Teach me about modern Volvos

What's going on post 850?

S90, two generations of S60, three of S40/V40? R editions and such?

What's reliable and yet fun for a GRM budget of 5Kish? I'm thinking super comfy but can jog a bit.

They all suck after 1993.

One owner from new 2008 C30 here. 110K miles and zero issues. All I've ever done is tires, brakes and one battery and front end engine service (H20 pump, belts, tensioners etc) I found that the inner CV boots were torn when doing the engine service and had them rebuilt which was a mistake as one came appart twice. A new aftermarket half shaft from Rock Auto cured that, but I can't blame Volvo for a E36 M3ty CV joint rebuild. The car still looks perfect outside although there is a rip on the drivers seat bolster from me getting in and out for coming up nine years.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: They all suck after 1993.

One thread you tell me to only buy a new car, this one, only one which is over two decades old. You're just a contrarian.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: One owner from new 2008 C30 here. 110K miles and zero issues. All I've ever done is tires, brakes and one battery and front end engine service (H20 pump, belts, tensioners etc) I found that the inner CV boots were torn when doing the engine service and had them rebuilt which was a mistake as one came appart twice. A new aftermarket half shaft from Rock Auto cured that, but I can't blame Volvo for a E36 M3ty CV joint rebuild. The car still looks perfect outside although there is a rip on the drivers seat bolster from me getting in and out for coming up nine years.

Didn't you not like the C30 for some reason, or was that ZW?

tuna55 wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: They all suck after 1993.

One thread you tell me to only buy a new car, this one, only one which is over two decades old. You're just a contrarian.

Super comfy seats for a tall person. C30 and S40 on some years had the Ford C1 platform so they handled well. T5 sounds good. That's all I got.

tuna55 wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: They all suck after 1993.

One thread you tell me to only buy a new car, this one, only one which is over two decades old. You're just a contrarian.

I told you to buy a new car, not some depreciated POS 10 year old maintenance nightmare of someone else's problems.

Also, a '93 Volvo 240D would be about 7 years newer than what you're dealing with now and at least twice as capable and safe. 3 times more capable if you found a wagon.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Also, a '93 Volvo 240D would be about 7 years newer than what you're dealing with now and at least twice as capable and safe. 3 times more capable if you found a wagon.

Sometimes I wish I could block you from responding to honest questions.

Can't speak to the post-850 cars first hand, but between me and my dad we've had three 850s and put probably 200k combined on them. They were all good cars, no major issues to report.

Dad's 94 N/A auto wagon needed nothing but routine maintenance, until the rear main seal started leaking too badly and he dumped it. I replaced blown door speakers in my 94 N/A 5 speed sedan and maybe did plugs on it, then the exhaust rusted off after the cat. My 96 turbo sedan, that I got for free, needed 02 sensors and a few vacuum lines, then a caliper somewhere down the line, and did 50k trouble free miles with the boost cranked as high as the ECU would allow and me beating the piss out of it.

Parts tend to be a bit expensive, more so than even contemporary BMW and Mercedes products in my experience. The general rep of the post 850 cars, IIRC and it's been a long time since I've hung around with fwd Volvo people, is that the build quality went downhill a bit (Which coincides with the Ford take over. Also, the 850s were really well built.) The S80 transmissions were supposedly weak sauce and the white block motors always been a bit finicky about keeping the PCV system in shape, but there's nothing I'm aware of that would make me run.

tuna55 wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Also, a '93 Volvo 240D would be about 7 years newer than what you're dealing with now and at least twice as capable and safe. 3 times more capable if you found a wagon.

Sometimes I wish I could block you from responding to honest questions.

I liked your comment, just because that's the kind of guy I am. heart

tuna55 wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: One owner from new 2008 C30 here. 110K miles and zero issues. All I've ever done is tires, brakes and one battery and front end engine service (H20 pump, belts, tensioners etc) I found that the inner CV boots were torn when doing the engine service and had them rebuilt which was a mistake as one came appart twice. A new aftermarket half shaft from Rock Auto cured that, but I can't blame Volvo for a E36 M3ty CV joint rebuild. The car still looks perfect outside although there is a rip on the drivers seat bolster from me getting in and out for coming up nine years.

Didn't you not like the C30 for some reason, or was that ZW?

Nope, I love it too bits. Bought it new, picked it up in Sweden and will never sell it. Best car I've ever owned.

Solid cars but can be maintenance-heavy (not the same thing as unreliable). Problems are usually related to TCS/DBW systems or auto transmissions. Good cars but worth buying a maintained one. Fixer-uppers can eat you alive. The late P80 cars ('98-00 S70/V70 immediately after the 850 but before the P2 S60/V70) are the worst of everything (crappy 850 interior quality and poor AWD, crappy early P2 flawed TCS system that is expensive to fix).

