I’m very interested in a 2012-2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD or a 2010-2013 Volvo XC60. I’m very used to Honda’s and Toyota’s, where 150,000 miles isn’t awfully high, but am not very familiar with Volvo’s. The car looks amazing, but is 150,000 miles high for a Volvo? Am I asking for a death wish by purchasing a car with this many miles?
Yes, you are.
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Everyone I know that has ever owned a Volvo said it was their last one.
Tester
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150,000 miles on a classic Volvo from the 1990s? Not a problem. 150,000 miles on a 2012? I wouldn’t touch that with a 10-foot pole connected to another 10-foot pole. These are not reliable cars, and repair costs are higher than say a Toyota Corolla or Toyota Camry.
Not so much as a death wish as a bottomless money pit!
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Virtually any vehicle can be driven for an almost infinite number of miles, as long as its owner doesn’t mind the mounting repair costs. Unfortunately, those costs will mount much more rapidly with a Volvo than with Japanese, Korean, or US makes. Of course, the same could also be said for other European designs.
As was said, these vehicles can be very satisfying to drive, as long as they are still covered by the mfr’s warranty. Savvy owners dump them once the mfr’s warranty has expired.
I thought I was seeing double. Same answer though for 140,000 miles below.
At 150,000 miles, anything that goes wrong is maintenance. I had a 2005 Accord EX V6 with about 175,000 miles and it needed a new rear brake caliper. I replaced both rear calipers along with the pads. I consider that maintenance, given the high mileage.
All European luxury cars have expensive parts, and nothing is really reliable at mileage that high. If you understand that and don’t mind, get a prepurchsse inspection from a mechanic you trust. It the car checks out with minimal issues, consider buying it. Just expect it to cost a lot more to maintain than a similar Camry or Accord. .
The world record holder for miles on an automobile is a 1966 Volvo P1800 with over 3 million miles all put on by a single owner. I imagine that there are Volvo class 8 trucks that have exceeded that because a million miles on a class 8 truck is pretty ho hum.
The older ones were very reliable, you wouldn’t get stranded.
But if you didn’t DIY most repairs, you would get nickled and dimed on repairs until you finally cried out “uncle!”.
My '74 Volvo 242 surely qualified as “old”, but it was the least reliable car that I ever owned.
Even my '81 Chevy Citation (one of the notoriously-bad X cars) was more reliable than that totally terrible '74 Volvo.