Ok, so I bought a volvo. Frankly, I never thought I would buy a volvo. The thought just never crossed my mind. But, my teacher has one and I thought I would give it a shot.
I ride motorcycles so the purpose of a car for me is :

1. picking a girl up for a date
2. Throwing my snowboard in the back and just leaving to drive 300 miles (one way) to go hit some fresh snow
3. Towing my motorcycle on the back with a trailer


I researched so many snow cars with AWD. And then I sat and drove the Volvo. I was shocked at how well it drove and how someone like myself who hates driving actually was comfortable. I bought a used 2013 Volvo S60 with AWD t5 for $17,500 with 37,200 miles. It seemed to fit the bill perfectly ! AWD for the snow (I heard the Haldex Volvo System is up there with subaru's or audi's for snow and ice performance --- is that true?). Comfortable Ride, Super Clean Ride, Connected to the ground, Great Handling, Amazing Seats, Infotainment system served my purposes well and solid car for trailering a motorcycle on the back.

All was well until the first real test drive home. Took the freeway in Los Angeles and took it above 50 mph and the shaking in the steering wheel occured, pretty uncomfortable, and also the parts (like the plastics on the inside were squeaking even at low speeds). took it to volvo --- they discovered the wheels were bent in the front and the tires need a whole new alignment --- this is $2,000 worth of work. I took it back to the dealer where I purchased it and they told me they need to check it out in their service department and gave me a loaner.

My question is, if they fix it, should I just give it back to the dealer or keep the thing? I hate dealing with car problems, but from what I heard, Volvo's are almost as reliable as japanese cars. I wanted to love this car, but do you think 1 of the previous two owners damaged the front or got into an accident and it was never reported?\

Heres the kicker : I also found out that the car was a rental car for the first 30,000 miles. Which can be a gift or a curse. It means the maintenance was always up to date, BUT it also means the renters PROBABLY beat it up.

If you were me, would you give back this car that used to be a rental ? Or keep the thing and ride it? It has another year and a half on the factory warranty.

This is stressing me out, but would love your expert un-biased feedback !

The dealer told me that if they don’t fix it to my satisfaction that I can give the car back and get all my money back. I am located in the state of California.


Thank you so much !!

 

For a first car, I wouldn't go with a rental-return Volvo. The car's probably been beat and Volvos are expensive to fix. Start with a Subaru.

 

Don't buy a car, EVER. ALL cars will have problems, ask anyone who owns a car!

 

If you don't like dealing with car issues then I would suggest leasing something. You get a nice service warranty with it to take care of maintenance and when things break.

I would also never recommend buying a car that was previously a rental car, same goes for former dealership loaner cars. They get beat on by pretty much everyone who uses them. Next time, do more test driving or have a professional perform a pre-purchase inspection...also I'd give it back and spend my money elsewhere.