I just purchased a 2001 s80 2.9 with a blown head gasket. Not a big deal usually, I have replaced many.

I've owned a couple of 240's in the past and my dad has owned a ton of Volvos, p1800's, 544's, 140's, 160's, 240's, a 260.

My first question is if anyone has any input on what brand of head gasket set to buy. Do you know of any to avoid or use for sure? Any you've had good or bad success with?

Also a service manual. I have always purchased Haynes manuals for my vehicles in the past, but recently I've been a little less than thrilled with their thoroughness. I see a ton of DVD based ones listed on the net? Anyone have any experience with these?

Also, I noticed on one thread someone mentioned that the s80's have a lot of problems. Anyone care to elaborate on that topic? I didn't research the car much because the price was right and I didn't have much time, but I would like this to be my daughter's first car and don't want to have to worry about her being stranded on a regular basis. If it's likely to give me problems I will probably just fix what's wrong and resell it. I can check consumer reports, but they don't really give much in the way of specifics.

Any help is greatly appreciated.