Hey Everyone,

Just joined the forum today as mu wife and I are looking at purchasing a 2015 Volvo S60 or XC60. I based this off two criteria safety and reliability. The more I read the web the more I wonder if Volvo is riding on the age old curtails of reliability and is, in fact, no longer the bulletproof vehicle it once was.

Can someone shed some light on this thought? I mean, I like the brand image but I want to make sure I'm not buying an image, I want to buy facts. If it's just another luxury vehicle like a Benz, Bimmer, Audi etc that I need to spend $1000 a year on, like my Saab 93 - then I may not purchase, I may go the Lexus route or perhaps Acura - even though I have an unwarranted attraction to Swedish cars.

Thanks all and would really appreciate honesty

 

The reliability of ANY 2015 car is orders of magnitude better than a Saab 93 - not dumping on Saab's just the fact that with modern manufacturing technologies all cars are way more reliable. Volvo like most european models use a range of parts suppliers for their various components - Bosch etc same as Audi, VW, MB, BMW etc. In my view, the differences are regional - Japan/Korea vs Europe vs US (in that order of reliability) due to orginal suppliers and the car's intended design. A car designed with a high performance chassis and many automation feastures is more complex and is likely to have more expensive repairs than a softly tuned, mass marketed car. So where does Volvo score? You can subscribe to Consumer Reports and similar reseach services for survey ratings to gain some insights but the takeaway is really going to be how much more reliable are 2015 cars than say a 2010 or less reliable than a new 2019? So - Lexus will probably out rate a Volvo on reliability, but that doesn't mean you won't ever need repairs. To me, the question is what do you really want to get out of your ride? Lowest maintenance costs? Toyota, Hundai etc. Best driveability? BMW, MB etc. Blend of performance, value, cachet (uniqueness)? Volvo is up high on my list.