On September 5, 2001, I bought a used 1999 Volvo S70 GLT (silver) from a Toyota dealership in Costa Mesa. The car looked clean. It had 31,800 miles and its price was $21,995, a few grand below the other similarly equipped Volvos on Cars.com. Brand new it was about 35K so it seemed like a good deal. In fact, to claim the car, I faxed $500. It turns out, according to the Toyota sales manager, that several disgruntled shoppers showed up to buy it and showed their displeasure when they found out someone else had already purchased it.
I test-drove it and its superiority to my 1987 gray Volvo 240 with 137K miles on it (purchased used with 97K on it in 1997), was obvious. I wondered why the S70 was so “cheap.” It had no salvage title. My only concern was that the car’s pink slip showed that its origins were from Georgia. Shortly after, I noticed a strange thing: shelled sunflower seeds would show up on my passenger seat and on the car’s interior floor. I’d clean up the shells only to find new ones a few days later. My friend theorized that a rodent was living somewhere in the car and was eating sun flower seeds. This seemed implausible but I didn’t have any other explanations. This went on for two years and then finally stopped. Was someone playing a joke on me? I’ll never know.
Now to the key question: Having owned the S70 for nearly five years and putting 27K miles on it (that’s fewer than 6K a year; I clearly don’t have a long work commute), would I buy another Volvo? The answer is probably not.
First let’s go over the Volvo’s good points:
1. Its classic appearance ages well. Even as new Volvo models come out, my S70 doesn’t look passé or weird like a lot of Japanese cars.
2. It’s safe.
3. It’s reasonably comfortable and fast.
4. A nice small turning radius.
Now for the bad:
1. The engine light always goes on no matter how much I have it checked and serviced.
2. The transmission doesn’t seem as smooth as my former1996 Honda Accord coupe.
3. The steering wheel has too much give so I can shake it a little.
4. The Volvo makes a weird noise during sharp turns, making me wonder if it got into a crash that wasn’t mentioned on the pink slip.
5. Its city gas mileage, about 15 mpg, is not impressive for a mid-sized sedan and all the new Volvos, unlike mine, require premium unleaded.
6. A bumpy ride on the freeway.
7. Its panels under the dash have gotten loose; the one on the passenger’s seat had to be replaced for $300.
8. The heater core had to be replaced at 54K for $600.
9. The headlights, which snap into the car like Lego toys, came out on the freeway and as the front left light swung around it put scratches in my paint.
10. The throttle had to be replaced, free of charge since it was defective. But here’s the kicker: Volvo didn’t publicize the problem. I had to research the recall to bring the car in which was in fact stalling.
11. The thermostat light blinks, indicating a malfunction in spite of having it serviced repeatedly.
12. The air conditioning leaks water from time to time.
13. The car is already squeaking like mad on the front passenger side where the windshield meets the dashboard. This is not a subtle squeak. Rather, it is glaring and it annoyed the hell out of my wife yesterday as I drove her to LAX. As of writing, I’m taking it to the dealership to get it checked out. I have no idea what it will cost to fix IF they can identify the problem. Mind you, the car has fewer than 60K miles and should not sound so bad unless it went through an accident that I don’t know about.
14. At the 60K mile service ($530), I still had check engine lights and thermostat lights showing malfunctioning. I still had the rattle. I took the Volvo to the dealership and found out that I need to fix the mass air flow blockage, the temp sensor and replace the serpentine belts and front brake pads. With the "fuel service," which is done with the temp sensor, the cost is $1,500. To add insult to injury, I thought my front brakes were part of my 60,000 mile service. And they didn't fix the rattle because that would be another 10 hours of labor. I imagine the real cost of my "60K service" will be closer to 2,000 dollars.
Conclusion:
You can see that the bad far outweighs the good. Therefore, it’s doubtful I’ll buy a Volvo again. My small two-car garage makes it necessary that I buy a car with a width of no greater than 70 inches. That’s too bad, because I’d like to buy a 2007 Toyota Camry SE in silver. I don’t need a 6-cylinder. All I want is a spoiler in the back. But since the Camry is a couple inches too big for my garage (perhaps I'll rent one to make sure), I’m looking at getting a used Acura TSX, a brand new Honda Civic EX sedan in silver, an Azure Blue Scion TC (with or without the spoiler?) or a 2007 Space Blue super charged Mini Cooper with a silver top (after 2007, the Mini will have a superior Peugeot engine to replace its current Chrysler engine so I’d wait for that). I’d like to get the Mini in a manual, but my Los Angeles traffic conditions require an automatic. Of the three cars mentioned, the Civic would be the most practical, but for fun I’d risk less reliability to enjoy the pizzazz of the Mini. Finally, the Mini is more practical than people think. My office mate’s wife has one and she boasts that she buys over $300 worth of groceries at Costco and sticks them in the back of her Mini with ease.
With all the money I've spent on repairs, I feel I should keep the Volvo until its mileage reaches at least 85K or so, but then it's time to leave my Volvo-driving days behind me for good.
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