Faults:

Transmission at 100K.

Normal wear and tear.

Seems to go through brakes.

As per all Volvos, the interior is junk, but the mechanicals are sound.

General Comments:

This is by far the best car I have ever owned. Volvo optimized dozens of factors in this vehicle; visibility, power, simplicity, handling, crash protection.

I redid the front suspension myself, cost less than $1000 and it drives like factory new.

The engine has 184K on it and is down about 1/3 of a quart when I change it at 5000 miles.

I've never had a car with such good visibility, stunning seats, intuitive controls.

Faults:

Alignment (when we bought her).

A hose to the heater.

Brakes at 220,000.

Drivers seat leather cracked.

Interior light shorted.

I think she's going to need a ball joint for inspection.

The blower for the heater has made the most horrible noise forever now, but it is still going strong.

General Comments:

The car is great on gas. Super reliable! Very low maintenance, with only oil changes so far. And very safe; she turns sharper than any other car I have ever driven, and handles great.

Faults:

The sunroof has needed periodic tinkering to keep it working (manual).

The heated seats don't work.

The right rear power window mechanism is broken.

The headliner is coming loose.

General Comments:

My goal when buying this car was for the cheapest transportation possible (low purchase price, low depreciation, easy to self maintain, good gas mileage).

This car has passed the test beautifully. I have had no major repairs in the last two years and it gets 32 MPG mixed driving.

This car is a mechanics dream with simple systems and easy access to all engine components. The solid rear axle means no CV joints or boots, and the four wheel disc brakes are easy to maintain.

The car is roomy and comfortable with good visibility all around.

It won't win any drag races, but it will get where you want to go.

Faults:

The AC needs new freon and due to the new regs it needs a conversion in order to be cost-effective, so I haven't refilled it. The seat heaters no longer seem to work. Other than that, nothing has ever gone wrong!

General Comments:

I bought this car used from a 19-year-old who had driven it hard for several years. I didn't expect miracles, just cheap transportation. It seemed really very nice for the $2,500 I paid for it at the time.

It's still perfect! The car handles better than any other car I've owned or driven in nearly any weather condition. It always starts immediately, cold or hot, idles quietly and smoothly, and loves to go fast--if I don't watch the speedometer on the highway, I quickly reach 90-100 miles per hour. The car is perfectly stable at speed.

Interior is still in beautiful condition, no rips or cracks in the leather or vinyl, no broken items. Power locks, power windows, gauges, lights, etc. all work without fault.

I've never broken down in the nearly 70k miles I've put on it. I've never had to replace a major component. The car still passes annual computerized emissions and safety tests with flying colors, coming in well below the state averages on all pollutants. I've driven it on numerous 1,000-mile-plus road trips around the country. It's a pleasure and I have complete faith that the ol' Volvo will get me there.

I get about 27 mpg.

The Volvo dealer I use has also been excellent. No snickers about the age of the car; they definitely respect the old models. Things like the timing and other belts, which I had done just to be safe, came in at a tiny fraction of the cost of the same parts for a family member's Mitsubishi. Similar price differences for brake pads.

It's roomy and intelligently designed--things like the ski portal in the back seat and the auto-off headlights are amazing for a car of this age.

I fully believe my beloved 740 will run another 100k at least without major incident. And I suspect I'll be tempted to keep it running for years after that.