Faults:

Motor mounts (2) were cracked; I was shocked at the price.

Seat mount also shockingly expensive... started to think anything mounted was going to cost me my first born.

Tranny was rough in cold weather. Once the car is up to temperature, you don't feel a single shift.

Seat heaters got a little too hot for safety I think? I fell asleep on the way to Vegas and woke up with a small burn mark on my rear.

Trade in value is so soft that I ate poo poo at trade-in less than a year later. We traded it for a $4,500 loss on a Tahoe; thankfully the APR was low enough to offset this. Think long and hard about how long you will keep this, because their trade in isn't great to say the least.

General Comments:

We bought this car a few weeks before we were married in one of my "I want a new car" sprees. Seriously, my husband swore I needed a less expensive fetish.

This car was remarkably quick for a sedan.

Very reliable and comfortable. My dad traded me his F-350 for 2 weeks to take my Volvo to San Diego, and after my first fill up 2 days later, I was almost in tears at the pump.

The cabin is very driver friendly, everything is positioned nicely, and it took a few weeks before I would make adjustments without looking.

It was remarkably advanced for its year. While everything has touch screen now, in 2001 this was rare.

It was the most amazing color of blue. You don't find colors like this on domestic cars.

It was an impulse buy for me, and I should've just bought the Tahoe rather than this and trading 10 months later. I did love the car; it just wasn't right for me personally.

Faults:

Have had to sink some money into the car in the last year or so, only because of the high mileage. Repairs have only really been general maintenance items.

I bought the car from my mom at 126,000 miles, and since then have replaced the alternator, done 2 tune-ups, 2 sets of tires, front brake pads, rotors and calipers once, front wheel bearings, and inner tie-rods.

Currently, the air conditioning doesn't work right. It works when the car is cold for about five minutes of driving, then blows warm. Maybe just needs freon, maybe more. Haven't looked into it yet.

Also, the emergency brake is broken. Hasn't really been an issue, it still passes inspection, and I just have to make sure I leave it in gear when I park.

It leaks a small amount of coolant from somewhere, but haven't pinpointed it yet.

The most pressing issue right now is it needs front struts. It bangs pretty hard on bumps, but other than that, it handles very well.

General Comments:

I have had the car for about three years now, and absolutely love it. The reliability is superior. I had an hour plus (each way) commute to work for over a year, and other than a few flat tires (due to the inner tie-rods being bad, causing the tires to ride uneven), it hasn't left me stranded once to this day. With almost 200,000 miles, it is starting to show its age, but still starts up every day and gets me where I need to go.

The turbo, mated with the 5-speed transmission, makes it a blast to drive. Even with the high mileage, it still has as much get-up-and-go as the day I bought it. Probably the most amazing thing is I am still on the original clutch, and that's saying something, considering the transmission has taken a beating from teaching a few people how to drive stick. :-)