I had a 94' Volvo 850 Wagon which I loved. Someone T-boned me and totaled it, so I picked up a 95' Volvo 850 Turbo Sedan. This thing has really let me down.

-AC no longer works, would be 900$ to fix
-Lock cyclinder broke, wouldn't turn back to II after being started, had to be replaced.
-Trunk latch broke, no longer opens
-Antenna stopped going up and down, motor had to be unplugged
-Gas lock latch broke
-Glove box latch broke
-Pull out cup holders broke
-Sun roof broke (managed to fix)
-3 speakers literally fell apart inside their grills and had to be replaced
-Driver window falls out of place and has to be repositioned if rolled down past 75% of the way

I assure you none of this was due to mad maintenance, except maybe the AC (hoses got holes in them). Radiator had to be replaced but from what I've heard at 15 years they all start to fail because the old ones are plastic.

Are newer Volvos this poorly built as well? I'm talking more like 2000-Present The engine works well but all of these interior problems are driving me insane. I might as well just have a frame and an engine. Really disappointing after such a great wagon.

 

You have an old car. Stuff breaks. That is all piddly stuff to say "I'm never going to buy XYZ again." As a matter of fact, the only thing you can guarantee something that is made by man to do is break. If you want to own a vehicle where stuff won't break, buy a new car....but, being as I work for a very well known luxury line of vehicles I can speak from experience...you definately cannot guarantee buying new will mean nothing will break soon.

 

So if I was to buy a new car today, after 15 years I should expect similar results to this from any brand of car? I am young (23) and this is only my second car, so I cant say I have bought a brand new car and used it to the end of its life.

 

What did you expect with a 15 yo car? No ones going to guarantee you that if you buy new, in 15 years it will be completely fine. And like the other guy said, it's all piddy stuff. My antennae hasn't worked in a long time, because it's a 16 yo car. My sunroof broke and I replaced, because it's a 16 yo car. Both my headlight wipers stopped working. My tweeters stopped working, I fixed them. Pull out cupholders break all the time, get some new ones on eBay.

At the same time, you can't count maintenance items as parts to complain about. Radiators will wear out. Buy a new car, and the radiator will still wear out. And I would attribute poor maintenance to some of those problems. Latches not working could be a sign that they slammed doors, or yanked em open. Everything you listed are typical wear items, parts that will just wear out over time.

 

I would be willing to bet that if you took ANY mid 90s car and a mid 90s volvo and treated both of them identically through their lives, and the volvo is gonna have fewer problems than whatever else you're comparing with.

Look how many volvo 850s are still on the road....and then realize that the 850 has not been built for going on 14 years now.

 

In 10 years a 95 car will an antique.

 

Well I guess in 11 years I'll be driving an antique because I just don't want to drive anything else. Maybe I'll get an antique plate for it.

 

I think I'll have 3 antique plates in a few years. LOL

Man, if you can find another brand of car that is in good shape at 15 years please let me know. Most cars have totally fallen apart if used daily by the time they are 10 years old.

And, AMEN on the 1 thing you can guarantee is it will break if man made it. The only difference between a new car and older Volvo is the fact that the dealer will FIX what breaks on a newer car. I have a good friend that is complaining about all the work that has to be done in his new mb, always in the shop for this or that.

 

I'm back on this already. Friday the mail lady stopped at the house to drop off my motor mounts from FCP and stood in my driveway in very cold weather telling me how nice all 3 of our Volvos look. A '95, '97 & '98. She was impressed. I was very excited to get my 960 back from my daughter the other day, the car still looks pretty new inside and I love it. I hope no one ever t-bones me, I just might get arrested for kicking their butt.

 

I'm back again. We just installed about $500 in parts in our S70 and that thing looks like a 5 year old car inside & out. I kinda miss it already (my daughter took it back to college). The average car payment is about what we paid for parts once in about 18 months. Can't beat it.

Look at what you put into your car as it's car payment and you may back off of kicking it. Take about $500 per month and put it in the car to fix it each month and you will likely run out of things to do in 4 months. Then it will be in great shape and you'll be back in love.

 

Volvos are tanks!! Yes, they will have issues, but I have never been left stranded in a volvo ever. I can't say the same for some other, younger cars.