1998 Volvo S70 Reviews

Major issues with the timing belt tensioner, causing total engine failure.

Followed all maintenance and had timing belt replaced at 60k.

Tensioner fell apart, resulting in valve damage and loss of compression. Volvo quoted over 4000 to fix. Engine gone at only 95k miles!!!

Volvo knew about the problem with a technical service bulletin, and never fixed this issue with mechanical pulley tensioners.

Same interior complaints with door liners and seats.

Same complaints about bulbs and lighting and brakes.

The car is engineered horribly. Followed every maintenance guideline, and it did not even go until 100k miles.

Volvo dealer replaced my timing belt and did not replace the tensioner, and said that is normal. However every other dealer disagrees. I am disgusted that the tensioner fails and causes the total loss of the engine.

Horrible engineering or great way to make money.

Change your timing belt and tensioner, or you will be out a minimum of 4k.

Besides regular maintenance, I have not had any major issues with this car.

Back in early 2006, I was in the market for a new car. I had just discovered that I was pregnant, and came to the conclusion that my two-door Chevrolet Cavalier just was not going to cut it anymore. I realized that not only would that car be very inconvenient for transporting a baby around, but it did not seem like the safest car either. After reading the history of Volvo, and studying their safety statistics, I was convinced that a Volvo was absolutely the safest car option for my family. Luckily, I have never had to see firsthand how this car does in accidents, but I am confident that it will do a great job at keeping my family safe.

In the almost five years that I have owned my Volvo, it has been extremely reliable for me. Never once has it broken down, or left me stranded, and aside from regular maintenance, I have hardly had to put any money into it.

The best part about my car though, is that is not just the engine that is super durable. Normally, living in Phoenix, Arizona, you would think that the ability to survive extreme weather was not all that important. Recently, we saw one of the worst storms in Arizona history. We saw hail the size of golf balls, and there were even six reported tornadoes. I have lived in Arizona my whole life, and I have never seen a storm like this before. And the storm did a lot of damage. Almost every person I know had some sort of damage to their vehicles. My Volvo, on the other hand, did not show a single sign of damage. There were no dents, and my windows and moon roof were completely unharmed. After that very unexpected storm, I was happier than I have ever been to be driving a car that I know I can depend on.