Hello everyone,

I just joined the forum to find out some information about a Volvo that I'm considering to buy for my teenager son. We're looking for an older Volvo around $4K but so far we can't find a clean one except a 1998 and 1999 S70 and a 1994 960. We were not impressed with the condition of the S70's however, the 1994 960 with a 102K miles is very clean and rides very nice. I'm not a car person but I can tell if a car is visually clean and rides and smells good.

My problem is that I can't find enough information about the reliability of the 1994 960. I know it is a very safe car but it is a 6 cylinder and it will be expensive on gas. The seller kept no maintenance records, he's an older gentleman and he said that he is usually not very good in keeping records. He appears to be honest though.

I'd appreciate it if you could let me know more information about the 1994 960, what maintenance concerns I need to address first etc....

Thank you fo your help.

Linda

 

I have a '93 960 and it's been a great car so far. Bought it back in Nov. 10, and haven't had to put any money into it! I do know from my research that the 92-94 960's had issues with their timing belts, so the service intervals are very important. My '93 960 needs the timing belt done every 30k, and I think the '94 was changed to around 50k.

Look over the car in detail under the hood...this will tell you how the owner took care of it. A sign of a person that took care of an older car is a rather well kept engine bay.

Get on every Volvo forum that you can and read everything about these older Volvo's. There area few other great Volvo forums out there, with a little bit of searching you can find a PDF of the service manuals for 92-95 960s, and key things that you should look for. Here is a rather good link that has a ton of info... http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/

Let us know if you decide to get the 960. Where in SoCal are you?

 

Hello,

Well we just bought our first 1994 Volvo 960. Beautiful car but unforntunatly the previous owner was not up to date on maintenance.

Could you let me know please which parts for replacing the timing belt and water pump need to be original Volvo parts and which parts could be after market?

Thank you
Lisa

 

You can get these parts at FCP Groton. Continental Belt, GMB (or Volvo) Idler and Tensioner. Tensioner Damper is Aisin, and Hepu water pump.

I was actually at FCP's office to look at both tensioners: GMB and Volvo. GMB's actually seemed tighter (i.e. better) than Volvo's.

 

Our 1994 Volvo 960 is clean from the outside but saddley needs a lot of work under the hood:Timing belt and water pump, front rotors and pads as well as steering gear. We found a good mechanic but he may be too expensive for us. Anyone knows of a good reasonable mechanic in Huntington Beach CA? Thanks. Lisa