Faults:

Completely rusted out after 14 years of harsh Midwest winters.

Finicky electrical problems over time.

Rack and pinion power steering developed a major leak after 120000 miles, and was replaced at a cost of $900.

General Comments:

Never once left us stranded.

Only major repair in 14 years of ownership was the power steering.

Volvos from this era were strong and well engineered. This was before the car division split from the truck division, and was sold to Ford.

Faults:

Nothing really, the radio reception is not great, but when tuned in OK, the sound is good.

The aircon. needs to be gassed each year, but is the best I have experienced in 10 series Volvos.

General Comments:

This is a great sedan for Aussie conditions, so long as you keep pressure in air con.

Drives well, and copes with short and long drives.

The velour seats are more comfortable than my wife's 850SE, and the suspension has that old world feel of loping along.

The 240 is no sports car. It is a bit slow on the uptake and wallows a bit, even though the suspension is in good condition.

These characteristics are what makes old Volvos a bit special; every thing about them is a bit soft and forgiving.

They seem to be the new VW Beetle (old) amongst students and surfers... they have discovered that they are so daggy that they are retro cool...

Faults:

New clutch at 350000km.

Power steering rack replaced.

Power steering hoses blew.

Brake master cylinder replaced at 360000km.

Wiring burnt on Alternator.

General Comments:

This car is quite powerful for something that weighs near to 2 tonnes. Gear shift is very stubborn and sometimes needs to be forced. It is a comfortable car, but the front seats are too flat and can become hard on a long trip. Very spacious interior.

It is an expensive car to keep on the road with the amount of petrol and, the fact that it is an imported car, service costs can get out of hand sometimes.

Faults:

A/C knocked off one day after months of perfect operation.

The car developed an odd problem where it would stall when coming to a stop. Every light on the dash would come on at this point and the car had to be restarted. As the months went on and the problem could not be found, the car became more and more difficult to restart when this would happen.

The turbo was a little noisy, but nothing seemed to be wrong with it.

General Comments:

We loved this car. Even though it was older and had high miles, it drew a lot of attention and was very comfortable. It was reliable too, until the stalling problem came up, but even then it never left us stranded.

The car was very solid and well put-together. Volvo really went out of their way to stress safety in this model.

The climate system was very effective before the A/C quit. The heater was outstanding in the winter.

Very sporty for a wagon. Ours was medium metallic blue over black leather with 5-spoke alloy wheels, blacked-out trim, and front/rear fog lights. It also had the full set of gauges across the middle of the dash that I think was unique to the Turbo.

I think that the previous owners might not have taken the best care of this car, so we had to deal with the results of their neglect. Oh well.

Faults:

Struts blew

Overdrive started going out

Seats not too comfortable.

General Comments:

I love (d) my Volvo (or my Volvy, as I fondly called her). My dad gave me this car (well, once I learned how to drive stick, that is) after I got my license.

They aren't the prettiest cars, but they are extremely tough, reliable, and safe.

Mine was a turbo, so it had a little kick. The highest speed I ever got her up to was 130.

Unfortunately I got in a wreck last summer and kind of crushed the engine. The good thing is is that I was totally safe, even when hit almost head-on. I got away with a few bruises, while in another car (aka-not a Volvo), I probably would have been seriously hurt.

Toward the end of our time together, the 5th gear (overdrive) got a little sticky, I would have to go faster or rev the engine for it to kick into overdrive.

Other than that, I love Volvos, I would recommend them to anyone.