I bought a 98 S70 that had just been turned in from lease in 2001. I have just rolled over 150,000 on the odometer and it has been a great car so far. Yes, it did go through a bulb burn out phase, but that seems to be over, replaced the brake pads, timing belt twice, just normal maintenance items. It gets between 26-28 mpg uses no oil, I have no complaint on my Volvo at all. Hope it goes another 150k.
I was very surprised to come across this website. Only the consumers with gripes seem to have been here. We have had three Volvos- 960 wagon w/close to 200000 miles on it (getting ready to sell), a 740 w/more than 200000 on it when we sold it and is still going and a V70 wagon (still have). I am presently looking to purchase another Volvo to give to my son. We bought the first 2 cars used and have only taken them about once a year for servicing with a great independent garage that services only Volvos. My V70 wagon was purchased new and has only required the usual oil changes etc. which I have done at my Volvo dealer. With the popularity of these cars surely I can't be the only one who is satisfied! I was not always this lucky. When I was first out of college I purchased a new Chevrolet. I had to replace the engine 3 times in less than four years due to problems in the design. I would never buy a chevy product again! A Very Satisfied Volvo Owner.
We own a 1998 Volvo S70 2.5 SE. We took delivery of the car on July 13th 1997. Since we have bought this car, we have put on over 180,000km. The car is very reliable, and safe. Thus, Recently has started to have problems, especially with the light bulbs, and now makes a weird loud sound when driving other than that very reliabe and looks like brand new after a good and buff.
Bilal Ahmed
Mississauga, Ontario
1998 Volvo S70 It's true folks -- this car has major electrical and other problems. With only 85,000 miles, my car has had:
ABS Brake Module
Transmission shift module (would not upshift to 4th gear)
A/C Thermostat Sensor
Brake Lights Constantly Burn Out
Front Door latch broken
Antenna broken.
I will never buy another one, and you shouldn't either. There goes my re-sale value!
Just to add my little adventure:
Bought a '98 S70 T5 SE with 140000km on it. I've had it for 3 months so far:
Replaced the steering rack (leaky steering fluid) - $1500 bucks
replaced the ABS Module - $600 bucks
and yesterday my OFF and RECIRCULATE lights were flashing... apparently there is a problem with the ECC somewhere!!
What gives? I had a Honda Accord for four years and all I replaced were the brakes and the oil.
My brother has had his Volvo 740 for 10 years and his car has a solid engine, suspension and body, what has happened to this company?
I own a 1999 S70 and have had numerous electrical issues also all bulbs have been replaced way too many times for a car with only 45K on it plus the door hinge issue I just found overall the car is very reliable except electrically. I also own a 2004 S60R less than 3K on it and that is another story it has been in the shop three times for transmission problems (6 speed) and runs fine for a few hundred miles then the issue comes back they have replaced the shift mechanism twice already car looks like a million, but has too many problems for my money.
Our 1998 Volvo S70 now needs the dreaded Air Conditioning repair (evaporator). It's a specialty job, we're told, requiring Volvo proprietary tools, and the removal of the air bag (s) to get to the repair. Probably 1500 - 2000 bucks.
Needless to say, we will NEVER EVER buy another Volvo and I will take every opportunity to advise friends and others to avoid these cars. I have know quite a few Volvo owners (850, S70, S80, S80 with the T5, etc), and they all agree it's a "thumbs down", never again manufacturer. The electrical, oxygen sensor, A/C and other "issues" are just too frustrating. These cars have not lived up to a reputation I believe was well earned in prior model years. They are junk, and not worth the headache. Buying a Honda next time.
