Hi all, I posted this over in the general discussion and got 2 replies of stay away from this car. I thought I would post in the car specific section, and ask those who own one (s80). My aditional question to you all here is, if I put 5-6 grand into repairs fixing the "typical" problematic issues, will it then become a dependable car again? Here is what I posted.
Hi all, I am new to this site, and have had great success in other forums (jaguar and Honda goldwing) I do not own a Volvo at present but looking. First my predicament. I live in a small town of 9000, so options are limited without travel. I own one four wheel drive vehicle which I drive, and my wife drives a Jaguar xk8. The problem? SNOW, the Jag will not move in it. We are looking for a car that will do well in snow, as well as provide exceptional comfort on long trips, since we travel a lot. I have owned two Volvos in the past, 240 and 850, loved them both. The 240 we lost in a house fire and the 850 was stolen. My question, what would you recommend. We have a possibility at a 2000 s80 t6 locally with 70500 miles. I can pick it up for 3500 to 3000, but going to try for 2500. I like the car however, I did research on this vehicle and nearly 90 percent is DO NOT BUY, and constant repairs. What is everyone's impression on this car? I appreciate and respect all your suggestions, even if you recommend a different Volvo or year. Thank you very much in advance, and hope to visit/contribute more soon.

 

I own a S80 2000 non turbo for two years now and I regret buying it, I paid 3,000 for it and I already spend another 1,500 in repairs, the car has been nothing but a nightmare, I bought this car for my daughter for school. the thing is I own a 740 turbo 1990 that I bought new and the car has been a pleasure since new, my advise stay away from this model consider an S60 instead, volvos are great unfortunately this model was and still is a lemon.

 

Hi, I presently do not have a S80 but yes like you I too like their looks. Also the fact they are about the same length as a 960 gives more leg room for the average American adult in the back unlike the s60 that I like to call a 4 door 2 seater for having none in the back.

But this is what one of the owners of Swedish Engineering of Ann Arbor MI told me once. That I put down on forum-paper for you.
As per him : 1999 to 2005 Volvos are owned by Ford. When Ford bought Volvo to get the rights to their safety equipment for Ford vehicles. Those years nothing but engine and transmission trouble was noticed in the S80 class cars, STAY away from anything with the 3.2 6 cylinder. You might get lucky if you happen to get a 2.4 liter turbo inline 5. 2005 and up Volvos are owned by Subaru...2005 and up S80 cars have less problems. And S60's have always been great cars (he never told me which year).

Personally I have a 1997 Volvo 850GLT Turbo Sedan. I love my car. Bought her with 142k miles on her, as of this writing I have 199918 miles and still going strong on her (all I have done is timing belt,water-pump,tuneup,tires,brakes when initially bought). BTW Sorry she is NOT FOR SALE.......EVER!!

 

entirely false. Yea Ford bought the majority of shares in VOLVO, however they did not incorporated ford engineering, The Volvo engineers kept doing what they were doing, no major influence from ford. However, parts sources opened up, so you have cheaper made parts that were being used.

still S80 is a Volvo screw up. Along with the XC90. Everything else are rock solid, if maintained, like any vehicle.

 

I have owned a '06 S80 since March of '08(34600 then & 78800 now)). I purchased it with a CPO warranty and the only thing I had to use the warranty on was the radio. The '06 model year has the 2.5T with the AW55 transmission. This combination has been used in several models and years and is a proven drivetrain. My wifes '03 C70 HPT also has the AW55 transmission(112100). I believe in the Ford Era they got the Halex AWD system and Volvo got intermittent wipers.