Faults:

In 4 years of ownership, dealer only repairs and maintenance, the angle gear has failed 3 times! This is an extremely expensive repair ($2800 or more). What is most distressing is that the dealer cannot say why this part continues to fail. It has been suggested that due to the highly sensitive nature of the suspension, if everything (ie., tire pressure, alignment, balancing, etc.) are not perfect, the system can fail. Is that real world driving?

General Comments:

I fell in love with the car the moment I saw it. It drove beautifully! It is comfortable, I love the options and really felt as if I had a "Volvo for life." The angle gear problem has greatly diminished my trust.

Faults:

Air conditioning failed at 79K miles, $850 repair.

Brake service at $70K miles, $750 repair.

Antilock brake computer at 70K miles, $500 repair.

Electric door lock at 40K miles, $250 repair.

Leather upholstry delaminated at $40K, don't remember the cost.

Indash lights for stereo went out at about 50K miles, too expensive to repair.

Major service at 60K miles, cost over $1500 to replace timing belt, repair oil leak, front suspension repairs including ball joint, link arm, and other miscellaneous repairs.

Front suspension noise persisted and the dealer has not been able to find the problem or fix it. Gave up on trying to repair after 3 attempts. Mileage when I gave up is now... 80K miles. Noise is very annoying, but does not appear to impact safety or performance... but it clearly is not supposed to be there.

General Comments:

Very nice looking car.

Great performance, handling, styling.

Very safe, but the repair costs given the luxury status and cost of this car are way too high. Seems like it's in the shop for something at least every 6 months. Very high maintenance!!!

Faults:

Replaced bearing in front wheel, and crack on the engine base ($1400). It seemed questionable later whether these were legitimate repairs, but I have no way of knowing now.

No other problems.

General Comments:

Excellent performance.

Very comfortable. Lots of room in the back seat. My wife loves the seat heaters.

Completely reliable. I recommend finding a good private repairman and avoiding the dealers after it is off of warranty.

Faults:

High pressure line to air conditioner had to be replaced, fortunately 1 month before expiration of 36 month warranty.

Just had to replace master cylinder at

28,000 miles. (out of warranty) Brakes became dangerously mushy in very short period of time. Service rep had no explanation as to reason for premature failure. Brake warning light never did come on.

Had to replace tail light and turn signal bulbs at approx 15,000 miles.

General Comments:

Service issues on my car appear to be out of the ordinary.

Biggest draw back to this car is the lack of peripheral visability. Outside mirrors are small, rear head rests block view thru rear window.