It seems that we have had the same problems with our VOLVO. We bought our Volvo in 1998 S70, we paid cash for it we even had the dealership ship the color we wanted in from another city it was BRAND NEW and we thought we had just bought the best car of our lives! We could have not been more wrong!! Today we are having the ABS Control Module replaced (1,000), and as of today it still will not pass the US emissions test we have had it tested over 5 times they keep telling us DRIVE IT MORE it will help the computer (what ever that means) Let me tell you the POLICE do not care what the problem is just fix it. It has 59,000 miles on it almost if not everything has been replaced on it by us over the last several years. Now all the automatic door locks do not work, so we have to physically crawl over the backseat to unlock the back door so we can get our baby in her car seat. They said it will be 500.00 for each door to fix. The dealership who works on our car told us that on the 1998 s70 we have to fill out all this paperwork and send it off so we can get it to pass emmission testing. Has anyone else had the emmission testing problem?
I have been generally satisfied with My 1998 Volvo S70.
But just a few months ago when my husband was checking on the brakes it just about ran him over. Apparently the vehicle starts in reverse. The neutral safety switch has been replaced at the dealership, but that did not fix the problem. It was determined the problem was in the wiring. The service person has gone through the hole vehicle and has determined it must have come from the factory with faulty wiring. It has been in the shop now for two weeks and they are ordering a new wire harness in hopes that will fix the problem.
Has anybody had this problem? Check your vehicle to see if it starts in reverse, very dangerous.
Wow - I so agree with the individuals not pleased with their Volvo and who will never ever be another Volvo owner again. I thought Volvo was a good company and trusted in their sales pitch - which was wrong. I researched for almost a year before purchasing and thought I had made the best decision, but found I made the worse decision. I work with 2 other individuals who also purchased Volvo's who have since traded them in and that's only been 2 years ago. We had daily watercooler talk about our money pit cars. I am currently looking to trade our Volvo S70 and will never set foot on another Volvo lot again unless it is to pick up or drop off a friend. On the way, I will proceed to advise them of my Volvo fiascos and hope they too learn their Volvo fate before it is too late.
We have the v70 T5, our second one in fact. The first being the '94 850 model... great car. The '98 v70 (68K) which we currently have has had it's little issues from day one. Seems like a lot of bulbs, door latches (3 assemblies now @$275 a pop),I think we are on our 4th or 5th sensor in regards to the engine. Many, many electrical issues for a supposedly well engineered vehicle. The latest issue is a very badly leaking rear seal (at least $1000 to fix) not to mention something going array with the turbo...hmmm. Very disappointing second experience. Have to say this will probably be our last Volvo.
First you have to do your homework! Everybody knows that Volvo was bought out buy ford so that should tell you some thing. I have two a 1986 240 wagon with over 200,000M and a 1987 740GLE W/350,000M. If you need a good car (VOLVO) look for something BEFORE 1990.
I love this site... I have to agree with the above post, in that my pre-1990 Volvo has served me extremely well. I've posted in the 1988 740 section before, and would like to say that my car has been great (with regular maintenance and some quirky annoyances) for 11 years and has over 313k km on it. From the sounds of it, my turbo unit is about to go, so rather than replacing it, it's time to put her to pasture. I have been looking at 1998 S70's locally, but am seriously reconsidering that based on the comments above. At the very least, I'll look very closely for signs of electrical problems. BTW, I have always taken my Volvo to an independent garage (it was a private resale with no dealer warranty) and have always had great service from them; this may be the way to go for people once the warranty is no longer an issue...
As for the performance of the dealership staff, consider this. They get paid the same whether they do a good job or not.
So there's no incentive to treat you well, or explain any problems fully to you. You are just a cash cow - there to be milked.
That's why you should always take your car to a specialist, independent workshop when it's out of the factory warranty.
Here's the deal... If you put in cheap after-market parts in your Volvo (including light bulbs), they're not gonna last! I own a Volvo 240 and it's THE BEST car I've ever owned, you can't beat the ride and safety. Everyone gripes about something on every car they own... NO CAR is perfect. Don't get me wrong, Honda and Toyota have great cars... but after seeing what some of them look like in a car wreck, I'm glad I drive a Volvo, and they can't come near the safety that it has. So quit complaining, you're driving one of the safer cars on the market!