Faults:

Minor upkeep, brake pads, rotors, muffler.

General Comments:

Great car, well built, inexpensive parts; easy to fix, fast and good MPG.

Faults:

I bought this car used and had owned a 940 in the past. I thought I knew everything about them and that this one could not surprise me. I was wrong. This car had some quirky little problems that I think drove the previous owner nuts. I was beginning to question the wisdom of buying an old Volvo again.

When I first took the car to my mechanic they said it needed new brakes, a new radiator, a timing belt change and a new battery. I figure these are all consumables, so no argument from me. They fixed it all.

Now the fun started. The car had a nasty habit of stalling 7-10 minutes after I drove it away from home. It would not start for 3-5 minutes and then almost always it would fire up and run fine. Drove me nuts. After lots of research and a few more trips to the mechanic, I found out the previous owner had installed a new fuel pump relay, but they did not buy an original Volvo part. They used a cheap knock-off part from China and the relay was too hot to touch after the car ran for 5 minutes. New Volvo original fuel pump relay and the car has not stalled on me once since then. Don't use no-name parts on Volvos. Not worth the small savings in money.

General Comments:

Very comfortable. Does not have the pep of my previous Volvo turbos (a 940 and a 740). I don't know why this is the case, but it just doesn't have that neck snapping acceleration you get from some Volvo bricks. But, it is fine. The car runs very reliably now and gets me from point A to B. Great turning radius, so it's easy to park. My wife has a Volvo V70 and is annoyed every time I comment on its poor turning radius compared to the 940.

Faults:

This 1994 Volvo 940 belonged to a friend of mine. At about 226,000 she found that her trusty 940 had blown a head gasket - I got the car for the cost of towing.

General Comments:

This is my third Volvo 940. I like the 1994 model year above previous model years and the 1995 (last year in North America for the Volvo 940).

Reason: 1994 was the first year with dual front airbags. The 1995 has the main fuel pump inside the gas tank - I consider this to be a complication.

The 940 is a sturdy, well built ride. The engine, drivetrain, and suspension are the result of 20 years of development on the basic Volvo 240 theme.

Currently this 1994 940 has a replacement engine which had about 130,000 miles on it. While on an engine stand, all seals and the timing belt were replaced before installation. I am getting a solid 29 MPG at 65 MPH with Regular Unleaded.

All fluids are now synthetic (Amsoil), new struts and shocks. Working on replacing all suspension bushings.

This is an uncomplicated, safe, and predictable sedan - everything I want in a car.