All,

I have now sold my 98 S80 T6. I have traded it in on a Lexus and it's good bye old car.

The S80 is a nice car, but from a reliability stand point this particular car has had problem, after problem, after problem. No doubt to say I was this far from losing it. The Volvo is now in the back of my mind, and I never particularly want to ever own one again.

The Volvo product is good, but due to the issues I had with my car, it has tainted my feelings towards the brand and as a result, I will never buy another one again (no matter how good the deal was).

The other deciding factor in this statement is also the fact that where I am (Australia) parts for Volvo and just the upkeep on these cars are too high, as there are not enough parts available (except ordering from Volvo direct) to fix various issues.

To all those that have given me a hand in the past, thankyou and good luck to you, your families and your car.

 

Good luck with the Lexus.. What did u end up with?

 

Just wondering... What "issues" did you have with your car that finally made you switch?

 

I ended up with a ES300 for now. It is more an interim car until I can afford to buy a GS300 later down the track.

As far as what issues finally made me switch, well.............................. To tell the story quickly, it has taken me near on 11 months to get rid of the car. I put it up for sale in January 2008 and it's now December. That's a record for me. Problems I had with the car:

* Breather box sludged up with oil and had to be fixed.
* Developed another oil leak, and overtime got worse.
* Idling problems with the ETM (eventually fixed with another software download)
* Another oil leak
* Split radiator & leaking water pump
* After all that was fixed and pressure checked was okay, and then another hose inexplicably broke
* Air-con was starting to go faulty
* Side Mirrors failing
* Engine oil leak sorted by the fact that rocker cover gasket had loosened, and was tightened.
* Timing belt that was replaced was now also covered in oil, meaning potential replacement after only 12 months
* Rear oil seal moderate leak, and then continued to leak
* Power steering pump wearing out
* Droneing manifold (split somewhere) - unsure whether it was a gasket, manifold split, turbo-housing split
* Bottom crank gasket was badly leaking - potentially the crank would need re-machining
* Excessive tappet noise while running (which is a problem in itself)
* Parts in general - excessive for standard stuff as availability in Australia is very very poor (i.e. cheapest grill I could get was for $300 + shipping. Luckily a member was able to sell me one for cheap.
* Labour (was going to cost $2000 minimum to see what was causing the various oil leaks as gear box had to be removed)

Quite literally various issues that occurred almost every 2nd - 3rd month and just spending too much money on it. It was literally a black hole for cash I can't afford anymore.

 

That is allot... [:-] What year was it?

 

It was a September 98 T6. It was just too much, and I had to get rid of it (and most of this has been in the last9 months).

 

Sorry to see you leave!!

 

I'll never buy another Volvo. Has nothing to do with the cars though. It's culture of corruption I found at every dealer I visited that turned me off. I just don't like dealing with liars and crooks. Would have bought a GM car if I did.

Your T6 probably wasn't half as bad as the people who sold you all sorts of unnecessary and overpriced repairs.

 

Well typed...

 

That is part of the reason I got out of the Dealer for working on the cars and went to a small specialist shop.

 

Unfortunately the parts for these cars in Australia are hard to come by and as a result you pay for owning a European car down-under. Unfortunately that car from doing it's history was truly a lemon as these faults I was able to see and had to get repaired. Specialist or Volvo dealership even places that do just Volvo would charge big prices to fix these particular cars. Unfortunately my ex-T6was what it was, a lemon from day one.