Would you go for a 2000's Volvo or a 2010's Volvo? I'd save money every month towards maintenance and repairs. I'm a mom and I'm very concerned about safety. I also want a car that will LAST.

 

Its all somewhat relative the total cost of owning a car is a balance between payments for the car (even if you pay up front, that investment can be shown as a monthly cost) plus expected maintenance and repairs. The newer cars require less maintenance and would have fewer repairs but as cars get newer the repairs are becoming more expensive. For a over 10 years old, the repairs start to include rubber components that have aged, worn out due to high mileage etc. If you have repair skills and tools, many of the repairs on older Volvos can be done at home. If you are reliant on having a local mechanic do the work, then steering towards newer models with a good maintenance history is the way to go. Finally it really comes down to your budget. Lets say your budget is $7500 to buy the car. You can find something like a 2009 to 2011 S40 or S60 with under 100K miles. Then you can budget for maintenance (check out the maintenance schedules for any model at https://www.volvocars.com/us/own/own...owners-manuals - mostly its oil changes every 7500 with big servicing at 30,000. The one thing to watch for is the timing belt which is 10 years/120K miles so if you are buying a 10 year old car, make sure its already done. From there cars go up in price to the point where a 2014-2015 will cost you $15K. One model I'd avoid is the 2012-13 S60s as they have a history of piston/ring problems requiring engine rebuilds (unless the maintenance shows the engine work was done).

 

Old time Volvohaulic here since 1986... Still own and maintain myself 5 pre 1995 Volvos. Besides I am in the car business as a licensed dealer since 1987. I'd never buy a Volvo made after 1998, and I say that with the full awareness that this is a Volvo site but I have plenty of experience to back this up. In fact, I'd not buy any European car made since about 2002 or so except for a VW only because they are cheap to buy and maintain. The whole automobile mentality has changed, not the way it used to be! Buy a Lexus if you can afford it, otherwise a Toyota. Even they are not as good as they were from some years back but far superior to Euro products.

 

I wouldn't buy a Volvo pre 90's, at least as normal daily transport. As good as some of them are they're not as safe in a collision as the later cars, and the more modern models have better collision avoidance systems. Properly maintained the modern ones cover the same kind of mileages as the old ones ever did, but don't corrode as badly, are much safer and more economical. I also don't wear polyester shirts, live in a cave or treat illnesses with leeches.

any late 00's Volvo onwards is liable to give you good service if you do your homework, find one that's in good order with a good history, and then don't dry and skimp om the maintenance - you can either afford to run one properly or you can't, and there is no way of sidestepping that.

 

Yes, I agree with the maintenance part! If you are willing to spend outrageous amounts of money on that, you are good. All my Volvos are 1992-1994 models, the best of the RWD. I've tied to upgrade to a newer platform Volvos, from a 1996 850R back then to a 2011 S40 some months ago, others in between, all pure junk in materials, design, and mechanicals. Trust me, I wish it was not so--my 240k miles B230 are in much better shape than the 80k miles (my last S40 AWD T5, 6 speed with a head gasket problem no one could fix for less than $6K). Plus the Volvo production now is moving to China, and $60 for a Chinese knock off Volvo is not gonna happen! I can go on and on...