Gear shifter had to be replaced.
Tailgate trim constantly coming loose.
Sunroof leaked.
Latch to release rear seat to fold down failed.
Trunk (boot) latch failed.
Interior tailgate opener has failed.
AM reception very poor.
Safety lights in door have come loose.
Too many squeaks and rattles to mention.
Where do I start with this car... should have read most consumer advice web sites or magazines before buying. They all say avoid this car! Too late, now I'm stuck with it. Having owned it for not even three years it's almost lost half ($) what we paid for it. If you like high mileage Volvo wagons, they're going cheap!
Buying a used car will always have its risks, but I checked CARFAX for a full history, one owner and fully dealer maintained. Purchased from a Volvo dealer. I don't think this car was abused by previous owner, I think it was very poorly designed.
The only good qualities about this car seem to be the engine and gearbox... with the Turbo it's a very powerful and smooth power train. I could live with this car if the seats offered more support (I suffer from a bad back) and there were less rattles.
Just spent a small fortune on new brakes and discs all round. New rotors over heated and warped within days. The shop replaced for free under warranty. OK... but same thing happened again with days... this time "we are to blame" despite owning the car for almost 4 years with no prior brake problems we are now all of a sudden causing the brakes to over heat. This had never happened before. New rotors again. So far so good.
Hand brake cannot be tightened without expensive work inside the car. We have no handbrake now.
ABS has failed.
The squeaks and rattles are now so bad thinking of dumping this piece of garbage.
An up date here for you on this piece of junk...
Master switch for electric windows on drivers door has failed. Volvo admits a poor design and have an improved spare part for $200.00 installed. AM reception now very poor on certain stations, Volvo technician checking, but could be very expensive to fix. At a minimum another $100.00
Headlamp bulb blown again.
Ash tray broken, will not close
Cup holder broken, just cheap plastic and poor design.
BRAKES HAVE OVERHEATED AGAIN AND DISCS HAVE WARPED SLIGHTLY.
THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
AVOID THESE CARS!!
More problems with this car, the speedo and temp gauge stopped working... new computer part needed... another $1000.00 + plus bill... time for this car to go.. will NEVER buy a volvo again... be warned! Kelly Blue Book has this car valued at about $7,000 with 98,000 miles... what do these cost new.? probably $40,000 +++ talk about serious depreciation.. a Honda will go 200,000 + miles with a fraction of the running costs..
For the "overheating brakes"... did the shop check that the calipers were working correctly? If you have a sticking caliper, it will wear out and/or overheat your brakes. The other possibility is that you had brake service with low quality parts (rotors) being used. One last issue that could cause this is improperly torqued wheel lug nuts (some idiot mechanics use an air gun to tighten the lug nuts instead of a torque wrench). As an example, many Ford models (such as the North American Escort) are known to have warping issues because Ford uses the cheapest brake rotors and the design of the rotors is such that if the wheel lug nuts are not correctly and evenly torqued, the rotors will warp.
I can understand the complaints of the other Volvo owners on this page, but I suspect they are not long-time european car owners. This is my 3rd volvo ('76 244, '94 855) and it does have more problems than the previous two. Faulty blinkers, weak tailgait hydraulic supports, and sterio gremlins are surely annoying, but making the descision to drive a european car is not the same as deciding to buy a Toyota Camry. Quirky styling, powerful accleration, and stability at high speed are all strengths of the V70.
All volvos that I have owned have had minor electrical problems and other small issues that Japanese cars usually don't have, but the car always starts at any temperature and has never died while in motion. As european cars go, the V70 is very reliable, even at 155,000 miles with the original turbo. I have one friend with a Saab 9-3 who has pieces of the interior littering the back hatch because they constantly rattle off, and another friend with an audi A6 who is afraid to drive because her car occasionally dies while turning left. I'll take a volvo any day compared with this. And Volvo parts seem cheap when put against those of BMW and Mercedes. If you aren't afraid of maintaining a car and prefer to motor around in something interesting to driving a boring-but-indestructible Japanese car, then the volvo is a good way to get started.
I just purchased a 98 V70 and I love it. It is quick, comfortable, and gets reasonable gas mileage.
My wife and I purchased a "certified, pre-owned" 1998 Volvo V70 GLT Wagon in December 2002 with 34,000 miles on it. We paid $21,000.00, which seemed fair.
It is now July 2006. This car has had repeated MAJOR systems issues, including, but not limited to:
1. All brakes, pads and calipers have had to be replaced.
2. Calipers and Rotor replacement a SECOND time.
2. Major work on front wheel and axle.
3. Electrical failures.
4. ABS failure.
We’ve also had NUMEROUS "smaller" repairs and replacements (but NOT small in cost to repair/replace), all without having had any accidents.
All repairs and maintenance were performed by Volvo dealerships to avoid gray market goods and/or unqualified mechanics working on the car, so you can’t say the issues are due to any of those factors.
The total cost to us, NOT including regular maintenance visits has been approximately $6,000.00!!!
This is absurd! Especially on a vehicle with such low mileage. We now have 66,000 miles on the car total, so you see we've driven it very little over the last nearly four years.
"Certified/Pre-owned" Volvo's apparently don't amount to much in the reliability department and, in our opinion, this phrase means nothing when it comes to a Volvo.
We will NEVER purchase another Volvo again, new or used. This experience has soured us forever.
There had been someone here that previously commented about “boring” Japanese cars. If this is someone’s idea of “excitement”, give me the “boring” reliability and dependability of a Japanese car any day.
