2000 Volvo S80 T6 from North America - Comments

The transmission required service at 2,000 miles by the dealer.

Stabilizer went at 40,000 miles.

One strut went at 48,000 miles (luckily covered under warranty).

Second strut went at 55,000 miles (my cost).

Front door lock went at 70,000 followed by the heater element in the side view mirror. When I told the dealer that the element was working fine prior to the door lock repair, they basically told me they didn't cause it and promptly charged me an additional $300.00. Between 80,000 and the current mileage, the car has been OK.

I initially enjoyed the car, but the trouble I experienced coupled with the poor customer service at the dealer has really soured me. I have since found a local repair shop who services the car. The 1999 model I'm told was very poor, with the 2000 a tad better. Hopefully they have worked out the kinks, but for the $40K spent, I can honestly say that this car is a major disapointment. I looked to trade it on another (not Volvo) vehicle, but the car is basically worth nothing at this point. I'll drive it to the next major repair and then move on it.

Coming from a mid grade Ford, I expected much better customer service and boy was this experience a let down.

Clearly Volvo released this car to market before they finished engineering it witness the repeated, chronic failures of the same components. Parent company Ford's response is to glue the car together to nurse it through the warranty period and then wipe their hands of any responsibility for the defects in design and parts quality. If Ford had any interest to retain the customers who bought Volvo's flagship model, they might be inclined to issue a service campaign to try and atone for their mistakes, or contribute a percentage of goodwill repairs, or even reduce the generous gross margins attached to their defective parts. Ford will meet the letter of the law to fulfill their warranty obligations and nothing else. That not the kind of car company that should be rewarded with anyone's business. In 2006 in response to a class action suit in California, Ford agreed to take limited responsibility for defective electronic throttle modules (ETM's) on Volvo cars. They issued a recall to download new software for the ETM that essentially permits a much wider range of malfunction to occur without showing a malfunction indicator lamp, or registering error codes. In this fashion they can avoid having to replace ETM's and their customers can live with the malfunctions absent of any documentable evidence of the malfunctioning ETM. Pretty cool, eh? If you want to buy a car from this company after what you can read of the experiences of people who have been owned by them, they you deserve anything you get. Thanks to the information age and forums like this, car buyers can be spared the misery and expense of owning one of these service nightmares if they do their homework. I know that it is tempting to find a pristine S80 T6 that cost $53,000 as new with 60,000 miles for $6,500; but there's a good reason why these cars have no resale value. Buy one if you want a life of automotive misery.

I replaced my S80 T6 with a Toyota, and haven't seen the inside of the dealership since the day I picked it up, after 25,000 miles, (I perform my own oil changes). Now that's luxury.

I couldn't agree with you more!! I have had my 2000 Volvo S80 T6 for a year now and it has been a nightmare ever since the night I drove it home from the dealership! I will NEVER buy another Volvo again!! I almost want to GIVE the car back to the dealership than deal with the ongoing issues! I wish I had read all of these reviews before I made the worst decision of my life to purchase it!!

My family’s 1999 Volvo S80 was brought from a dealer off a lease when it has less than 40,000 miles. It ended up costing almost as much to repair this car as it did to purchase it.

We replaced the transmission, front end suspension, engine mounts several times, throttle body a couple of times, timing chain and complete oil system, yes oil system, and it’s a “system” not just a pump.

Oh, and then also add the dual fuel pumps and the 6 O2 sensors, replaced those two times.

Shifter cable broke too. This doesn’t mention that the tires and brakes wear excessively fast. When the car was working properly it was wonderful, that’s why we kept it until it had 94,000 miles. 54,000 miles of use, over $10,000 in repairs. DO NOT BUY ONE for any price. You've been warned!