Faults:

Like all S70s, the door panels are delaminated.

The door lock actuators are weak and need replacing.

Right front strut mount had to be replaced.

General Comments:

I bought this car to be used as a commuter car, and it serves its purpose well. I was looking at a cheap (<$7,500) car to drive back and forth to work, and wanted something European. I had my heart set on a VW Jetta VR6, but I was afraid due to reliability. I went with a Volvo, as I and my family have always had good experiences with them.

I found a 1-Owner S70 GLT SE with only 50k miles, and I jumped on it! However, cosmetically it was not perfect and required some work, nothing serious, it just had 10 years worth of nicks, scratches, dings, etc. I bought the car for $6k, and I think I did very well considering I've put nearly 20k miles on it, and haven't had any issues, other than maintenance or stuff I already knew about.

It's fairly cheap to operate, if you shop around on parts and avoid the dealer. I use an indie Volvo shop, and couldn't be happier.

It's super comfortable and gets 25-26mpg routinely. 2nd hand Volvos are incredible value, always buy them used and take advantage of 'Swedish Depreciation'.

Faults:

Besides regular maintenance, I have not had any major issues with this car.

General Comments:

Back in early 2006, I was in the market for a new car. I had just discovered that I was pregnant, and came to the conclusion that my two-door Chevrolet Cavalier just was not going to cut it anymore. I realized that not only would that car be very inconvenient for transporting a baby around, but it did not seem like the safest car either. After reading the history of Volvo, and studying their safety statistics, I was convinced that a Volvo was absolutely the safest car option for my family. Luckily, I have never had to see firsthand how this car does in accidents, but I am confident that it will do a great job at keeping my family safe.

In the almost five years that I have owned my Volvo, it has been extremely reliable for me. Never once has it broken down, or left me stranded, and aside from regular maintenance, I have hardly had to put any money into it.

The best part about my car though, is that is not just the engine that is super durable. Normally, living in Phoenix, Arizona, you would think that the ability to survive extreme weather was not all that important. Recently, we saw one of the worst storms in Arizona history. We saw hail the size of golf balls, and there were even six reported tornadoes. I have lived in Arizona my whole life, and I have never seen a storm like this before. And the storm did a lot of damage. Almost every person I know had some sort of damage to their vehicles. My Volvo, on the other hand, did not show a single sign of damage. There were no dents, and my windows and moon roof were completely unharmed. After that very unexpected storm, I was happier than I have ever been to be driving a car that I know I can depend on.

Faults:

"GLT SE" means "grand luxury turbo", and the turbo blew, and started to leak oil into the gas tank.

The leather seats have also worn really badly.

General Comments:

Awesome car, I would recommend it to anyone if they still manufactured it. But the "GLT" is "grand luxury turbo", and the turbo blew, so I would try to get the regular or "SE" edition.