Hey I am in need of some advice...

My girlfriend's car (which I bought her a month before) was totaled on July 4th and as soon as I can get the insurance company to pay me, I need to get her a new car.

I know very little about current Volvos. I know pre-Ford, they would last for a while but parts were ungodly expensive too.

Are parts still as ungodly expensive? And how is the reliability of a 2002 or 2003 S60? Will these cars nickel and dime me to death?

I have a couple of to look at. The one I am linking has lower miles and the price is about the same...

2003 Volvo S60 2.5L Turbo | Cheshire, MA | Bedard Brothers Preowned Superstore

 

I have an 03 s60 with a 143,000 miles on it I have changed the timing belt and plugs which cost me around $400 parts and labor since I have a friend who is a mechanic...volvo's typically do not nickel and dime you, yes they can be expensive should something go wrong however with that having been said I use to own a 98 volvo 960 wagon with 258,000 before I upgraded to the 03 I can tell you that in all they years that I owned the car the only major repair I had done on it was to replace the starter...again they are like any other car when it comes to maintenance but they are in my opinion the best car out there and I will not drive anything but a volvo....once you drive a volvo you will be hooked for life!!! I hope this help and again yes they can be expensive to fix but I have had 2 very good cars with very little repairs other than the usual up keep! good luck in whatever you decide

 

just looked at your link and my 03 is the same color only its not a turbo and with having 92,000 on i think you should buy it, however I would see if your able to get your hands on the maintenance records and see if the timing belt has been done as it is due to be changed...nice car!

 

Hey patsfn2,

My mom had a 740 (pre Ford) That was the car I learned to drive in. I'd open the sunroof and stick my head out because I could see better that way, but she got somewhere in the 200s on the car. She had a few problems that cost a lot, but they were infrequent enough that she could have got a brand new Chrysler and paid a lot more in repairs just on quantity, for example (what my dad drove at the time).


Good advice about the timing belt. I was thinking the same thing last night! From the carfax, the car was serviced by the same dealer for about its entire life! Normally I do not buy cars with timing belts, but I actually liked the seats in this car, and I know my girlfriend would like it too (other than possibly too sluggish feeling as the other Volvos she drove).

The coolant was just flushed fairly recently at least, but I don't see timing belt in there anywhere. I will have to ask when I look at it -- maybe I can work out a deal if they replace the timing belt I'll buy it or whatever.

I'm also looking at a couple of Devilles but I have a feeling they will sell before I get my insurance check

 

Okay well as it turns out, we got a check for the amount over the loan today. I have to sign some paperwork so they can pay off the loan, and I'm not sure I can get a loan until then (plus I really don't trust this insurance company either).

Taking a look at it tomorrow

 

We looked at the car, but the old lady (who it's for) hated it. It was comfortable, she liked the styling, it rode nice as a passenger but when I tried driving it I was terrified. The steering was the worst. I had an aveo loaner once and I thought that was terrifying, but nothing like this. Something could have been wrong, or it had terrible steering corrections. If I turn the wheel a little, it was real easy to steer, like a late 70s/early 80s Buick. If I had to turn it any more, it felt like it had no power steering or real stiff steering like a the 740 I learned to drive in. If I gave it any gas, it got even stiffer.

I thought she'd really like this car too... but she hated the 850 I had her test drive years ago too but that was for lack of power.

 

Almost sounds like the steering rack and or pump is failing. But I looked at your link and it says it's an AWD. It could possible be a problem with the AWD, be it electronic or mechanical. You'll want to get this checked out first before you purchase, as this is a safety issue.
Hope this helps.
To answer your original question, from all I've researched, stick with a 2003 or newer to avoid major issues in the transmission and throttle area.
I'll be purchasing in the next year and I'm looking in the '03-'06 range and keeping it a FWD model to keep cost and maintainence down.

 

While the power steering seemed to work intermittently, when it worked and did not work it was fairly consistent too. Giving it gas made it harder to steer. It also had a bit of a FWD shimmy to it I noticed when driving too. But it did ride really nice as a passenger. I liked everything about the car except the steering really (and maybe a larger trunk but it would suffice 360 days a year). My girlfriend said the steering was terrible, but I did not know until I tried driving it.

We bought a 05 Cadillac Deville. She really liked her last one anyway and this one was baby blue (perfect color for a chick car). The last one also saved our boys lives by taking the brunt impact of a high speed rear ending and keeping a Jeep out of our backseat -- the Volvo probably would have done fine here too though they generally do fairly well on crash tests and better in real life accidents.