Faults:

Heater hose blew right after I got the car. $90.00 repair.

Purchased a repair kit to stop rattle for the rear hatch inside panel. Still rattles. I might have installed wrong.

General Comments:

I have never owned a Volvo before, but have always wanted one. I love this car. It has 140,500 miles. I think it's just broken in.

Mine's a black inter-cooled turbo and with an automatic it's not quite as quick as my 900 turbo 5-speed, but certainly doesn't feel like the four cylinder that it is.

Faults:

Fixed up a lot of the interior trim which is originally pretty cheap and flimsy.

New alternator last year.

Major service last year at 135,000km. Done at authorized Volvo dealer. Cost: $3,000.

General Comments:

Extremely comfortable seats.

Seats 4 adults in comfort.

I deeply admire the tight turning circle (32ft). That's better than my Honda Civic!

This car has survived 14 years and 148000km of heavy use in 100% city traffic and 110F/ 40C weather. Original engine and transmission.

At highway speeds with a full load averaged 19mpg.

A bit underpowered, but the 5 speed manual transmission helps out a lot.

Faults:

Had air conditioning rebuilt and converted to new refrigerant. New front and rear brakes. New Shocks front and Rear. Transmission overdrive solenoid failed and needed repair ($800!). Headliner is falling apart... please pass the contact cement...

General Comments:

This is a great car. The interior plastic bits area a cheesy. The seats are amazingly comfortable, and I take lots of long trips (200 to 500 mile days.) Quite quiet. Very roomy. I think the back seat is even more comfortable than the front, except for leg room. A benefit of not being a front drive car... huge foot wells... spread out your feet and get comfy. The car handles nicely and has an amazingly tight turning circle. Since it is not a turbo, it's acceleration is, uh, leisurely. But sufficient. Very large and well shaped trunk. Nicely designed controls and a wonderful heater. I live in a snow belt area... this car is actually very good in snow, with some sandbags in the trunk and real live snow tires I prefer it to my large 4x4 SUV (usually) I have recently passed it along to my 16 year old son. Perfect kid car... very strong, very safe, very dependable and very (or at least fairly) slow. I replaced it with a very fast model from another Swedish car company... I miss my Volvo...

Faults:

Replaced all suspension parts @ 175000;

Replaced front seats @ 150000;

Everything else was routine service items - serviced every 5000 miles

Still a good looking vehicle at 15 years young.

General Comments:

This 1990 Volvo 745 turbo is without a doubt the best car we have owned to date. It was a sad day when we said "good-bye" to our little "Swedee" and it drove away with a new owner. Take good care of them, service them regularly, use a magnetic oil pan drain plug and you can drive them a LONG ways. Ours had 253000+ miles and still did not burn any oil - we felt it was best to replace it with a new vehicle while it still had some servicable life left. The young man who purchased it should see many happy miles driving our "old" Volvo!