20th Dec 2016, 10:13
The car has now done 198000 km. Still running strongly. I have had the front suspension rebuilt, new bushes and ball joints, and Bilstein heavy duty shocks back and front.
20th Dec 2016, 23:44
Sounds like a fantastic car. Not many cars of that age would cope with such a road trip with such ease. Everyone always says the 940 is an over engineered car.
21st Dec 2016, 11:39
Wow, keep us posted. Good to know you've gotten a good run with the car except for regular normal wear and tear items. I've got a 2001 BMW 316ti I bought used 6 years ago, had 65K km, now done 164K, didn't think I'd be keeping the car this long, but it's been good to me, and I love driving it. Has been very dependable except for 2 coils and the original battery that failed at 13 years old. Only biggish items done were the chain/tensioner 3 years ago, and the radiator and expansion tank last July.
11th Dec 2017, 13:16
The Volvo is still running well. Other than oil changes, no expenses. Belt noise on power steering caused by wear on power steering bracket; part no longer available; may have to have a bracket made or fix existing. The car is still used daily, 206000km.
22nd Jan 2018, 07:46
Mechanic fixed the belt alignment on the power steering, replaced rubber bushings on the alternator, new v belt on power steering. Engine is now quiet. Also replaced a rubber mount on the gearbox.
25th Feb 2018, 08:20
Overdrive relay repaired re-soldered joints. Defective relay had caused light arrow to come on in instrument panel; did not affect operation of overdrive.
14th Aug 2018, 11:34
Original author.
The car had suffered from rough idling and sometimes stalling on cold mornings; diagnosed as a vacuum leak on the brake servo. Replaced with a rebuilt unit; not cheap, but good to have the car running sweetly again. Still used daily.
16th Aug 2018, 11:59
The car has done 212000 km, which is probably low for its age. It was bought as part of a deceased estate and was apparently not used much for a number of years before I bought it. I saw it in the street with a for sale sign; I was the only one interested. Some of the repairs are more age caused than by use. It is used daily for city driving, but I have used it for long trips on some very rough roads.
Thanks for your interest.
26th Jan 2019, 10:30
Original author of this review. Just returned from an overseas trip. Spent a few days in Berlin. Saw very few old cars; the only ones that appeared to be in regular use were an older Saab and two Volvo 940s. Must say something about the longevity of these cars?
26th Jan 2019, 19:02
Yes it's a recurring theme on here and other car reviews sites - Volvos and other similar cars from the 80s and 90s seems to be the sweet spot for cars, as far as durability is concerned. But it's getting harder to keep cars from that time period as regular everyday cars - let's face it, they are too old now, and unfortunately all that's about in the bargain price range is mid 2000s rubbish when things got too complex to fix.
Myself I just scrapped a 2007 Volvo S40 - it was a good car, but at 12 years and with only 140,000 miles on it when it became too uneconomical (far too many electronic faults) to repair. Compare that to my father's Volvo 850 from 1994 and his Ford Mondeo from 1995 - both were well over 20 years old and had 200,000 miles on them and were only just scrapped last year. They easily outlasted anything from the 2005 time period onwards.
My advice to anyone with an older car that is still running - keep it till it dies before you move on to a "newer better" car. I doubt you'll get 20 + years out of anything made in recent times.
21st Sep 2019, 10:22
Original author of review.
Changed coolant lower & upper radiator hoses replaced at the same time.
The car now has done 222000 km and is running well.
Despite a few minor dents from the previous owner, this car has zero rust. The bodywork, whilst plain, is of excellent construction, paintwork as new. A quality car.
18th Jun 2020, 23:50
Original author. Finally got around to repairing the driver's side seat; the leather on the seat was in bits after that many years of use. The quality of construction on these cars shows up in the way these seat frames are constructed and mounted on the car. Always a pleasure to work on this car; everything over engineered and fits perfectly. With the seats out, also able to properly clean out bits of rubbish on the seat frames; looks like new. Still a real pleasure to drive this vehicle.
28th Oct 2020, 18:55
Original author. The car has been having trouble again idling when cold. The rebuilt brake servo has developed a vacuum leak and will have to be replaced. Unfortunately new brake servos for this model are no longer available in Australia, so will have to repair existing or find a working second hand unit somehow. Also attended to an intermittent problem with the power window and mirror controls not working; turned out to be a broken earth wire.
26th Nov 2020, 19:24
Original poster. Had an oil leak on the front of the engine. All seals on the front of the engine have been replaced; also a new cambelt has been fitted at the same time. This was just as well, as the mechanic found that the cambelt tensioner had seized and the harmonic balancer was starting to break up; these were also renewed at the same time. Hopefully all good now.
29th Nov 2020, 12:40
Thanks for the updates, these old Volvo's are the best for reliability from their time.
7th May 2021, 19:11
Original poster. I have had continuing problems with irregular idling on the car, especially on first start. This was diagnosed as a vacuum leak on the brake booster. A reconditioned brake booster was fitted, but never cured the problem. I bought a second hand booster, but this turned out to be from a 740; same booster but different length actuating rod. I then bought another booster from the same source, but this was damaged in transit. A local brake franchise kindly tested the 740 booster and told me there was nothing wrong with it; they also showed me how to swap the actuating rods. So I have fitted the second hand booster from the 740 and restored the idling to perfect. The car has a fluid leak on the back of engine which I will have fixed.
2nd Jun 2021, 09:33
Original poster. Have had the rear crank seal replaced on the car; was the source of a reasonably large oil leak. According to the mechanic the oil seal was rock hard due to the age of the car (probably understandable). At the same time some seals were replaced on the auto transmission and the fluid renewed. Also a worn bush was replaced on the auto shifter.
4th Sep 2022, 00:29
Original poster.
The car is now up to 247000 km. Running faultlessly. Still used everyday as my main car.
Cross threaded a spark plug whilst changing it a while back, had to have the thread repaired, my fault.
This car has proved to be extremely reliable; apart from occasional bulb replacement, nothing goes wrong.
Can’t see myself selling this one as it has minimal running costs.
5th Sep 2022, 14:32
Thanks for the updates! Love hearing about Volvo's from this time. I have a 1990's S70 which is also still running very well.
5th Apr 2023, 12:48
Update on the Volvo original poster. Has now got 254000kms on the clock.
After doing an oil change on my daughter in laws Mercedes a few days ago, I appreciate the Volvo even more. Compared to the Mercedes, everything is easy to access; no clutter under the bonnet and far less plastic.
The Volvo is running faultlessly. It needs new brake rotors which I have bought but not fitted. A few minor rust spots also need attention.
I have no intention to replace it; barring a mishap it will see me out.
8th Oct 2010, 18:51
Original author of review. Just used car on a holiday of 6000kms, which included severe dirt roads in Northern Territory and W Australia. Despite being overloaded 3 spare tires, 60 liters extra fuel and extra water for emergencies plus all luggage, the car handled the conditions with ease. Averaged 31.5mpg fuel consumption for trip. Car did not miss a beat; very predictable, even on severe dirt and corrugations. On one section of over 1000km dirt, it was the only normal sedan seen; rest of vehicles were all 4wd.