Owned for last 4 years and 50k miles :
Only major fault has been crack in wire from engine management system, which caused sporadic failures to start, and took a couple of weeks to track down.
Tail-gate struts failed.
Lots of minor electrical naughtiness :
Instrument, dashboard and side lights are forever blowing; I don't think we have ever had a complete set all working at the same time!
Performance reasonable for 2 litre in such a big body.
Handling better than you would think when unladen, gets a bit tail happy when fully loaded.
Ride good on smooth roads, but definitely jumpy on rough roads.
Plenty of passenger and load space, which is why we bought it.
Power steering and incredible turning circle make it extremely manouevrable, but still needs a big parking space.
Fuel consumption about 30 mpg in mixed driving.
Servicing costs astronomical - if I'd known at the outset, maybe I wouldn't have bought it.
Needs service every 6k miles, main Volvo dealer expensive and not very good. Have switched to unfranchised Volvo specialist who gives much better attention, but still quite dear.
I have a 1989 model and agree with most of the points made. Mine has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. I bought it in 1992 with 98k and it has now done 155k.
Oil pressure and compression is almost as new.
The only non service items replaced have been a water pump at 105k, original exhaust at 110k, tailgate struts at 140k, rear calipers and rear discs at 150k.
The only real weaknesses are the bulbs which do blow too often. Servicing costs are cheap as apart from cam belt replacement, I do it myself.
I'm glad I came back here and saw the comments about front and tail lights blowing; I've gone through about four front side light bulbs in the last six months and I thought my silver steed was starting to come down with electrical problems.
Also, I've noticed a few warning lights have started occasionally flashing, when I know there's no problem, such as the oil (oil levels are fine) and windscreen wash reservoir, which I topped up barely a few weeks ago. I don't know if anyone out there might have an idea what's going on there.
After making inquiries at a non-franchise Volvo specialist, I agree with the other comments that servicing is costly, but I guess it's a necessary evil if you want to keep your chariot rolling.
I had one of the last 2000 740s with a 940 2.0L engine. (A bit of a hybrid that didn't appear in the Haynes manuals). It was the best car I ever owned or am ever likely too. It saved our lives when we were rammed in France. Despite this & at a cost of £50 for a lamp cluster it went on till 200,000 miles. I wish I'd kept it even then. It's turning circle was tiny. Parking was simple (it was an estate). It could carry anything & had self levelling suspension. It needed tyres, oil, plug leads, a distributor cap, a head gasket, a back box, a bit of wire for the ECU. When you scratched it the zinc prevented rust. As I said, above all else it saved our lives.
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