Comments: 1-15, 16-28
As told to me by the previous and original owner (he is my next door neighbor) :
Ground wire not secured properly causing the battery to die. Dealer was not able to locate the problem. Owner is by trade an electrician and discovered the faulty ground. Owner proved his point to the dealer resulting in the dealer replacing the battery for free.
Timing belt broke at around 100,000 miles. Owner should have had this taken care of before it snapped. A different dealer serviced the car for the timing belt and all is well.
I am in the process of purchasing this car at this time. I am writing this because I took this car for a test drive and what I discovered might help someone else in their decision making process to purchase this model.
The test drive consisted of cruising through 3 states. It lasted for several hours and I logged about 150 miles. I put this car in many traffic situations from 60 mph to stop and go beltway traffic for miles. I traveled country back roads and city streets. In my travels, I felt at all times like I was sitting at home in my favorite chair listening to the stereo.
This model handles very well. It gives enough road feed back to keep you connected, but soaks up the miles while you drive. Steering is as if on rails. Wiggle the steering wheel a little at 55 and one can see how busy the car is maintaining its course.
Parking this vehicle is easy. Negotiating slim lanes in a parking garage and turning sharp corners was a breeze. This car appears to be narrow in a parking space. This helps other cars to not bang the sides with their doors. On the street is a different sensation as it maintains the presence of the space it occupies. It seems that others driving around me seem to give more respect than I am accustomed to when I need to change a lane.
Gas consumption was low enough. For 8 years I normally drive a Camry with a 2.0, fuel injection and automatic. It sips gas. Comparing the gas usage of the Volvo was on the same roads I travel with the Camry.
Also like to make a brief mention that I understand now why you see so many Volvos in Bolivia. That is one mountainous country.. very rugged. Volvo trucks are everywhere pulling those mountains. This little 2.4 4 cylinder gives me the same sensation as it climbs hills. The 4 speed automatic transmission has good shift points for all types of driving situations.
Not knocking Toyota (I have three, a Tercel, Camry and a Tacoma 4x4) but my first impression of the Volvo in the first miles was "refined" driving. Remember now, this is a 9 year old car with 142000 miles that popped my Toyota bubble.
I only have one complaint sort of. No coffee cup holders. I guess the Swedes are not allowed to drink and drive.
I entered the information above and later noticed a typo. The engine is a B230 or 2.3 inline fuel injected four cylinder, not a 2.4 as stated. I had this car pre-purchase inspected by Volvo and found the cylinder compression to be within 5 pounds of each other. All other mechanics were excellent. This car with routine care may last until I am 70.
Well, it has been a year since I purchased this vehicle and it now has over 150,000 miles on the clock. It is purring better than it was when I bought it since it was sitting for 6 months or more, I don't remember. It flew through the emissions test a month ago and gets great gas mileage. Seems I am talking to myself here, but hoping someone is reading this and that this will help to make a purchase decision. Only quirk I found is I learned to not park this vehicle with the front pointing up hill. Doing so causes water from a good downpour to settle in the back of the roof cavity for the sunroof/moonroof. Backing the car to level ground causes the water to rush forward and the drain pipes can't drain a lot of water fast enough to keep some from coming into the car right in my lap. This is not welcomed on a frigid day while in a hurry to get somewhere and dressed nicely. Other than that, this car is really wonderful and I highly recommend having one to carry things bigger than the average car will carry while out shopping.
Happy New Year to all!
Thanks for the info. I just had a look a used 940 and I am gathering what information I can find. Your comments are very usful and encouraging
Mike.
I've had my 1994 940 se auto for the last 6 years and it is the most reliable, spacious & comfortable car I've yet owned. My previous car was a mercedes 230te estate, blue on the outside and a lemon on the inside. Never was I so disappointed with a car, but this volvo has more than made up for it. I have mine serviced every 10,000 miles and it's like the duracell bunny, just keeps goin. I had a leather interior fitted from a year old crashed s90 and that has added that extra bit of comfort to mine. Re the automatic gearbox...it's brilliant... changes right time right place and is very smooth. Apart from the highish fuel consumption I would recommend a 940 any day.
I am considering buying a 1993 Volvo 945 estate and your comments have been very helpful and encouraging. I am however slightly confused about the difference between a 940 and a 945. I have searched for the information high and low, but most sites only comment on the 940 and no site seems to spell out the difference. Is the 945 a North American designation for the 940?
940 is the standard name for the volvo model.
945 is the estate version and 944 is the saloon version.
