Volvo vs. VW reliability?

I know I am in for some biased but am hoping for some fair opinions.

This questions is directed to Volvo owners that have owned or still own
a VW as well.

In your experience - which of the two vehicles has been most reliable?

That encompasses frequency of oil changes and taking it to the garage
for irregular maintenance.

Strengths and weaknesses between the two?

I am looking into older VWs or Volvos - early to mid 90s. If anyone
has any experiences to share - I would love to hear them.

Thanks,

Tmuld.

 

I have a 2001 XC70 with 50k miles and a 2001 Golf with 55k miles.

The Golf is the 5th VW I have owned and the last, The Volvo is the first I
have ever owned and will be the first of many....nuff said!

Never had any non-routine maint. on the Volvo, 2 window lifts, 3 remotes,
and now the rear latch is not working on the VW. Ithink they knew what they
were doing when they only offered a 2 YEAR WARRANTY from new.

David

 

Had both and will never own another VW. Jetta was the only car I ever owned
where people would come up to you and hand you parts of your car that had
fallen off it. I prefer my BMW for handling but the Volvo for
dependability.

 

Never had a VW, had a honda, have lexus, volvo and toyota. I promised
myself this volvo is the last one I'll have. It is always in the shop
and the repairs are expensive.

 

It is hard to use anecdotes of one or two models and years of a make to
summarize the entire make. All makes have some winner and some loosers.

A well known comsumer magazine gives the following advice:

Avoid the following used Volkswagens:
Cabrio '99, Œ01-02
EuroVan '03;
Golf Œ97-03; bad in general
Jetta Œ97-03; bad in general
New Beetle Œ98-04; bad in general
Passat (4-cyl.) Œ98-99, Œ01-02;
Passat (V6) '97, Œ99-01, '04;
Passat (AWD) Œ00-01, '04;
Passat W8 '03; Touareg Œ04


Avoid the following used Volvos:
960 '97;
V70/Cross Country '98, '01;
Cross Country Œ99-00;
V70 '02;
XC70 '03;
S60 (AWD) '04;
S80 Œ99-03; bad in general
S90/V90 Œ97-98;
XC90 Œ03-04

Between VWs and Volvos, the only model they highly recommended was:

Volvo S70 '99 to '00
(no VW's)

These recommendations are based upon statistics and owner surveys. The
high reliability of modern automobiles has raised the bar to a
relatively high level. Not only is a trouble free experience the norm,
it is to be expected may the majority of the owners on better cars. If
you have had a good experience, that doesn't mean that other owners have
had the same experience.

I have a '01 V70 XC which is on the dog list and have had no problems.
However, that doesn't reflect the experience of all owners.

 

Volvo if you want to have a big item fail due to age every so often, but
otherwise provide a far safer and more solid car... Oil changes are the same
KMs as on VW's, for about the same money, routine service isn't too
different... Tho Volvo dealers are more pleasant to deal with.

Volkswagen if you can put up with little niggling BS problems that won't
cost and arm and a leg, but if you don't fix yourself you will be at the
dealer... and of course the occasional big problem.... Sometimes VW parts
are actually more money then Volvo stuff

In general i'd say Volvo tho.... Especially if you bought from new, and a
used Volvo is a better deal, value wise then an old VW.

We (my family including me, my father, my mother) have a 93 Volvo 960 (solid
car, only old-age related parts.... best car we've owned), a 99.5 Golf TDI
(all the maintenance like brakes, shocks, tires, timing belt, etc etc etc
all seems to be designed to happen in a 1-2 year span so get a car where
it's all been done), a 2003 Golf CL (2.0L engine base model - stupid
warranty issues so far... annoying things, nothing has broke tho)

Have had a 1991 Golf CL (many bullshit problems assosiated to it having only
driven 65K Kms in 12 years - exhausts, batteries, then later on electrical
system problems, water leaks, and oil leaks), 1985 Golf GL (piece of crap -
built in the USA in Westmoreland PA apparantly by 1991 the car had no
exhaust system, clutch was going, despite no abuse, brakes were shot,
interior was falling apart... got similar use to our 91') 70's Audi Fox
(POS!!! It was based on the old Passat platform I'm told)

1989 740 GLE 16V muffler fell off after 2 years, no problems other then that
1985 740 GLE antenna aerial mast failed, no other problems
1976 244 GL (maybe a DL) oil leaks, windsheil leaks, rust
1974 144 no problems
1972 144 no problems, car sold for more then what my dad paid
1969 VW Beetle no problems, sold for more then what my dad paid

The Audi, the 99.5 Golf and a Ford Tempo were the only car's we've bought
used.... The Tempo we only had for 2 months then we got the 85 Golf

 

I've had limited experience ( but good) with Volvos, except for an 81
GLT. Currently a '94 850, which is as reliable as anything I've ever
had, though I've only had it a year.

