Hi Folks,

I'm new to the Volvo forums. I am in the market for a used car that I can use, primarily as my go to work vehicle. I live about 8 miles from my office and currently have a Toyota minivan and a Subaru Forester.

My oldest kid will be driving next year so I'm thinking about getting a used car that I can use as a commuter car and a nice weekend car.

I'm really interested in getting a used S80 AWD. I live in New Hampshire and we get a lot of snow. AWD is useful (we love our Subaru).

I'm seriously considering buying a used 2007 S80 AWD that has the 8-cylinder engine. However, this afternoon I ran into a friend who had a Volvo XC90. I asked him about his car and told him I was thinking of buying a used Volvo. He said that in his experience with his XC90, it was a solid car, but it was very expensive to repair. He cautioned me that the factory parts for the Volvos were very expensive and he ultimately traded in his Volvo and got a different brand of car.

I did some research and the Volvo S80 seems to have a decent reputation for reliability. I looked at consumer reports and edmunds and they seem to have favorable reviews for the S80.

Is the cost of ownership of a Volvo (particularly a used one) significantly higher? My friend said he had to do some front end work on his XC90 (it was a high mileage vehicle) and it would have cost him $5k so he traded the car in. There is a local mechanic who specializes in Volvo repair (not a dealer) and I was planning to take my car there if I bought a used S80.

I really like the S80. I would like a comfortable, 6 or 8 cylinder AWD vehicle. I would primarily just use the car during the week to get to and from work in the winter and during bad weather (I occasionally bike ride to work) and use the Subaru and Toyota during the weekends when doing stuff with the family.

However, seeing my friend kinda scared me!

For those of you who own an S80, what's your experience been like?

Thanks in advance!

 

Generally speaking Volvo's are more expensive to repair than Japanese cars, though you have already discovered one way to cut down on that. A good local independent mechanic. Now if this mechanic makes good use of aftermarket parts that is another key. If he gets all his parts from the dealer then your savings will not be that significant. The bottom line is Volvo's are well built and generally reliable with certain model exceptions just like any other manufacturer. As long as you do your due diligence on the year, model, and the service history of the car you are considering you should be just fine.

 

I personally really like the V8 S80's. I would suggest having the idlers and tensioner replaced if it has anything close to 70,000 miles or more. I have seen plenty of them come apart. In most cases, no further damage occurs. But I've seen a couple damage the mounting point on the timing cover, requiring timing cover replacement, which is very expensive.

OEM parts are not cheap, but there are some instances where you get what you pay for. I've had plenty of customers complain of squeaking brakes after another shop put cheap brakes on or a severe pull because they elected to buy cheap $60 control arms instead of the $200 Volvo ones. Then they buy the $200 ones and pay for the labor again.

 

+1 on getting what you pay for. I was a little short on time earlier and didn't elaborate, but I personally avoid the cheap auto parts places like Auto Zone, Advance, O'Reilly's, etc., as much as possible. Usually there is a parts store in any decent sized metro area that carries better quality import parts, and of course there are online places like IPDUSA and Rock Auto where decent quality aftermarket parts can be had, but online works best for planned maintenance rather than unexpected repairs.