Faults:

This is a really strong car. It withstood knocks of 30 kilometers an hour... with minor scratches!

Then there is one problem worth mentioning. You will see that I gave the worst marks to its cost of running above. We have a slang in Chinese that literally means "Eating oil" and this car is clearly a huge eater of oil. It does 8.55 kilometers per liter of oil. Bad considering some new cars doing 12 kilometers on one liter. But all in all, it's still a great car. That's because we learn to live with our faults. I know I have faults too...

General Comments:

A real beauty. Steering is one of the best. Man I'm so used to this steering, that when I took the family car out (it's an MPV, or Multi-Purpose-Van) I nearly ended up on the pavement on a few occasions!

Lights have been great, but I switched them to the white kind as they are brighter.

Final point is acceleration. On highways across the causeway (In Malaysia) I timed the acceleration from 0-100 and it was about 9.5 seconds. Nice for a car this old. L O V E I T!!!

Faults:

Damper inside HVAC system needed to be replaced.

Shocks/struts replaced.

Parking brake cable seized, was replaced.

Driver side seat heater cushion replaced.

Historically, the transmission was replaced before my ownership.

General Comments:

I have owned more than 25 vehicles, driven many more, and nothing has been more comfortable than the seats in this Volvo. Some have come close, but no one has surpassed them.

Excellent road handling and performance, good fuel economy, quiet at highway speeds, nice fit and finish.

Any repairs that could be necessary are readily available usually with photos from the various Volvo forums online.

Even at 16yrs old, she still looks elegant, not old. Excellent resistance to rust. The heater is incredible, and the a/c is colder than my 3 year old Nissan.

Powertrain is extremely well-built, seems that it's the electrics that give issue, historically. I have had no unexpected surprises so far.

Expect that the a/c condenser will go, and there have been issues with heater cores from time to time. There is also a flap inside the HVAC system that controls heat to the floor which breaks... $15 for the part, 12 to 16 hours of labour to replace, so it's costly if you're not willing to do the work yourself.

This one burns no oil between oil changes, and idles very smooth... she should go for a long long time to come.

Parts costs aren't much more than my Honda or Toyota, and easily available online or dealership.

Faults:

- Plastic radiator cracked right after buying the car.

- Alternator went out.

- Coolant overflow tank cracked and rotted from age.

- Needed two new rear calipers after they seized up.

- Seat back cable was built too short, so now the back part of the seat will only go back and not back up.

- Front rotors wore thin and needed to be replaced.

- Battery exploded while attempting to start on a hot day.

- Trunk supports had to be replaced.

General Comments:

This car is my first car. It gave me all the above problems. Even though it looks like a lot, and I may have forgot some things.

This car is very well made, and it's worth fixing to keep it going. It's such an amazingly well built car. I remember saying when I got it "those swedes didn't overlook any detail".

The ride is nice, it can out handle most of my friends cars through turns, and it's pretty quick. Shifting from 2nd gear to third it gets sluggish, but overall I am happy with this car, even at 200,000 miles. I'm even consider buying the more powerful 850 R series Volvo.

Parts are not ungodly high, but higher than American or import cars example: Radiator was $175.

The inside is comfortable even on long trips. The seats hold you in turns, and the leather is strong and wear is present, but isn't deteriorating quickly.

This car has powerful brakes. It actually has the shortest stopping distance out of all Volvo's produced in 1993. If you are interested in after market parts, they can be found, but buying a turbo has many more options.