1996 Volvo 960 review from North America

When I bought the car the bottom (Seat Part) of the Leather Seats had already been replaced, lucky me.

At 115,000 the Radiator blew, $200 for part and replaced myself. 30 Minute job, No Problem.

Service Light comes on every 10,000 miles, you can clear that by removing the Rubber Plug on the Display Glass and pushing the tiny button with a tooth Pick or paper clip.

Transmission: At around 118,000 my Dash Over Drive Arrow and Transmission Buttons (Winter, Sport, Economy) all started to blink at the same time. First web find was the PNP Switch had gone bad, $200. Three weeks later it came back, took it to the Dealer and they wanted to replace the Transmission (Volvo recommendation - $2500), Code was a sticking Solenoid. I Had Flushed the Transmission at 115K, the car drove fine, so I drove through it; problem vanished, lucky me!

Codes: I bought a Code Reader for my Laptop, this, along with the web, saves a ton of money over these little hick-ups. http://myscantool.com/

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/960_90Info.html#96090SeriesInformation.

Rough Idle/Surging Temp Gauge: At about 124K the car started to Rev at a stop and the Temp Gauge would fall, RPM back to normal = Temp Gauge back to normal. Finally, car wouldn't even start. $50 temp sensor was bad, no signal no start :- (, this sensor plus a few others should start to be replaced at this mileage, when they fail the car stops. (Read the above article)

Next I need to replace the engine mounts, the front suspension bushings and the timing belt 1K Parts and Labor.

This car is a blast to drive, but with all things electronic, issues can arise.

The seal on the sun roof is a little loud at freeway speed, but the comfort and overall ride make up for most of the known issues.

I bought this car in excellent used condition and when it runs you love it and when it throws codes you fix it, or do your homework. This is a modern car that is still able to be worked on at home if you pony up for a code reader and do your homework on the web. If you mix and match your work, with what you let your mechanic do, the costs have so far been reasonable, but track down a GOOD mechanic.