Volvo Owners

Do you think C30 Volvos will be reliable and a good car over the long haul?

The words “Volvo” and “reliable” are almost never used in the same sentence, and there is a reason. They last a long time when their owner’s put enough money into them, but they are expensive to maintain and repair. If you don’t mind putting this car in the shop for regular repairs, yes, it can be a good car over the long haul if reliability isn’t important to you.

I work with two Volvo fans. They refuse to own anything but new Volvos. However, they put them in the shop often and money is no object.

Whitey is 100% right. Volvo owners are a breed apart; very proud and like owners of exotic pets, money is no object.

When you go to a wrecking yard you will see few rusted Volcos; for two reasons. 1) Volvos have good bodies. 1) They also spend less time on the road, since at 150,000 miles they become prohibitively expensive to repair and thus soon end their short “economic life”. At this mileage the Accord, Camry, Ford Taurus, etc’, still soldier on since they are still economical to keep running to 300,000 or so.

Volvos have good bodies and great seats and are very safe. That’s all I can recommend them for. The first owners usually get rid of them just before the warranty is up.

You’d be better off getting something a bit cheaper to maintain like a Mini Cooper. See my response to your other thread for more suggestions

As an old (in every sense of the word) Volvo owner, I must agree with the other posts. Our extended family used to own several Volvos, and the the two old 240 wagons we still have are great cars with over a quarter-million miles on each.

However, with the exception of one S70, which has been ~OK, we stopped buying Volvos when Ford bought them and they switched to front wheel drive. Folks I have known with newer Volvos have generally not had such a good experience.

Current Fords and Volvos appear to share a lot of the same designs and parts. The difference is that Volvo charges a lot more for those parts at repair time.

If you are looking to own a car for a long time, you should read the papers and stick to manufacturers that are going to be around long term. I am not certain that Volvo is one of those brands.

A 240 series sedan that I bought new in 1974 and that I maintained VERY well was the absolute worst car that I ever owned, in terms of reliability. By comparison, my Chevy Citation (one of the infamous X-cars) was far more reliable. As a result of my experience, I disagree that Volvos have been reliable, even prior to Ford’s ownership.

Did your 240 suffer from leaking fuel injectors? I remember checking the oil on one about 1974, it had puddles of gasoline on the intake manifold. Not good!