29 here. Picked my 94 up from a coworker as my winter/crappy weather car (still refuse to call her a "beater")

Just recharged the A/C tonight and seems to be blowing very cold, hopefully there isn't a huge leak and it will last through the summer so I can continue to drive her to work a few days a week or when I need more trunk space

 

30... its my first Volvo. I've had it since January.. no payments loving it

 

so it looks like l have to look forward to replacing mine soon l guess.

 

35 own the Volvo for 6 years now (needed a wagon when my son was born . Prior to that I ownen a Dacia 1310 (it's derived from a Renault 12 which was build in the early 60's).
Done 150.000km with it since I bought it, clock shows now 306.000km.
Retroffited almost everything which was available and also done some mods (CRUISE light in cluster, tailgate open light, Auto Up & Down for the power windows for all windows), fitted an R interior in tan and so on (look in my gallery )
Now waiting to find time to add the parking heater which rests in the celler...

Regards from Germany
Cristian

 

I wouldn't think that at all just because one person had to. I've never done that on any of my other Volvos. Just because one 97 had a bad engine doesn't mean they all do. I bought it with 144K on it and maybe whoever owned it before me didn't take care of it. You never know.

 

very true. l heard the 97 was one of the reliable 850s made by volvo and 94 the worst to own. l did own a 94 and all it did was give me problems.

 

My 94 Turbo was the best of the bunch for me. Then again I bought it practically brand new with only 9800 miles on it when I bought it in 95.

 

that makes sense. the future of the car literally depends on how the po maintained it.

 

Most of the major issues didn't come up till the s80. Most 850/s70/v70/940/960 were trouble free. Although somewhere around 1999/2000 the s70 became a little bit more expensive especially the awd models.

 

In my mind 98 was the last year for Volvo. 99 was the first year that Ford owned them. Anybody have an opinion on whether they ever got good again and if so what year?

 

From what I read around, '05 S60 was a year of redemption for many of the models. Most people that I know that drives post '04 Volvo's really do love 'em. Almost as much as 850 owners do.

 

From working on volvos the order I would rate them is 200,700, and 940 series cars are least problematic. 850, 960, s70, v70(pre99) are next s60, v70, xc70 all post 03. Most of the newer ones are good up to 100k then hit and miss on figure a couple grand a year to maintain at a shop. 2001 seems to be a problematic year. The biggest issues I've come across is radiators going out on the inner seals. Allowing coolant into the transmission. I see lots of transmission issues on both s80 and xc90. Turbos usually only fail due to improper care. (Oil changes, pcv, oil pickup seals). Seen my share of head gaskets in everything. Heater cores suck in every car regardless of make after time.

 

I have to agree with everyone on here that dont believe in car payments. Besides they dont make cars like they used to! I am 45 and have had my 850 for many years.