Now for VWs, I've had an '82 Jetta, 88 Jetta, '91 Jetta, 92 Passat(
from hell) and currently a '95 Passat. Overall, I like the VWs and
have had good service from them...BUT there does seem to be a bunch of
little stuff that always needs to be done. If you are a D-I-Y person,
it's no big deal, but if you send the car to the shop for everything,
don't get one. Also, ( like my '92) some VWs are just plain horrible
lemons, and are always going to be a problem. VW service can be a
problem as well. Like the cars, if you have good dealer service,
you're OK If your local service department is not good, the are awful.
Nothing in between, from what I gather.


Now, all that aside ( sorry everyone) I enjoy driving my Passat much
more than the 850...better power, better handling, better ergonomics.
Offsetting that, the 850 is so easy to work on, and that damned Passat
is a pain to even change oil in.


So it's your call on what you want most. And remember, my newest car
is still 10 years old, and the new stuff I know little about.

Ron/Champ 6

1963 8E5 Champ (Champ 6)
1962 Lark Daytona Convertible (Boomerang)
1995 VW Passat (Vanilla..yuk)
1994 Volvo 850 (Tilley)
1973 Volvo 1800 ES (An Clar)

 

Currently own 96 Golf (bought new) and 87 Volvo 740 (bought used in 1998 as
"tank" for new male driver). Both have been very good although both are
fairly lightly used. Virtually the only Golf problem has been glued on side
moulding falling off. Except for about $1000 in initial fixup (seals,
U-joint, etc.) Volvo has had only minor nuisance repairs, in particular
electrical components which don't seem well protected from rust and wear.

However I just bought a new car and despite my wife's love of her Golf,
reports of diminished VW quality especially at low end pushed us towards a
Mazda. A new Volvo is too expensive for me.

 

My experience is mid 80's, but for the first 150k or so they're about the
same, maybe even a slight edge to the VW, but as they get older and higher
mileage the Volvos just keep going and the VW's tend to start to fall apart
and/or rust. Volvo is certainly a lot safer and more comfortable as well.

 

i'm in america, so if you are not your model designations may be
different. but if your looking at early '90s volvos as you stated in
your post, you can't go wrong with a well maintained petrol powered 240
series or 740 series. if you look at any vw model from that time with
similar mileage (most likely high) and all other things being
equal(maintnence, repairs, etc) the volvo will most definitly go much
longer and without nearly as many problems as the vw. which most likely
would drive you insane with repairs. again though, here in america we
don't know from deisel. deisel is a bad word over hear for some reason.
so this bit of advice is for gasoline powered cars only. in america old
volvos are considered the toughest, longest running cars on the road.
and they have earned that reputation well. particulary cars with
engines in the B23F family.

 

Thanks for all the advice.

I am in Canada. Cold (-40 C)and salt on the roads is a consideration.
Ton of snow. In the summer it gets warm - last summer it got up to
+35C some days.

Long drives happen regularly 4-10 hours in a year - road trips!
And of course daily driving in the city - stop and go.

Tmuld.

 

Definately Volvo then!! Our 960 has been in Ontario for all it's life (1993
car) and not a spec of rust... my 99.5 Golf is already starting on the
fender!!! 12 year rust warranty apparantly doesnt cover surface corrosion
either.

You don't want a long trip in an older VW... the wind noise and the engine
note, not to mention the the inferior (to Volvo, the VW seats aren't bad)
seats and room.

The car you should look for is a 940 (SE would be the best, or a good
condition turbo).... 960 if you can find one.

 

Perhaps because it's spelled "diesel" over "here".


Gary

 

thanks for the spelling bee. and who are you quoting, exactly? oh no!
look ma, no caps in my post. the shame of it all!

 

Reliability for any particular used car will be highly dependent on
the previous owner's care and maintenance of _that_particular_car_.

If you are not a do-it-yourselfer, you may want to consider the quality
of local repair shops (dealer or otherwise) for each kind of car.

 

NO BODY SUFFERED IN THE MAKING OF MY VOLVOS NO SLAVE LABOUR .