See my post on disappointment with 99 S80.

I would stay away from a 99. I own a 99 S80 and found out the hard way that Volvo released that car a little early. I have been test bed for them and have had litany of problems. Until recenty these were under warranty, however no more and work on a Volvo isn't cheap.

If you really want the T6, I would ask for an extended warranty as part of the deal, a very straight forward service history and most of all make sure the dealership knows how to work on the car. Ask to talk to the service manager and take a tour of the shop. Trust me, after the warrany expires, you are on your own, don't call Volvo.

Paul Caldwell

All cars are individuals, some are worse and some are better.
If all service fixs and softwares been updated, this car should be ok.
Make an agreement with your dealer, that you can have the car for some days extended test drive.
If you find a problem which you dont like, then let worskhop fix it or buy another car.

Since S80's M/Y 99 usually have a bad rumour, the price will be lower.
If the car is good (there are still many 99's out there which are great), then its a good buy!

The techs at my dealer rip it apart every time they get a chance.
The 1999 is a nightmare Volvo. As posted before get a newer one.
I was considering picking one up that came off lease.
The techs set me straight. I am waiting for the 2001's to come available in mass. The old 87 740T only has 262,500 miles on it. And since it's running great and I did just put in a new clutch. I guess I'll wait till 300K before looking again. But again don't touch a 1999, if a late built 2000 comes
available consider it.

Not sure where you live in Canada, but I live in the GTA. I bought a 99 S80-T6 in October 1998. I experienced a few bugs over the years but have to say that I am very happy with this car. I've got 87,000 km on it and I would put more on if my wife and I could take some vacations!
I deal with McMillan and Saunders and yes I have had to get the front end looked at a couple of times, and had a mysterious problem with the O2 sensors but they were all fixed and one thing I must comment on is the fact that I have never had to go back and have the same problem fixed!
Should you buy a used S80? It really depends on how well or poorly the previous owner treated the car. If you can, get that person's number and see if you can get a sense of this. I use premium Mobil 1 and Sunoco gold exclusively and I would if I leased the car too, but I suspect that I am the exception.
I also believe that you should discount somewhat the negative comments that you might read here, or at least keep in mind that you are less likely to hear from a satisfied owner. People with beefs are more likely to be vociferous about the problems they have had. I love the power, the sound system, the seats, the trunk space and the sense of security I have in this car. I also love the way it looks.
If you do live in the GTA, you might want to have the car checked out by Tony at McMillan and Saunders - just a suggestion.
If you do buy the car, you might want to check out whether or not you can purchase an extended warranty, although I suspect it won't be available.

Feel free to contact me directly if you want any further comments.

It would likely be an incorrect assumption that the problems have been ironed out because the car has mileage on it, and it is out of lease. Someone leasing a car is less likely to deal with the inconvenience of downtime because they know that at the end of the day, it’s not their car and it will soon revert to someone else’s problem. My T6 now has 118,000km, and after the third transmission replacement, my car has a properly operating transmission for the first time since the day it was delivered. The first two were on Volvo, but this one was all mine ($3,001.00 USD) due to out of warranty. I'm now on my tenth set of headlamp bulbs, which blow out routinely due to a poorly regulated power supply system. At a total of $200.00 USD for headlamp bulbs, this is a gift that keeps on giving. I now always travel with no fewer than two replacement bulbs in my glove box after having missed an early morning plane flight for blown bulbs. (While starting the car to leave for the airport at 4:30am, both bulbs blew simultaneously!) Of course I had just used my last bulb the week before, and no stores were open.
Also at 118K, the rear main oil seal, the turbo oil return line seals, and the engine oil pump pickup seals were all replaced, again at my expense ($516.00). The sunroof guide rails were replaced due to rattling ($767.00). The second air mass meter was just replaced ($482.00) and now the car actually moves after cold start. The second engine mount was replaced at the same time for $145.00. Add to this, another week of rental car at $226.00, and you can begin to see that this car gets expensive very quickly. $5336.00 in customer paid, out of warranty repairs to rectify problems that are all Volvo design and build quality issues. (The black contact paper glued to the outside door window frames were all bubbling up and peeling off, and actually replaced on “goodwill” warranty!) I would dread to see what Volvo had paid in warranty claims on this car, but clearly their expenses total many times what they could have ever made in gross margin when they sold the car.
A significant remaining problem is the random loss of power steering assist. I never know when I turn the wheel if there will be power steering assist. I’ve narrowly skirted potential accident situations on several occasions due to loss of power assist. Dealers have been unable to replicate or rectify the problem to date.
Numerous additional minor problems remain that all relate to design and build quality issues that must be sorted out.
After three years of ownership, my car has now amassed 41 days off the road for repairs (not maintenance). This car is the only Volvo I’ve ever owned that I actually wished would go away. If the car had reasonable resale value, I would be delighted to off load it, but it looks like my only opportunity is a Viking funeral.
Certainly every car manufacturer has produced occasional ‘lemons’ and Volvo is no exception. Volvo apologists would tell you that my experience is unusual that most customers are blissful. If you look at customer feedback in Consumer Reports surveys, in J.D. Powers CSI surveys, and in web based customer feedback forums, you’ll discover that my experience is the norm and not the exception for this car. The rapid downward sales spiral for this car in 2001, and 2002 also demonstrate that consumers are not completely uninformed.
The 2002 J.D. Powers initial quality survey has showed significant improvement for Volvo from Hyundai territory into a more respectable neighborhood with top contender manufacturers. This could reflect one of two things: 1) Volvo has made a significant effort to improve the delivery quality of their cars with post processing screening, (factory, port, and dealer) or 2) Volvo has actually tamed the gremlins. Only time will tell if Volvo has actually improved the quality of their cars, but this point is clear; upscale Volvo cars return a lower percentage of their purchase price than competitive cars for resale, so if you decide to take a chance on an upscale Volvo and discover it is a hand grenade, you will take a significant bath to get rid of it. Buy a Lexus that you know is quality, and has good resale.

No.

The editors of Consumer Reports have the '99-'00 S80 on their "Used Cars to Avoid" list. While it's true any early defects have probably been corrected, this example has relatively high mileage, too, so the new owner will have the opportunity to boldly go where no one has gone before and discover new problems that few if any other S80 owners have had yet.

The car is likely going to be a nightmare. Let it be someone else's nightmare.

If this were a Lexus or a Toyota Camry or Avalon, I'd probably say "go for it", but it's no Lexus or Toyota, it's a Volvo.

-Phil de Cassandra

I'd also say no. '99 wasn't a good year for S80s so if you want an S80, get a newer one.
Lease returns are also usually poorly maintained and "beat" from what I've seen.

No.
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(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting) (92 940GLE)