1.) Air Conditioner died after 2nd year of ownership.
2.) Radiator Core rotted out - Needed replacement to the tune of ~$490.
3.) Carb needed to be cleaned every summer, rebuilt every 2 years.
4.) A couple Steering Column parts needed replacement.
5.) After year 20 (2005) the front-right brake line nut rusted, snapped, and the brakes went out (lost pressure) on the freeway and almost killed me. The front-right brake line was repaired the system re-pressurized, and all was good... Until the front-left one went out on me during rush-hour traffic. Once again, almost got into a major accident.
6.) Valve Cover gasket started leaking oil after 85,000 miles.
7.) Transmission started dying after 106,000 miles. First reverse quit working. Then the forward gears started to slip/die.
8.) 19-year-old exhaust system finally rusted out, and needed replacement in 2004. The ENTIRE exhaust system. Thankfully I had the tools & shop to do it myself for only a couple hundred bucks.
9.) Interior trim items started falling apart.
... Too many things to write here...
My previous vehicle was also a GM vehicle. I think after these two I have had enough of American Made cars!
EXPENSIVE gas & oil consumption! 12 mpg City / 17 mpg Highway (on a GOOD day)...
On the positive side, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham was a TANK! It saved my LIFE! I don't think there's a SAFER, more SOLIDLY BUILT passenger car in the world.
On a highway, an old man in a Volvo V70 pulled in front of me (he was running a stop light) and I plowed into the side of his car. $2000 damage to the olds, but it was fixable; $24,000 damage to the Volvo -> Totalled.
The olds cut through the Station wagon like a knife through butter. Forget the "Passenger Safety Cage" that Volvo raves about in their ads. My olds sheered straight thru it (Impact at only 35 MPH), the engine was smashed off its mounts and shot out the other side of the car and slid 10 ft across the intersection. The car was obliterated and I was thankful (and lucky) that nobody was injured. The passenger was almost hurt, as their dash board was about 2 inches from pinning them to their seats. They tilted the seats back and crawled out the back hatch door to safety. Otherwise they'd have been stuck.
The car slipped & fishtailed on slick roads or snow, but once you get used to rear-wheel drive it's not a problem, and can be a bit of fun.
"Forget the "Passenger Safety Cage" that Volvo raves about in their ads."
- Volvo talks too much.
It appears to me that the owner did not take the vehicle in for maintenance very much. A regular mechanical maintenance schedule would have prevented the brakes from rusting or perhaps the transmission failing. Any car will last a long time if cared for correctly.
Hey, surely things will wear out in over 20 years - not really the car's fault!
Ps, Volvo probably have saved more lives and paid more attention to safety than any one else! 'Safety cage' - you answered your own statement - he wasn't seriously hurt even after a tank drove (I presume yours was a typically large American saloon) through the side of it! Did your car have the same side impact protection? A safety cage is built around the shell (ie NOT bonnet, boot area - these are designed to crumple to reduce impact force on the actual driver) to protect passengers inside. I know of a V70 Police Car here in the UK that was hit in the rear at over 70MPH while stationary on the hard shoulder and all four passengers walked away (3 of them are now Volvo owners) and, yes, I am a volvo owner also.
I've had my '84 oldsmobile cutlass for a while now. I rebuilt the engine and everything works great. yes gas is horrendous, but it is a tank and safe to drive. I give the car a oil change when needed and any maintanance when needed. The car has been around for 21 years... going for another 21!!
I had an 85 Olds Supreme for 19 years and it never left me stranded once. It had 235,000 miles on it, and still ran great except with the expected lessening in compression, which reduced power somewhat and increased gas consumption. Before the wear, it had great power and got very good gas mileage for a car of its size and wonderful ride. I only changed oil every 5K miles. And it had the best car seats I ever sat in.
Best car I ever owned!!
It's an OLD car- things do rot out. I drive older vehicles with high mileage all the time and I know that they need to get frequent check ups and maintenance. A few times a year I go under them to check for cracks and rust on key components, then wire brush and paint the under carriage and components where necessary. I also fix seals and leaks when they happen as these things cause other issues such as faulty wiring, etc. I check the hoses--all of them-- regularly as rubber components are the first to fail. You can't own an old vehicle and expect to ignore it as it will go to crap. If you want a drive and forget car, buy a new one. If you are willing to invest the time, old cars can be reliable and cheaper than new ones. They just need a little more love.
I'm not praising Volvo because I've seen them get severely damaged by other supposedly lesser American cars, while the American car/truck had little damage. But if you knocked the engine out of the Volvo you hit at 35mph, then you had to be going faster than that. You were probably going 50 and didn't realize it.
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