Hello friends,

I am a long time Volvo driver and owned my 1994 940 sedan since 2003 but after having some recent issues with it, crunching numbers on the amount of money spent on repairs. The body and interior of the car are in excellent condition. I live in Los Angeles (warm weather preserved the body/undercarriage) and purchased the car in 2003 with 108k miles from the original owners. The car now has 202k miles and I have spent nearly $20,000 on repairs (other than the engine, I replaced when necessary almost everything including the transmission). I paid $5700 for the car (private party) and while I love this car, I am wondering where you draw the line on spending money to keep it going? As for the mechanic servicing the car, I have had the same trusted mechanic who specializes in Volvo's and got his start working for the dealer and knows the car inside and out. There is no doubt in my mind of his expertise and honesty to match but would appreciate feedback from fellow owners.

Thanks,

Mike

 

if you'd bought a new car in 2003 and put 100k miles on it, what would the total cost have been ?

$20K for 11 years of service does seem a bit high on a car with only 200K miles, but I intentionally don't track that sort of long term expense certainly, the tranny shouldn't have gone out at 200K, even when abused I've found AW7x trannys last 250k or more before they start to slip. ok, leadfooting a turbo will cut into that some.

 

Hard to say as you only mention "recent issues". What are they? What does the car need?

I have found many car owners who love their mechanics even though they are being robbed blind but apparently with a lot of good cheer and PR. To judge mechanical work one needs to know a lot and compare, good mechanic compared to what? I don't know the details but what you have spent is exorbitant. These cars are quite trouble free and easy to run and repair--one of the reasons many love them. It is about money, unfortunately, when it comes to cars-if you can spend without a point of reference, then fine, but this is not the way to approach this. I always have 3-4 940s around, and over the years I can't remember spending more than $200-300 a year on each. Of course I do my own work and use mostly used parts; no engine or transmissions failures either.

 

You sound just like me. I've had my 940 since 2000 and am close to 250k miles. I've crunched the numbers as well, but I have spent far less than you on repairs on my car as I have been doing pretty much everything on my own. My most expensive expense was replacing the steering rack (~$350) by the shop. I only started putting my own money into it over the past 5 years or so, but in that time I've put in about $6-7k including maintenance, tires, oil changes, upgrades. Not all of it has been in repairs, but small improvements and improvements as well. I believe my Dad who drove it before put in about $2k-$3k in regular maintenance, but nothing major.

The other way I look at it, is an educational investment. Since doing all my own work, I've learned way more than I ever could about my own car and how things are put together.

At the end of the day, the one thing that keeps me driving my car is the thought of buying another car and not knowing what to do when something goes wrong. With this car, I know exactly what's been done and in general, when something is failing, what part is going bad. If I ever replace my car, it will be because something catastrophic has happened (engine or transmission failed) or that there's a good deal on another Volvo that I can't pass up!

If you can consider dong your own work, you'll save yourself a lot of money.

 

Thank you both and upon further review, my numbers were off. I have spent just under $16k the past 12 years and that total included maintenance as well as other things such as tires, replaced the windshield which had small cracks in it from highway driving (rocks kicking up), etc. I do agree that sometimes people love their mechanic and they are ripping them off. Besides trusting my mechanic who came referred from a friend's dad who owned a Volvo from the late 60's, another friend who drives a 1986 240 for the past 17 years goes to my mechanic and his father who owns a Volvo repair shop in NJ , suspiciously looked over a few of the invoices, laughed and said "the west coast guy charges less than I do". I also feel the same way that I know what I have with this car and would be hesitant to start over with another used car since you never know what you are getting. Unfortunately I am useless fixing cars but will stick it out with the car and my trusted mechanic. I appreciate everyone's feedback.