General Comments:

Head gasket blew at 75,000 miles.

Heating core blew, costing me $1000.

Throttle cost me $600.

Steering wheel module; cost $1000

ABS module, $600.

Central electronic module, $1500.

Engine control module, $1500.

Now I've so many lights on my car, the dash looks like a Xmas tree. Ever since I bought this car it has been nothing but a headache. I've spent well over 9,000 dollars on this car. Please I advise you not to even think about buying this car. To make things worse, the Volvo dealer doesn't even know the problems. Stay away from Volvo.

Faults:

Everybody keeps telling me to replace the timing belt. I think it is because it is 6 hours of labor and my car works fine now.

Tires might be too large for wheel well; they grind when taking a left turn.

First repair at 150,00 miles, needed turbo drain seals, about $500.

Second repair at 160,000 miles, a separate gasket, $150.

Third repair at 185,000 miles, needed a ball joint, $450. (both done)

Fourth repair at 200.000 miles, runs rough need tune up.

AM Band on radio is weak.

Keyless entry has limited range, about 10 feet.

General Comments:

This car is a tank, with the twin turbo I can fill up and travel nearly 600 miles on one tank of gas. It exudes understated luxury.

Excellent, Integrated Navigation System with 6 map discs.

Faults:

Electrical problems every few months for 11 years. Either a warning light came on (and there was no problem) or a light would burn out. It got to the point where I would walk into the Volvo parts dept, and they would just hand me a new bulb! Luckily, I lived near the dealer! I loved the safety aspect of Volvo.

General Comments:

Electrical problems throughout ownership. Felt very safe driving this car. Very expensive to maintain.

Faults:

First problem was cracked headlight. Easy and cheap for 2nd hand glass to replace, but you try and take a front bumper off an S80 and soon realize it's easier to crack the other headlight and tell people they are suppose to be like that.

Then front tyres needed replacing, standard size is 225-55-R17. This size rubs on the inner guards, so I put 215-55-R17 on the front so I don’t get horrible rubbing sound when turning on full lock.

Front left shock/strut tower collapsed and needed replacing.

Also front right has a grinding sound like a worn bearing, Replaced drive shaft, hub assembly, strut tower. The sound is still there and can’t be found.

Bulb position light on dash came up, all of the lights work fine, this fault can be fixed by taking the covers off the back of the lights and wriggling them to ensure good contact is made with terminals etc. (On my car it was the right rear lights that caused the problem)

Radiator leaks on bottom corners, so I had to get another radiator, they only take 3 hours to replace so don’t let a Volvo dealer charge for 6+hours labor, which they will.

Also while on the Internet looking at diagrams of T6 coolant system, I came across a photo of a leaking heater pipe inside the left hand side foot compartment. I pulled off the plastic bottom of the dash to find mine was no different. Radiator fluid leaks down onto the carpet, sometimes behind the carpet, and you can’t see it - this is caused by a corroded heater pipe.

Then while sorting out the radiator, the top engine mount was noticed to have a split in it, so this got replaced and costs $170ish to replace, only takes 30 minutes to replace this part.

General Comments:

This is my second Volvo and I guess I was lucky with my first one, which was small and slow, and it certainly didn’t carry the problems that the S80 range has.

While they are comfortable and the T6 model is quite fast with terrible torque steer under heavy acceleration, you still have to ask yourself why you are buying one in the first place. There is plenty of warning on this website alone directing you away from such vehicle, and don’t be fooled by its heated seats and endless safety features, this is a car to stay well away from.

Having said that, if you can afford to buy a Volvo from new or perhaps less than 3 years old, there is a good chance it's perfectly fine and you will enjoy a fantastic car, but to be sure to sell the car and move on before it gets to the 5-7yr old mark, this is when the problems bite you in the bum and run off with your wallet.