I totally have the hots for the P3 S60 but that is after they went to a non-serviceable transmission, only the dealer can check fluid level with a VIDA/DICE and a fluid change is a 6-hour job. Basically a huge noooooope as someone that maintains my own cars.

They're the most boring cars we work on here, in that nothing major really seems to go wrong with them. They just keep on workin' until the owner gets bored with it and trades it in.

The 5 and 6 speed autos have valve body issues, but this kind of goes with the territory with Aisin-Warner. (You replace the valve body when the trans gets shifting issues, or you drive it for another 100k with occasional weird shifts cold or hot, either works) I have no real manual experiences other than having to replace one that the owner blew up some shift forks or something while trying to drive it after the clutch hydraulics died. That was the only manual trans S-anything that I'd ever seen... (it was a 2.4l S60, IIRC)

For ease of maintenance reasons get a turbo. You get more power as a nice bonus. The nonturbo intake setup is a real pain to work around, especially in the five cylinder S40s.

My wife's '02, AWD, turbo, S60 has not been as reliable as the 850 that it replaced but its quite nice to drive and is even surprisingly competent on the track. I've used it a couple of time when instructing.

That was me that had all of the trouble with his C30. I liked the Idea of the car but mine had really bad build quality. All of seals leaked as some point including the windshield and the sunroof.

With a different car and maybe a better dealer mechanic it may would have improved the experience. They told me that it was normal for the brake pedal to hit the floor during normal braking.

I keep seeing them in the 10-12K range. I'm tempted to grab one and put on MS3 brakes to help with the soft brake feel.

I recently picked up an 03 S60 with 132k miles from a relative who is known to be pretty neglectful. Even with that, it runs and drives well. It has more road and cabin noise than I expected, however the seats are pretty amazing. It's a non-turbo with a five speed and it shifts well. It seems that some of the suspension is starting to get worn, and has a lot of little common electrical issues, but nothing that really makes any difference. I haven't found parts to be too outrageous, but I haven't done anything major yet. I'll agree with the others who said it takes maintenance, but isn't so much unreliable. Oh, and it might just be mine, but it has the worst sound system I've ever heard in a modern car. A plus is that they hold no value so you get a lot of car for your money and you expect to drive until it's dead.

I agree that a C30 makes for a very fun and practical ride. My wife picked up an '11 about 6 months ago, and we just fitted some 18x8s with sticky rubber. It feels light on its feet and has great pull from the turbo-5. No issues to speak of.

I have fun of a different sort with my S80 V8. Nobody suspects the throaty rumble is coming from this ordinary-looking Volvo. I offer tithes of petroleum products to the Yamaha on a daily basis. You get a lot of car for the money with these, as few people outside the enthusiast community really know what makes them special.

my wife had an 09 C30 from new, we just traded it in december towards a ford fusion titanium. it had several weird issues that were covered under warranty, that i did not want to mess with out of warranty. one was the pcv/oil pump housing(?) that developed some kind of leak under vacuum at about 55k, and started making a whistling sound at idle. solution: replace the part for around 3-400 bucks. the other really weird thing was that one time after having the car in for an oil change or minor warranty thing, when she picks the car up, about 10 minutes later the airbag light comes on. she takes it back, they reset the light, send her on her way again and it comes on again. turned out the airbag module decided to let the smoke out randomly. they replaced the $1000 part under warranty. other things like the seat wearing at the seams, various interior panels developing cracks, those sorts of things.

other than that, the car was plenty fun to drive, only other issue i dealt with was replacing the passenger side CV axle. protip: when they go bad, they feel like a slipping transmission under power. took a sunday afternoon to replace, not too bad once i figured out that the lower ball joint had to be separated to get it out.

11110000 wrote: I have fun of a different sort with my S80 V8. Nobody suspects the throaty rumble is coming from this ordinary-looking Volvo. I offer tithes of petroleum products to the Yamaha on a daily basis. You get a lot of car for the money with these, as few people outside the enthusiast community really know what makes them special.

I did not know that those existed. Color me interested.

I have a 2016 XC70 that we bought last year. It has been good so far, but it just went over 4,000 miles last week or so, so it should be like new.

It is not really fun to drive in any way except to mash the gas pedal while making a turn leaving a stop sign and try to guess which direction it will try to take you. It is more comfy and has a more upscale feel to the interior and can hold more cargo than the WRX it replaced.

Can't tell you much, but I really want one of these: