.

The interior is roomy and very comfortable. Volvo makes extremely comfortable seats. However, it's obvious they had not grasped the concept of bolsters in the seat bottom to keep your butt from sliding on your seat around corners, especially with leather upholstery. Besides that, a super comfy interior.

The body has held up pretty well inside and out. Trim quality is horrible on older Volvos. The trim pieces inside and out are always falling or breaking off somewhere. Overall build quality is very solid though with minimal squeaks and rattles.

Even with high mileage, the car runs incredibly well on the original engine and tranny. No doubt, this car will last well past the 200k mile mark.

I love this car, but honestly, the only things that make Volvos better than the average car are their superior safety, and durability/longevity of the engine and transmission. Electrical problems are common on older Volvos, as are poor quality trim and average reliability of the other major mechanical components of the car, like radiator, alternator, etc. But even with these common flaws, Volvos typically last around 300k miles and are more reliable compared to the average car.