1990 Volvo 740 Reviews - Page 6 of 14

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1990 Volvo 740 SE 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Model year1990
Year of manufacture1990
First year of ownership1999
Most recent year of ownership2006
Engine and transmission 2.0 Manual
Performance marks 3 / 10
Reliability marks 9 / 10
Comfort marks 8 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper) 4 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)
6.0 / 10
Distance when acquired95000 miles
Most recent distance159000 miles
Previous carVauxhall Carlton

Summary:

Great, reliable, comfy family transport

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.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th January, 2006

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1990 Volvo 740 GLE DOHC 16v from North America

Model year1990
Year of manufacture2000
First year of ownership2002
Most recent year of ownership2003
Engine and transmission DOHC 16v Manual
Performance marks 7 / 10
Reliability marks 10 / 10
Comfort marks 8 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper) 6 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)
7.8 / 10
Distance when acquired175000 miles
Most recent distance182000 miles

Summary:

Saved the life of myself and my best friend

Faults:

We had trouble with the air conditioning (a faulty hose I believe).

Headliner on the sunroof started to fall off.

Slight wear on seat leather.

General Comments:

This was my first car, we had no major mechanical problems even with the high mileage.

This car saved my life and the life of my best friend. We had been stopped waiting for traffic to clear to make a left hand turn when a tractor trailer with a CAT front loader on the trailer coulnt stop. The driver caught the back corner of my car, tearing off about a square foot of the bumper and quarterpannel, snapping the rear axle from the suspension and the large bolts on the front wheels of the tractor tore into the side of the car, the impact threw us into traffic where we were hit on the same side by a Honda. the car held up and both myself and my friend walked away unharmed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th November, 2005

Comment on this review

12th Sep 2009, 03:13

That's incredible.

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1990 Volvo 740 Turbo from North America

Model year1990
Year of manufacture1990
First year of ownership2004
Most recent year of ownership2004
Engine and transmission Automatic
Performance marks 7 / 10
Reliability marks 5 / 10
Comfort marks 7 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper) 1 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)
5.0 / 10
Distance when acquired150000 miles
Most recent distance185000 miles

Faults:

Hard to find repair shops to fix. Engine light comes on for every reason and then you take it in to fix it and just after fixing it comes on again. Bought it for too much and then put too much in to repairs now is only worth 1/5 of what we paid for it.

General Comments:

Not worth it due to the repairs on it. Comfortable and practical if you have the 3rd row. Seems great until you get the repair bills.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th July, 2005

Comment on this review

23rd Aug 2005, 21:48

I disagree with the latter; Volvo owners should strive to keep their cars running at the first sign of car trouble; not many 14 year old cars around get 20+mpg, last 400K miles with diligent maintenance, and are structurally safe. However, no car should be purchased without complete records by way of maintenance manual in the glove box or paper receipts in a manilla folder.

Additionally, the Volvo is extremely easy to work on! Only four cylinders, a big rear axle, strong brakes, and a strong parts following.

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20th May 2008, 22:40

I bought a 1990 740 turbo this year. Great car!! Like all older cars, you just have to check the fluids once in a while. A little more with highway driving. With the turbo, it is especially important to maintain your oil.

Don't forget about the air filter. Do the filter eclipse test, and if the sun's light doesn't shine through much, change it. Your fuel mileage will improve. I could tell mine needed changing cause when I started it up in the mornings, it sounded like it was trying to suck air for a. I ended up getting a Ultra Flo performance intake kit, which made a huge difference. I mean it is a small engine for the size and weight of the car, but don't get me wrong, it moves.

Head liners is another thing. Mine was coming down. I just used a stapler and strategically placed them. It worked great. Nobody even notices. Ha, ha. That saves a bundle.

Cheers.

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Average review marks: 7.3 / 10, based on 46 reviews