Faults:

I am currently waiting for a new air box for my windshield defroster which only works half the time.

The T-Tec seats that were supposed to be easy to clean seem to stain easily. Rain drops dry and leave spots and do not fade when rain hits the seats.

My windows stick and the car is getting looked at for the third time about this.

I have two new keys that also frustrate me and do not open the doors all time. You have to press unlock repeatedly and hope it eventually works.

The temperature sometimes changes when I change the radio station. They are separate knobs.

My driver-side wiper hits the molding before going back down. The rain sensing feature works poorly so I don't use it.

The headlamp spray washers and my brights didn't work until 15,000 miles, but now work fine.

There are weird cranking and whining noises, especially when in reverse.

You hardly feel the heated seats in winter.

General Comments:

Always trusted the name and this was a nice design for a wagon.

The interior mattered to me just as much as the exterior. Loved the center control area. Also loved the white stitching on the black cloth seats, more than the leather they offer.

The turbo can be peppy, but also lags quite often.

The steering can be loose or pulling which also disappoints me.

Overall, I loved the car at first, but now think I made a mistake.

Too many little problems to worry about. I called Volvo headquarters for the first time today to complain because the service guys never seem to find or fix the problems.

Faults:

The passenger-seat belt-waring sensor was over-sensitive.

The electronics seems not too fond of long periods of -10C to -20C degrees. It sometimes (but not often) generate error-messages when everything is perfectly fine.

General Comments:

The 1,6-litre diesel-engine is simply excellent. Very low consumption combined with it being quick, quite powerful and responsive.

The handling is great. It can be driven seriously fast on almost any road surface without it ever becoming scary.

I bought the Audio High Performance stereo with a bigger amp, 6 CD-changer and 8 speakers. It is highly recommended. It sounds great both on CD and radio-listening.

The car is practical, thus not a very large estate, comfortable, well thought thru, handles brilliantly and performs a lot more than you would expect with a 1,6 under the hood.

Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

It is our first Volvo.

We wanted a reliable, safe, quiet, comfortable, pleasant, elegant, powerful, practical, car for enjoying long journeys. This car fulfils all the above to the maximum!

Steering is crisp and feels confident even at high speeds (160-180km/h)

Cabin noise is low.

You can actually drive on motorways at very high speeds for hours and not feel tired.

The interior is just perfect!

Simple, elegant, understated, extremely efficiently designed and of high quality.

It is spacious too. 4 adults and a baby with plenty! of luggage, we have travelled for days and never felt cramped or annoyed.

Before buying it we also considered the new Audi A3 Sportwagon 1.6 FSi, Ambition. Compared to the Audi, the Volvo is equally well built, but it is more spacious, faster, more understated, and cheaper!

Overall an excellent choice!!!