My wife previously owned a used 1994 Geo Prizm (US/Japanese partnership) in 1995. It had about 33,000 miles on it when purchased. It had over 98,000 miles on it when it was totaled in a car accident in 2001. Up until that time there were NO major OR minor system failures requiring repairs or replacement. If it weren’t for the accident, we’d still have it today.
We replaced it with a new 2001 Chevy Prizm LS, which likewise has had NO major OR minor issues since we drove it off the lot. It now has over 76,000 miles on it. I don’t find that kind of sustained reliability and craftsmanship in dependable design “boring”. I call that QUALITY. Unfortunately, the Prizm is no longer being made for whatever reason, but the used ones are now in high demand, which speaks for itself.
When we unload the Volvo “Beast”, as we’ve come to call it, we’ll be looking at Japanese vehicles. At least then we won’t get soaked on poor design and unreliable parts.
I bought a 1998 Volvo V70 GLT new. It cost about $35,000. In addition to the numerous things going wrong which have already been mentioned by others and which I also experienced, my car had to have the rack and pinion replaced, as well as the struts and tie rods, for about $1500. This was when the car had 35,000 miles on it. The inside door panel cover, which is a vinyl film, I believe, has come loose on all four doors - repair costs from $130 to $250 per door (I am living with it). After much investigation I learned that the problem was a "non-polluting" glue that the company tried out, which eventually failed on almost all of these cars. The company has refused to pay for it, though it effects nearly all their models of that year. Also, the engine mounts had to be replaced at about 50,000 miles. Count me among those who will never buy another Volvo.
I purchased a used 1998 V70 GLT a year ago with excellent results. It had 83,000 miles when purchased and now, 25,000 miles later, I love it. I replaced the tailgate struts myself, ($25 each) a job that took 30 minutes. Otherwise, change the oil, fill it up with gas and go like mad.
Typically Swedish understated quality that is designed to last. The Swedes have a term, "lagom" which to my understanding means "just enough" or "just the right amount," suggesting that more would be too much and less not enough. You know when you have just the right amount of wine in you... just the right glow? This car creates that glow.
Clearly, some people luck out with a car that has relatively few problems, and some people do not mind fixing their cars. But given the number of people who complain about shoddy manufacturing of Volvos and poor company response, it seems that buying a Volvo is not a good bet. Isn't buying any car a gamble? So if the "word on the street" is that a particular car is probably going to have problems, while a different car (for example, a Japanese car) is probably quite free of problems, wouldn't you choose to bet on the car with the better reputation? That is, unless you just want a particular car no matter what the problems are. Having owned two Volvos, I say, never again!
All car makers will make the odd problem car. I own two Volvo's; a S70 and V40. The V40 is up to 107,000 miles and the S70 is up to 125,000 miles and I wouldn't change them for ANY other make. Ours have been completely faultless. I know Japanese cars SHOULD be more reliable and they probably are - but I rate the not beaten comfort and safety over all else. No Japanese car would look after my back as well while travelling or the ones I love if I/we have an accident. Believe me putting more airbags on a car doesn't make it any safer if the structure/metal isn't stronger in the first place - see Japanese cars. A company that spends as much as Volvo does (and invented seat belts, first put side airbags on mass produced cars, created Anti Whiplash system (WHIPS), SIPS Side protection - more than just bags, etc, etc) is a proper company. I treat my cars with respect and they treat me with respect back. I would continue buying Volvo's for the foreseeable future.
I have owned a 1998 Volvo V70 GLT for 205,000 miles now.
Seems like a lot of people are complaining about rotors and brakes. These are consumable items. as for the guy who replaced them twice in 35,000 miles (the shop saw you coming.) switches, lamps, latches, etc... they all go out. I have had over 12 cars in the last 5 years and they all had some little problems. They all will.
You say expensive! and then list 100.00 dollars! if you purchase a luxury car (used or not) get used to the price of repars. These parts come from Sweden and have import tax.
If you want to own a car with repairs totaling under 100. then buy a KIA.
:P yeah, yeah, you all hate me now. I don't care. Truth hurts.
I do not know what to say about Volvo v 70 I have one, but I do not know
i will prefer a Camry every day.
1998 v70xc 114,000 miles. I can surely sympathize with the folks that have the lemon Volvo's out there, and fortunately, ours is not one of them. Yes, I have had to replace a light bulb or two, front end work (right front axle bearings needed to be replaced (did that one myself) and yesterday I just put new pads on the back. I have a very hard time seeing where the warping was coming from on the previous comment as I ran mine for close to three weeks rubbing metal and the discs were not even phased... no need to turn them or anything.
What it really boils down to for those of you reading these pages as I did when purchasing the car over 4 years ago, is:
Is the safety of your family worth possibly a few thousand dollars every year?
Are you comforted by the fact that you and everyone else in the car will most likely walk away (if you wear your seat belts) if you get into an accident with anything less than a semil truck?
Many people buy a Volvo second hand and expect it to preform flawlessly like a majority of Toyotas and Hondas do, people... they don't. My parents bought the top of the line Toyota and they are pleased mechanically with it, but on road trip of over and hour, they are uncomfortable... something no one can ever say about the volvo's front or rear seats (lots of legroom back there too.) Here is another plus, three (3) car seats can fit in the back and there is still space to put in everyones luggage!
Presently we are buying another V70 (diesel this time...almost 48 mpg!)for these specific reasons!
To ˝11th Apr 2007, 15:49˝ author:
I agree. All of my Vvolvos have been completely faultless (five of them). Actually, bulb, brakes and other similar stuff are regular maintenance, do not fault the car for that. Oh, those cup holders broke too. I don't mind that (even if Americans think, the car is bad, if the cup holder broke, or if the car doesn't have one).
I will not buy anything else than Volvo. Ever. Safety, Reliability and comfort.