Faults:

Poor service history/neglect for prior 5 years.

Stalling at roundabouts as if the ignition was off, difficult to restart, so replaced crank sensor, fuel injection relay and radio suppress relay.

Stalling once a month, difficult to start, so laid the car up, as it stranded me on a dual carriageway.

Trim and bodywork holding up well, but replaced rear light clusters, front indicator lenses, and grille due to careless damage and UV damage.

PAS leaks, and is noisy.

Starter can be slow to disengage.

I've spent £1000 over the year!

Handling is terrible, but then it does have lousy tyres.

General Comments:

Comfortable, spacious cruiser and even looks quite good in a retro way.

Roomy estate.

Autobox really is a slushmatic, and I find it frustrating when wanting to 'press on'.

Power is marginal being a light pressure turbo, but I have a larger turbo and boost controller if I can get it reliable again.

Stalling problems and associate electrical issues inconsistent with these car's reputations, as both Toyotas I have at similar miles run like clockwork with negligible cost.

I average 23 to 25 mpg imperial.

Faults:

The 940 had a brake disc shudder. Normally this affects the front brakes, but in this case it was the rear ones that suffered. The shudder came down the transmission, and caused the gearbox innards knock and complain. So I've put on some new rear brake discs, and fitted new pads all-round.

Also the front dampers were a bit clunky. This is down to age rather than mileage. So it's had some new front dampers.

The only other minor niggle is a slight whirr from the thrust bearing when pulling off. It doesn't always happen. The clutch is good, so I haven't delved into the bell-housing for such a minor issue.

General Comments:

Extreme levels of comfort, with the benefit of load-compensating rear suspension from Boge Nivomatt.

Reasonable performance with a 2.3 low pressure turbo (B230FK) engine - which is 100% Volvo.

The Volvo 940 is often accused of being 'thirsty'. They don't like short journeys on cold engines - that can make the MPG drop to mid 20's. Generally, expect 27-28 locally with the figure rising into the realms of the early 30's when cruising. Volvos have been made to cruise at 'normal' speeds. Racing the engine will also reduce the MPG. When used within its capacity, the 940 isn't unreasonably thirsty.

Very roomy with hard-wearing durable furnishings, wood effect trim giving an air of being in a top quality motoring environment.

Again, when these vehicles are being applied within their designed capacities, the handling is excellent with the benefit of an excellent turning circle.

In its day, the big Volvos were top of the tree on safety. However, modern cars are much safer with computer designed crumple zones and a brace of airbags.

Faults:

Car was delivered brand new by dealer, with a dent in off-side back door. Repaired.

Turbo blew at approx 50,000 miles. Repaired.

Steering boot slightly warn causing loss of power-steering fluid at 100,000 miles causing no adverse affects to handling. Repaired.

Air-Conditioning Switch blew, 110,000 miles. Repaired.

Oil Leak developed at approx 85,000 miles, causing back-pressure, also running slightly into gearbox casing. As yet, unrepaired, but, I will probably never repair this but merely top up the oil for the rest of the car's life. Car has signs of a head-gasket issue, but as yet, no loss in performance and no smoking or overheating.

General Comments:

Excellent turning circle.

Excellent all-round visibility.

Excellent and utterly predictable rwd handling.

Huge boot which over the last 10 years has carried beds, washing machines, driers, dish-washers, bikes and every year, 7 foot tall Norway Spruce Christmas Trees with the boot door closed.

Excellent low-range grunt provides great acceleration from 0-30mph, has embarrassed many cars off the lights. This quickly fades at >30mph and after that, the car is quite slow.

Commanding looks of vehicle (dark green metallic) ensure that it is let out at all junctions and not to be missed means that it has added passive-safety as others don't run into it.

Comfortable cabin with half-leather interior has worn better than *any* other car I have ever had. Indeed, it is in show-room condition.

Reliability has been excellent - easily better than anything else. Simple non-digital age stuff that just doesn't go wrong, especially when compared to new Volvos that will automatically jump into a 'limp-home mode' for no reason.

This car is First Class.