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Volvo S80

2415 messages,  Last post on Feb 16, 2013 at 4:05 PM

You are in the Volvo S80 Forum.

What is this discussion about? Volvo S80, Sedan

Messages Page 11 of 243

#93 of 2415 Acura or Volvo by speck5

Jul 10, 2000 (5:20 pm)

I am going to purchase a new vehicle this week and have narrowed it down to two cars, the Acura CL (Naples Gold/Parchment) or pre-owned (11,000 miles) Volvo S80. I've got the same bottom line price for both. My dilemma? A 1999 vs a 2001, a pre-owned vs. new, a coupe vs. a sedan, a luxury vs. near-luxury car. Any thoughts? I currenlty own a '93 850 with 112,000 and lots of repairs.

#94 of 2415 speck5: by dfwt6

Jul 10, 2000 (8:39 pm)

If you've read through the posts on this board you know that S80's built before 1/2000 were/are prone to transmission and O-ring problems. If these were fixed, your long-term ownership experience should be a good one.


If you're financing, your APR will be higher on the used car, and no incentives will be available. (Volvo's running some loyalty and year-end incentives right now, you may want to double-check what it would take to get you into a new one...)


I've always preferred a new car from the maintenance standpoint, setting aside any major failures (get an extended warranty), but at 11,000 miles the differences are so great (a la new tires, ever-increasingly-expensive service intervals, and that new-car smell versus what-in-the-hell-died-under-the-seats smell).


Enough mall parking garage in-and-outs will remind you why not to buy a coupe.


Good luck!

#95 of 2415 Acura or Volvo by mkrich

Jul 10, 2000 (9:06 pm)

re # 103: I assume you're talking about a 2.9. I own a 2000 S80 2.9 (7500 miles, 11 months) and when the new CL came out I test drove one just for grins. I actually tested the TL first then a Type S when one became available. My impressions follow:
  2 very different cars, and it really depends on what you're looking for. The performance difference was less than I expected. The CL is quicker off the line but so was the TL, and those two didn't seem all that different, both of which I think are bested by the T6. In terms of ride, both were very nice rides over all pavements, CL was tighter but stiffer, the S80 was smoother overall. Ergonomics was the biggest difference in my mind, and the S80 won that category big. I liked the S80's layout the first time I saw it, and instantly did not like the CL's. Climate controls, radio, cruise control, tach and speedometers all make sense in the S80, both in terms of how they work and where they are, not so in the CL (for me). Plastics seemed very cheap.
  I went in preparing to be wowed by the performance of the CL. I didn't seriously expect to trade as I would have gotten killed by the initial depreciation, but I came out completely underwhelmed and even happier with my car.
  As far as reliability, I had the bushing problem, fixed ~3000 miles with no recurrence, other than that the only issue was with the technician improperly completing the bushing fix and that led to another couple of false problems which were fixed at the next visit when they properly completed the fix.

#96 of 2415 Re. #104 Transmission by broeux

Jul 11, 2000 (1:00 am)

dfwt6, I think the transmission problems were present in cars built before 1/99, not 1/00; and I'm not certain "prone to" is very accurate, though I have no statistics on it--there were reportedly a number of transmission failures in the early build cars, but I don't think it was the majority of cars. I'm not aware of any significant problems with transmissions in cars built after the initial problem was discovered. As for the subframe bushings, this did persist in 2000 models, but I believe--correct me someone if I'm wrong--the incidence of this was reduced, too. Our 2000 T6, built 10/99, has not had the bushing problem, or any of the other clunks, thunks or squeaks reported by some.

#97 of 2415 Nav System by broeux

Jul 11, 2000 (1:20 am)

My wife and I, celebrating our anniversary, traveled down to The Big Easy this weekend. Since returning from our tour of Sweden we haven't been able to get the full benefit of our navigation system except on occasional trips to New Orleans. But what a joy it is to be able to hop all over town, NEVER looking at a map, and go point to point, turn for turn with complete confidence. If you've ever driven much in the Crescent City, especially at night, you know how challenging it can be to see the tiny street signs and negotiate the turns and twists without getting off-course. We did encounter one error in the guiding, when it directed us to turn left at an intersection where left turns are prohibited. It was easy to go a quarter of a block beyond the intersection and loop back around to return to the course, even before the nav system figured out we had not followed its directions! I will be notifying Navigation Technologies of the correction needed in the mapping. Now we await completion of mapping for our area, targeted for 1/01.


Broeux

#98 of 2415 Early Build S80 - No Problems! by bucky1

Jul 11, 2000 (2:55 am)

I have got to be one of the luckiest Volvo S80 2.9 owners who reads and writes to this board. I bought the very first S80 my dealer received in October of 1998. Needless to say, I paid too much for my passion to be the first one in town to have this car. But at 18,750 miles, I still have the original transmission, the original battery, the original bushings, the original tires, and even the original new car smell (i.e. leather), and I have never had a problem with any of these components. My AM radio reception is awful, but everything else works the way it was intended and this is the best Volvo (my fourth) that I have ever owned. This car gets my "two thumbs up" despite all of the negativity I keep reading from the few unhappy people who cannot accept that, in spite of its upper $30K price, this is a complex piece of machinery, and machinery (unlike some humans) is not perfect. Do not assume that all early S80's had built-in mechanical problems...it just ain't true.

#99 of 2415 Regarding post # 100 by clswee

Jul 11, 2000 (6:22 am)

Keith:
Do I understand correctly that you picked up a 2001 S80 T6 in Sweden in early July? I was told that 2001 S80s would not be available that early. Thanks.

#100 of 2415 Re: S80 vs. 2.9 by shauns

Jul 11, 2000 (1:55 pm)

My comments on road noise and ride were based on test driving the same patch of rough, studded tire rutted road that is common out here. Almost all cars with the exception of the Lexus and the BMWs fail the road isolation test on this surface, with M-B and Audi even resonating in the 30-50 MPH range.


Road noise amplitude and spectrum were directly related to the size and brand of tires used. Short sidewall, large wheel diameter tires were worse.


On the 2.9/T-6 comparisons, the T-6 had perceptibly louder road noise than the 2.9, and a rougher ride. The S80 is not particularly good at road noise isolation, averaging in the low 70dBC range at 70MPh against mid-sixties for its competition. My measurements of my 2.9 show that with the standard 16" 55-series tires and wheels, about 70-72dBC is typical, with 75dBC obtained on my rough road. The T-6 was about the same on smooth road, with about 78-80dBC on the rough road.

#101 of 2415 Tie Rod Failure by anuthj

Jul 11, 2000 (2:34 pm)

My 1999 S80 T6 just went into the shop for replacement of a tie rod joint that was in the process of failing. It manifested itself as a nasty front end shimmy, but oddly, no vibration transmission was felt thru the steering wheel.


The car has almost 26,000 miles on it, but I've driven other cars into the ground without ever having a tie rod go. Obviously, I'm concerned because had the thing let go on the road at speed, I could be shy one of my front wheel assemblies.


Has anyone else had a similar experience?


- Jim

#102 of 2415 re: emachine by keithpa

Jul 11, 2000 (2:37 pm)

emachine,


We flew Delta (Philadelphia to JFK to Brussels) and Sabena (Brussels to Goteburg). What was bad about the travel was a scheduled 6-hour layover in Brussels that turned into a 9 hour and lost luggage on the return trip. At least we were able to go into Brussels during our layover.


Goteburg was very nice, beautiful weather, lots of outdoor dining, and sunset was about 11:30 p.m. You will enjoy your trip.

Messages Page 11 of 243

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