1999 Volvo S80 review from UK and Ireland

Engine died on three separate occasions. Once while turning right and accelerating over a small bump, once when going over speed bump and the last time when I was doing 120 kph on the motorway and hit a small bump. Each time I had the following error: "Electronic System Service Required" and "STC Service Required"

On all three occasions I lost power-steering, brakes etc, so it's really rather dangerous. On each occasion I had to have the car towed to a Volvo dealer, and on each occasion they told me it was fixed, but in reality they had no idea what the problem was, and they charged me each time even though it was not fixed.

After extensive research by myself, I found that the potentiometers in the electronic throttle module wears out on almost every S80 between 1999 and 2001. This can cause MANY various error messages to appear, including the "Emissions warning light" to light up on the dash.

In the USA and Sweden, Volvo offered to replace this unit and extend the warranty on it to 10 years. Unfortunately in Ireland they do not offer this, so I will have to purchase the unit at a cost of over €1,000.

Also, the ABS / STC control module is prone to errors, and this unit is also very expensive to replace.

I wish I knew about these problems before I bought the car.

To sum up this car in one sentence, I would say it is the most unreliable car I have ever owned, and my advice is to stay well away from the S80 between the years of 1999 to 2001.

Trust me, you will have problems with it. Mechanically all seems to be fine with the Volvo, but the electrical system is of extremely poor quality.

The modules wear out and break very quickly, and they are very expensive to replace.

I am lucky not to have crashed three times when the engine died when I was driving at speed.

Stay away from the S80.

The only positive I can think of is that the seats are very comfortable.

I have had various problems with this car, every week there is a new problem to fix.