1998 Volvo S70 STD from North America - Comments

The 12-volt connections both in front and in back are too weak to support a mobile phone recharger. The front one has broken twice now, in two years.

Individual door locks fail.

Cup holder seems flimsy and has broken.

Rear-view mirror became loose in its housing. The dealer had to remove the headliner to repair - not covered under warranty.

The CD player locked up, and had to be replaced.

The ignition switch wore out after 65,000 miles.

Brake pads wore out after only 20,000 miles.

Coin cup hinges simply broke - made of very thin plastic.

Brake bulbs have had to be replaced several times.

The antenna grinds when it lowers or raises.

The steering wheel creaks in the mornings.

This car is loaded with many unexpected occurrences. I owned a Volvo previously, and did not have the myriad of small problems that I have had with this 1998 Volvo S70.

The engine and transmission perform adequately. They are everything I expected them to be, and continue to do very well.

Visibility is excellent. The left rear is a bit of a challenge to see, but the mirrors compensate well.

The small interior issues have made this car a bust for me. Each one represents a major inconvenience. The rear-view mirror came loose, and was difficult to drive until I paid the Volvo dealership about $100 to repair it. Door locks, ignition switch, brake bulbs make this car a time guzzler.

The dealer has now admitted to me that the S70s produced during the period mine was produced have come with many flaws. But Volvo itself has not offered repair. My current problem, the 12-volt connections that are not strong enough to handle a mobile phone recharger cord, is a big inconvenience for anyone who needs a mobile phone and drives a lot.

That is very interesting. I have a 1998 Volvo S70 and have had almost exactly the same problems.

I've also seen many of those minor problems with my 98 S70. Nevertheless, I have yet to perform any significant maintenance and have just passed 100,000 miles.

I have a 98 S70 that just passed 100,000 miles. I have found performance and critical issues (engine) to be fine, but am disappointed in the quality of design in the details. The leather lining on all 4 of my doors has delaminated (that began about 2 years after purchasing new), the cup holder has broken, 2 of my power locks lock, but don't unlock with fob/auto door buttons, repairs are expensive not only because of the parts, but because parts that commonly fail (e.g., dashboard lights) are inaccessible & thus expensive to access. For all the effort placed into excellence in safety design, this $30,000 car falls short in the quality of design in common things. My last car ($10,000 88 Honda Civic) fared much better in those areas.

I own a 1998 Volvo S70 and have experienced many of the same problems already listed by other drivers. Most recently, I have experienced a problem with the anti-lock brake and "trac" light coming on. The mechanic has been unable to track down the intermittent problem. It appears not to affect the performance of the car, but is aggravating to say the least. We enjoy driving the car and are pleased with the overall performance.

The ABS/tracks light coming on intermitent could be a fault in the ABS module when getting warm, changed many for this fault.

The ABS light coming on is super common with these cars. From my understanding it's the ABS computer, but don't quote me. The check engine light too, which is typically a bad O2 sensor.

My girlfriend's V70 1998 has about all the problems listed on this page. I've been doing some research on the internet trying to find tips for all these things, but I'm surprised Volvo hasn't performed some recalls, with the astounding number of complaints about the same things.

Best car I have ever had. I must have been lucky as I bought it with only 72,000 kms (42,000 miles) previous owner had looked after it. The recall for the headlights was the only issue the previous owner had. I have had the car for one year and put on 10,000km (6200 miles) not a single problem. The only maintenance has been one oil change, running synthetic. This car is tight and a pleasure to drive.

Jan. 4, 2009 I bought a 98 Volvo V70 T5 new, fully loaded around $35,000, and from the day I picked it up, it has a long list of repairs, either under warranty on after 50,000 and they did not quit.

The car has never been on a dirt road, and I live in a small city in WV with a lot of four lanes and it have 100,000 miles now, less than 10,000 miles a year.

