16th Jan 2010, 02:01

To the original reviewer:

Volvo has had terrible electronics since the late 70's/ in the 240 series and in several other models.

27th Jan 2010, 12:46

Perhaps you're right, but that still doesn't explain why the only cars that we have ever had an issue with are the '98/'99/'00 Volvos that Ford made.

We had:

84 240 (still on the road)

88 240 sedan (still on the road)

93 240 sedan (still on the road)

93 240 wagon (still on the road)

94 850 sedan (over 300k, NO issues, still on the road)

94 850 wagon (still on the road)

94 850 sedan (still on the road)

98 850 wagon (still on the road some check engine issues)

99 XC70 still on the road (some check engine issues)

We own all of these cars, and drive them.

The only "lemon" we had was a 740 wagon - but we realized it had been totaled in a wreck before we bought it - so we we think that was the culprit.

The only two models who have had "electrical" (check engine, ABS etc) issues (however I'd still say they are marginal issues) have been the 98 and the 99. American cars are really poorly engineered. We have Ford F-250 and my sister has a Tahoe - my mechanic hates working on them. They were engineered to be built cheap, not necessarily repaired cheap. While their parts are cheaper parts, it could be even easier/cheaper to repair them if they had better engineering.

In reply to 27th Jan 2010, 12:46

13th May 2013, 18:01

I will have to respectfully disagree with you.

Ford bought Volvo in 1999, and this particular vehicle, along with the Volvo S80, was an all Volvo design.

Volvo intentionally decontented the V70/S70 in order to make them more cost competitive. Hard plastic and steel components were largely replaced with soft rubber ones (as you found out) and the interior was given a similar treatment. In fact, the glues that were used in the interior panels on these models were among the worst in the industry.

Ford had absolutely nothing to do with this generation of vehicles. Feel free to do a little more online searching, or visit the Volvo enthusiast sites, and you'll find out that this is a myth that is propagated by those who don't realize that R&D, along with purchasing, don't change at a moment's notice.

All the best!