31st Oct 2009, 08:49

I own an S70 and love it. I can only afford to have it because I do most of the work myself. There is a great on-line community of Volvo owners who will help you learn if you are so inclined, I go to Matthews Volvo Site, but there are others as well. If you are going to have to go to a dealership or even an independent Volvo guy to get things like brakes, tune-ups and other regular maintenance items done, this is going to be an expensive car to own. If you want low maintenance dependability, go for a Honda/Toyota, Volvo is medium-high maintenance dependability. But dollar to dollar, there is no safer car to be in. I can get a 4k S70 and have a peace of mind on the freeway I won't have in a 4k Accord or Camry.

1st Jul 2010, 15:41

It seems that most of these repairs were not at the fault of Volvo defects, but instead normal maintenance and unreliable mechanics. As far as I'm concerned, Volvo hasn't ever made a bad car, and most negative reviews require the owners to find better mechanics. Being a mechanic and Volvo owner myself, I have never had a major mechanical malfunction on any Volvo I have owned or serviced.

9th Oct 2010, 19:19

I bought my 1998 S70 T5m for $3150 from a friend 6 months ago, with 189,996 miles on it when I picked it up. The only issues I've ever had with it are the usual stuff like the brakes needing to be replaced, new tires, etc..

I needed to replace the throttle cable, but that was due to the previous owner not taking good care of the car.

The person who originally created this topic seemed to get a car that was never taken care of well. And the prices that he paid for repairs are nuts. Dealers usually don't even charge that much. When I did my brakes, they were $400, and I bought high-end performance pads and rotors, along with new parking brake shoes.

I'm loving my S70. Much better than the Mazda junk I got had before this.