Before the warranty ran out, rear rotors, lot of bulbs, two auto door locks, electric window, a new CD, radio player, just after 50,000 the tracking system went out - over $600.00, air condition cooling canister, stabilizing bar, ball joint and a tie rod, the whole power steering rack, inner and outer tie rods again, other stabilizing rod, front rotors, new axles because all rubber boots ripped just after warranty ran out.

Check engine light never goes out and I think it has something to do with the use of almost 1 1/2 quarts of oil loss in a thousand miles that has been going on for at last 40,000 miles. Does not smoke or leak. I think you get the point and will not continue.

I like the power of the 236 hp turbo and the paint has held up well. It still looks great inside except some dash and radio light bulbs are out, got tired of replacing them.

This week the Toyota dealer offer me $1,900 trade in (after spending $800.00 on it last week) on a fully equipped Highlander and I could not let it go. Love the Highlander and will never own a Volvo again. If I could just get 20,000 miles out it now without any new surprises. My 84 Volvo, got 200,000 miles without any problems.

I purchased a 1999 Volvo S70 T5 about 2 & 1/2 years ago now and I guess that I have probably put in about $4000.00 into it since I bought it. Here are a list of things that are wrong with it:

-Blower motor is very loud needs replacement

-Heated seat Driverside doesn't work

-Heated seat switch for passenger side doesn't illuminate anymore

-Power seat for passenger side recline works 10% of the time.

-Passenger side PDL switch broken

-Ignition switch just went causing problems starting now, sometimes it takes 8 tries to get the car running. This is going to cost about $850.00.

What I have had to fix:

-Oxygen sensor (pre catalytic converter)

-2 ignition coil packs

-Timing belt

-Both cam seals

-Cam sensor

-Crank sensor.

OVERALL THIS CAR IS A LEMON, WISH I NEVER BOUGHT IT. Should have purchased the 1999 Saab 9-5 when I was deciding.

98 Volvo s70 T5 ONE BIG LEMON.

I don't know how the engineers at Volvo can live with themselves. Hey guys, read the writing on the wall. Every person that I know that has this car has had the very same problems. You figure as much as they charge for this abomination, they would at least fess up to the problems. Every one at VOLVO from the district people to the national people all keep telling me this is normal wear and tear. HORSE PUCKY; If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it's a duck, a lame one at that.

Here is my list.

Pads and rotors too small for the weight of the car, thus they wear to fast.

ABS module failed. Had it rebuilt. Talked to the guy that rebuilds them for everyone I know; he told me the componets are light weight. He replace them with ones that are much stronger. No one I know has had theirs go bad after the rebuild.

Hot air warm up check valve freezes in the open position, thus letting moisture into the blower and it fails also.

Passenger door lock will not open. Ignition failed.

CD changer failed.

Front crank seal failed.

Master window control failed.

Cup holder broke.

All four doors leather de-laminated.

Vanity mirror hinge broke.

This thing has the worst suspension I have ever seen.

I'm going to stop before I get my dander up and go outside and light this thing on fire. I would if I could afford the gas.

1998 Volvo S70 20V.

I have owned my S70 for about 3 months now. Pleasant car to drive but must admit there are an abundance of design flaws. So far I have:

- Replaced the heater core (common fault)

- Repaired the dash mounting tabs (very poor design), dash out (common fault)

- Repaired the climate control module (dry solder joints on diode)

- Replaced CV joints

- Replaced sway bar link rods

- Replaced front suspension spring seats

- High tension leads

- Spark plugs

I now have the lambda and ABS light on which when scanned present these errors:

- P0422 Main cat efficiency below threshold B1

- P0116 Electronic temperature sensor

- ABS Pump motor 443, electrical or mechanical fault.

I am about to replace the O2 sensors in hope that they will diminish my lambda problem. (tests OK, but lazy voltage fluctuations)

I am also in hope that this will fix an intermittent miss that it has.

Volvo certainly acclaimed top notch technology for its day and thus parts were expensive. It just seems that whilst the vehicles depreciate quickly, spare parts have not. It makes these cars very expensive to own.

I share as much frustration, but some how forgive it for its charm... I'm weird.

Thanks, Ben.