Faults:

Exhaust fell off after a week.

Tyre popped at 60mph, I demolished a kerb and a hedge.

Intermittent stalling problem.

General Comments:

Slow old plodder, I bought this when I started a buisness and used it extensively for towing cars.

Hideous blue interior hadnt ever been cleaned and smelt funny, the windscreen leaked, the central locking never worked.

However the boot was huge, and capable of carrying engines, gearboxes, 1 ton of topsoil etc.

Never had to repair it other than the exhaust.

Had tax and test when I bought it for £150, so ultra cheap.

Weighed it in for £120, with nearly 210,000 miles on it- shame as it still started and ran fine.

Faults:

Head Gasket, repaired it myself for less than £20. Took me a day.

Interior roof material falls off in the back. Apparently common after certain amount of time.

Track rod ball joints worn. replaced both myself for about £20. Took an hour each.

General Comments:

Considering the age of the car and the mileage on it when I bought it for £700, it has been marvellous. I've run it for 7 years, been to France, Scotland and all over England and it's let me down only once or twice.

Extremely easy to maintain and parts are cheap and easily available as long you avoid main dealers.

Built to last, still no sign of corrosion anywhere.

Performance is lumbering as the engine is under powered for a car this heavy.

Fuel economy very poor, but I knew that before I bought it, you have to take that on the chin with an old Volvo.

Faults:

The rev counter has never worked from the day I acquired the car.

Otherwise I have only had to replace normal maintenance items like tyres and brake pads.

General Comments:

I think the car is very economical for its size, getting an average 28mpg, but the 2 litre engine is a bit under powered.

Handling is adequate, but this is not the car for twisting roads. The car is best suited to the motorway.

My car is a 7-seater estate and I would definitely recommend it to anyone needing a cheap, reliable people carrier.

Faults:

No faults (apart from both side light bulbs going - £3.49 the pair).

Shock absorbers all due for replacement, not a fault as these do naturally wear out. Watch out for self-leveling shocks at the back of the estate; these are very expensive to replace. You can downgrade to standard ones if you are on a budget, in which case the springs have to be changed as well (but still cheaper than the self-leveling shocks option).

Squealing clutch can be a problem on models around this year. I didn't believe it when the main dealer told me that Volvo used a coating formula for the clutch plate that had this problem, but independent garages have confirmed this fact. Ours has just squealed its way through 18,000 miles, and still no sign of the clutch failing.

General Comments:

Well it's big! Once you have owned a 240, 740 or 940 (or their variants), you will never be phased by anything that the local timber merchant can sell you!

But, because it's rear wheel drive, it turns on a relative sixpence, meaning that it's brilliant on the school run when you have to do three-point turns in a road that a Ford Escort wouldn't try!

Fuel consumption is surprisingly good for such a big car, I calculated 29Mpg in normal driving (school runs, shopping, carrying small planets in the back, that sort of thing...). The 2.0i engine struggles when pulling away, but overtaking is actually very good if you remember to take it down through the gears before pulling out.

If you want a car that is very reliable, comfortable and BIG, then this is the car for you. If you want a Ferrari, then buy a Ferrari!