screw it. After all the problems I've had with my car and the bad experiences I've had with Volvo's dealerships, I'm done. Great car, horrible quality and customer service.

I've decided as of today after going to a friend's turbo shop todayit isn't worth my time to do anything this car. Or anotherVolvo for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I've liked my s80 when itruns properly.It's a nice cruiser but that's it. I'm not going to try and waste money on a nice, but fat heavy luxury car. I take it to the track and I even lose to honda civics. 17 seconds even when it's giving its all is pathetic.

I'm going to be selling my s80. Getting out of Volvos for a Lexus SC300 or 400. I'd rather havea luxury car that has some aftermarket backing and can drift around corners. I want to go faster and flashier and frankly thiss80 isn't going to do it for me. There are no body kits, no turbo kits...nothing. And to turbo it, I'm looking at 8k in a car that I'd be putting into a black hole. And the older ones to me look like nothing more than a cardboard box with a spoiler on the back.

This car has been an "interesting" experience at best. But I wanna go faster and I've hit my limit with Helga.

This should probably should be in the for sale section but I'm not really posting up an ad for it. But if anybody is interested, 8,500 OBO is what I want.

Some pics if anybody cares, I'm located in SoCal.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1806084

Peace.

 

Dude you bought an S80 it is a freaking boat for heavens sake. Secondly you bought a NA to boot. That was another mistake.

I can understand your frustration though.

However a c70 LPT or HPT is so nice and classy looking as is and the parts that you can add to a 1998 model are wonderful. As far as body kits go Volvo wouldn't be my pick for a car to put a body kit on. Yes CF lips and splitters like I have, but full body kits get a HONDA for that.

You lost at the track because you have an NA. If you had bought the T6 model and did some tasteful mods to it. For example 3" downpipes to a 2.5" catback system and a ECU remap. You could do some serious owning at the track.

If you bought an older model Volvo turbo models in these platforms you would be very happy.

-850 series
-70 series

Yeah the aftermarket backing for Volvo isn't like it is for HONDA, Mitshu, etc... We are a small niche market and the parts that do come out for the most part are great. Al be it exspensive, but some items can be made for way less. One example is custom made exhaust systems.

 

Sorry about your bad experiences. Don't know what to write to make it better except that I hope you like your Lexus better than your Volvo. That, and I wish you luck with it.

Myself, I'd never have one of the newer Volvos. Something happened about the same time Volvo stopped being a somewhat quirky Swedish automaker and turned into a Euro car maker and subsequently into a global car maker (aka Ford). The Volvo that many of us have loved for decades is sadly gone. It seems that the automobiles they used to make are also gone.

Many of us began driving Volvos when they could brag that 90% of all 13 year old Volvos were still on the road. (For those of you who forgot, or who were not even born, that was in the 1970's.) The four 122S Amazons I've owned were wonderful cars which I did not believe could be bettered. That was until, after a short haitus, I took the plunge and bought the first of my three 200 series. It's no wonder that that model was built for almost two decades. They were built like tanks and lasted as long as you took care of them. I've owned three of them.

Now, after a second haitus, I have a new 1989 740 "brick" (wagon). It's a beauty. Mechanically, it's extraordinarily sound. It's had every single scheduled service--something I intend to keep up. The paint on the hood and the roof is not perfect. The air conditioning needs rebuilding and conversion to R134a--something I will do myself late this spring. The next brake pads will include new rotors. But, other than that, the car is a gem. Interior is nearly flawless. When I bought it from a private owner all I did was to put a new clutch in it--it's a five speed. The old clutch was the original and had done its job well for nearly two decades.

I paid $2,600 for it. By summer I'll have put a total of about the same into it. But here's the secret. The engine is cherry. It runs like a dream. I *know* that this B230F has little or no wear on it. I will do everything I can to keep it that way and it will be worth it. You see, this car is *paid* *for*. If I have to do some repairs on it once in a while, that's okay. I *know* that the car will easily run another 100,000 miles without major engine work. That will take me close to a third of a million miles on the odometer. Then, if the body is still holding up, I'll do the rebuild. It'll be worth it because, as I've said, it's paid for, it's pretty, and it runs like a dream.

I'll take a RWD Swedish Brick any day. Well, as long as it has one of Volvo's unbreakable four bangers under the hood.

My next Volvo adventure? Maybe a 940 sedan. I'd hate to have to buy my first Volvo with an automatic transmission, but I don't think they made 940s with the M47.

Good luck to ya.

 

I know my daughter's 99 S80 T6 will probably blow the doors off my 87 850 R and my son's 98 V70 R, and it is on comfortable riding car at the same time.

Why would anybody who wants their car to go fast buy a non-turbo Volvo? Especially one as big as the S80? I think the guy got what he paid for and what he deserved. Nobody in my family (other than my Mother In Law) would buy a Volvo that is not turbo-charged!

 

First of all drag racing a 3400# volvo against a 2600# civic and complaining you lost ? Yo genius! the Volvo is over 800 lbs heavier !

As for the reliabilty of an S80, with the exception of Volvo making a bad choice for automatic transmission suppliers, The 2 S80 owners I know have had a good experince with thier cars, but then they are not drag racing or burning donuts in the Dairy Queen parking lot.

Spanning 30 years I have owned a 1963 pv 544, 1967 122, 1972 142, 1988 740, presently I have a 1999 S-70 and most recently a 2006 V70.I did as much repair and maintainance if not more on my early Volvos as I have on the S70. My S70 has over 150K miles on it .None of my B18 or B20 engined Volvos ever got to that mileage without needing a water pump,valve job and a distributor rebuild (or two) along the way, The S70 has so far only lunched on light bulbs and a O2 sensor. I do 95% of the maintainace and repair on my cars and the front wheel drive car is no more difficult to work on with the exception of clutch and transmission work.

1999-2001 were not banner years for Volvo and it showed in the electrical problems that many Volvos of that era have or had. Since 2002 when Ford came on board the build quality has definately improved IMO, whether this is due to Ford's ownership or in spite of, doesn't matter to me. The 2006 V70 is the best Volvo I have owned yet. and I have every reason to expect that car to last 10 years or more.

 

Just an update:

after looking around for awhile, I decided to keep my s80...giving up on the performance aspect but I do think I'll work on the suspension at least so it doesn't handle like a boat so much. I guess I just got my panties in a bunch after trying to wish a car would perform the way I want it when that is not what it was designed for in the first place. It's a nice cruiser, I've come to peace with it. I'm not going to try and make it something it's not.

I'm going to keep itas my main carand save up some money on the side for another performance tuner/turbo volvo I guess that has a little better aftermarket support and performance parts. Something I can play around with and not have to worry about it being reliable/passing smog...etc.In the mean time, I'm going to take my s80 for what it is: it's slow but it's definately a comfy place to be. And in that respect, despite the annoying quirks it has it's the best car I've ever owned.

Cheers.

 

(edited. Decided to post this response under a new thread)