Just saw a list in the Wall Street Journal ranking a whole bunch of automobiles in the J.D. Power's report. Volvo was--- and I don't have the list in front of me--- at the top of the bottom one third of the cars listed. Mercedes has fallen off considerably but Volvo was the one I was looking at. Article talked a bit about lower than expected resale as one of the results..... Well I want to give my daughter my car, which puts me in the market for a new vehicle. It was going to be a S-80 until this report came out. Not terribly happy at the Lexus dealer, but that's where it looks like I will be.
truly a unique time in our economic history...... nice.....have you "tweaked it" ? strong turbo......i feel it (on a much smaller scale) on my 93 940t....in denver @ > 5,000 feet.... not crazy...logical....for anyone old enough to go through a few car buying / owning expierences.......smart man....imho all you need to know is they are "work in progress"... one or two more generations, and they should be sweet, reliable platforms..... 1996 is a great year for many reasons......i truly believe volvo was "at its peak" during the mid to late 90's ..... things sure did change in the early 00's though.......hi tec & electronics....the "gizmos"at did not seem to harness the potential and power behind the cars themselvs ..... for some strange reason...? %$#@ who knows...i am an accountant not a engineer...
Just a mention... a few weeks eariler in the WSJ they had an article about how low interest rates or zero rates in some cases have really hurt the used car market and the value of used cars. Great for me, all I drive are used cars! (Volvos) I mean it's insane, I have a '96 850 turbo, the car looks as good as an '02 5 series BMW, and it will outrun (most) anything on the road. I was passing a car the other day and my passenger remarked we 'should be wearing neck braces' as the tach swung up to 6000 rpms and you could feel your guts getting sucked back into the seat. All that and I paid US$7k... and no car payment. It's crazy and I love it. BTW - don't know a thing about the S80 PS. I bought the 96 850 after a lot of research into what the best year was. I would imagine you could search this NG for info on the S80 Best of luck to you!
Unique and scary. The Fed is running out of room. AG make have to come up out of a cake next time, as opposed to a 1/4% cut. I am on the verge of buying a PES ECU for it but hesiate due to concerns regarding stressing out the transmission as well as the life expectancy of turbo, etc. I think so too! You oughta get a '96 turbo 850, what a fun car! Of course the 940 is more or less bullet proof regarding reliability and still a nice looking machine. It's a beast. 0 to 70 is light being strapped to a rocket! Past that it just climbs smooth on out however far you want to go. I have never driven it faster that 115 mph, but it did that real easy. Feel like a wild mustang with plenty of legs. I was the one that backed off, not the car. Nice of you to say, and it's a good thing there are legions of new car buyers to provide the rest of us with fine used cars! Yes, like the 98 S70, Yikes!
I just took a small trip with a friend in his Lexus. While sitting in the back seat, I was wishing I had made the same decision. I had bought my Volvo at the same time he bought his Lexus. He has had alot less problems. And I don't even own mine anymore. Too many problems. And this is a guy who changes his cars like his underwear and he is still holding on to his Lexus. I still own another Volvo but can't get a half decent trade in value so I am somewhat forced to give them a second chance.
Michael, I have had no issues with my 2000 S80 T6. It has 50,000 miles with just the normal scheduled maintenance and is a great road car and has been 100% reliable. I live in the West where I can travel 80-100 mph and this is a very nice ride at those speeds (and above if you care to). The stereo is the best I have heard in any car and it has also seen many miles of rough and dusty dirt/gravel roads which it handles very well. The seats are very comfortable and now that I've replaced the stock Michelins the cabin is very quiet. A few people like to badmouth the S80 and I'm beginning to think it's a case of sour grapes. It's the most expensive and luxurious sedan Volvo has ever built and I think many are turned off by this as previously Volvo was very egalitarian. Everyone I've talked to who has had an S80 has just loved the car although there are 7 or 8 S80 horror stories that are propagated repeatedly on the Internet. Mike
A few people like to badmouth the S80 and I'm beginning to think it's a case I first looked at the S-80 when it first came out. At that time there were repeated transmission problems, electrical and suspension bushing problems. Can you or anyone point me at what the current issues are. My first Volvo was a P-1800S. They were expensive to maintain back then! They (I owned two of them) are the only cars I have had that ever broke down on the road. They also were the coolest things to drive, ever. -michael hobbs minneapolis, mn