I have a 944 (saloon) GL 1994. I am REALLY satisfied with it. The engine is easy to repair and keeps on going and going and going... the last real volvo...wonderful.
I am thinking of buying a 940 next month and your comments have been extremely useful. I was told by some mechanics to only purchase a 940 model from 1996 on wards. Apparently the year 96 models are problem free as compared to the 94 and 95 model. Can you comment on this?
The most reliable 940 are 94-95. In 92, estate 940 got rear suspension a-roll bar (helps handling) In late 93, drivers airbag available. SIPS was incorporated 92 ish. From 95, front body panels revised to be slightly more aerodynamic. Rear suspension changed from live axle to independent. My 940 2.0 SE Turbo Estate 5 spd does around 26 mpg in local urban driving, 30 mpg on 1000 mile holiday in UK (mostly full load and max allowable speed for particular road). I has just done 200 miles at 34 mpg on long journey keeping max speed to 60 mph. Overall, the economy is pretty good for a 143k 1.5 tonne "Brick". Would recommend getting turbo version.
Hi We here in Scotland have been driving Volvos for decades. We are on Volvo number 15 in the immediate family. Right now we have a 940S (1994),440SE (1995),and V40S (2002). They are all very reliable. Our 940 has done nearly 120000miles. We have had them all from new. Next (when we retire) we plan to buy a new XC90 as we tow a caravan. The 940 is a great tow car. All our Volvos are automatic transmission, which is not so popular here as in the US, but we would never go back to manual now as we have had automatics since 1971.
Thank you for your comments. I have just purchased a 1994 940, and am happy to hear that I will likely have a good experience. There has only been one owner and it has been meticulously maintained. It has 137000miles, but I got a really great deal.
I bought my brother's '95 945 turbo Automatic 18 months ago for a song when he traded it in for a 2004 XC70. The car had 350,000 km on it and I've since put another 25,000. I've had to do the brakes and there is a slow oil leak from the rear crankshaft bearing that would require taking out the tranny to fix. I just check the oil regularly. The A/C is toast, but I was advised against the expense since Volvo A/C's of that era were fragile.
This it my dog-hauling, garden-center and building-center, take-trash-out-to-the-dump car that can actually haul 4x8 sheet goods almost all the way in. It doesn't have a locking diff an I miss it in the snow here in Central Ontario. I have Nokian performance winter tires, but could use more agressive snow tires. The Nokians came with the car.
I found one great benefit of not having AC: with the passenger window down, you can hear the turbo in city driving.
I'd like to replace it for a V70 AWD, but I'll have to wait many more years for it to die on me... If it ever does!
A 1995 940 2.0 litre Wentworth has been our family vehicle for 7 years and has been absolutely fantastic. It's just flown through it's MOT having done 105,000 miles, so it's probably just run in. We have the 7 seat conversion which has been a great addition with a growing family.
We are just about to sell it to friends of ours who promise to look after it and we hope they have just as much fun as we did.
The comfort is just superb, all day driving across the continent absolutely no problem, towing a caravan was a breeze and the ability to carry items from bicycles to washing machines was always a plus.
The turning circle and general manoeuvrability of this car is unbelievable and even better than our Volkswagen Polo.
First time Volvo owner here...
Mid January I purchased a 1994 Volvo 940 with 149982 miles on it from its original owner.. I even have all the service records on it... I have to be honest and say I was a bit nervous on buying this car with suck high mileage on it, but in the last month doing much servicing in the internet, it seems I got one of the last/best series of Volvos made.
The car purrs like a kitten and listening to it start up in 0 degree weather, there is absolutely no knock/rattle/grinding/ coming from that engine at all...
I will post again in a few months to let everyone know how my Volvo is coming along... Mike.
When I stayed in Sverige during their winter, Volvo is the only car you wanted to be in because it starts in -20 deg C and when you skid off the road (even with tyre spikes) a Volvo is the only safe car to be in. I used to have a 760 which was a real drivers car, but when the petrol price went up I traded for a little Kia, but am going to go back to a Volvo as I miss the arm chair seats.
I just bought a 1994 Volvo 940 sedan and I love it. I'm 19 years old and its my first car. I feel really safe when driving it on the highway. The solidness makes me feel like I don't sway out of the lanes... which I admit I was having trouble with! this car is like a rock and is sharp looking to top it off. it has 180k miles on it right now and the engine sounds great, looks sparkling. I highly recommend Volvo's to anyone, they look great for older model cars!