anns850
Purchased car in June 1996 with $20,000 cash. It has been a great car. When we purchased it it had 54000 miles now in June of 2002 it has 154000 miles. We have driven it now for six years and had absolutely no problems with the mechanical parts of the car. We have kept up the maintenance and only have had to replace only tires and brakes etc. The front seat however has problems with the cables that operate the power seat. This has had to be replaced twice since 1996. Currently we are going to trade it in and now the original dealer will only give us $1800 trade in value they say because of high mileage. This is disappointing!
Nice but irritating
For the most part it's been nice owning this car. But there have been some electrical problems,& some quality short commings. The electric seat fails to recline & the black strips on top of the car are peeling,the driver's leather seat is cracking.
'94 854 Turbo
This is a fantastic car. I have had no major problems whatsoever, and that's with an aftermarket ECU and exhaust. These things are reliable, fast, stylish and comfortable. What more could you ask for??
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
If you have extra cash to spend on repairs then this is a good car for you. The design of the brakes only allows two cuts on the rotors so expect an $800 brake job every 60K miles. Going for scheduled maintenance every 10K does not prevent major problems from occuring. Try electrical problems that only Volvo can diagnose and repair. Overall a great car but you WILL need more than expected money for repairs but the same can be said for Mercedes and BMW so what else can you expect.
Volvo Quirks
This is my third Volvo,(previous 244, and 744 owner). It has all the typical 'quirks' that make the old girl a Volvo. 1) electrical problems. It seems as soon as you go over 75k miles, the electrical system goes to pot, replacing bulbs in tail light, dash, and console instrument panel are a constant. Driver's side power seats don't recline anymore either. 2) Also, black trim on car peeled, and was repainted twice to no avail. 3) 6 disk CD changer in trunk is worthless, but sound system is great! I've got 130k on her now, and won't even think about another Volvo until I crack 200k. With age comes distinction...even if the lights keep going out.