Has reliability improved with the 01 S80s over the earlier models? I currently own a 98 S70 and an 89 245. I'm seeing quite a few very nice and reasonably priced 01 S80s - would appreciate any comments. (when I bought the S70 3 years ago it was on the consumer reports list of used cars to avoid too, but it has been a great car) Thanks.

Very good advice from Frank. Most used cars on dealer lots come from the auto auction. While some individually owned cars do show up there, for the most part they are either lease returns, former rental cars or reposessions. Unfortunately the operators/owners of those cars have little incentive to maintain them - and it shows.

My recommendation would be to read the cars for sale ad's and find the rare owner that has most of his receipts. Then take the car in for a pre-purchase inspection by a dealer.

read above post about the S80: "quit 'yer complaining"
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'88 240, '92 745, '98 v70 John, Tampa Bay

'01s on up are generally more troublefree than the previous two years BUT the thread listed above isn't my idea of a newsworthy thread here.
I will say one noteworthy thing here, IF you're buying a higher mileage 'Certified Used Car' from a dealer, it's a car that use to be a lease return car and most of those had little to no maintenance during its life. People who lease cars do as little as possible during their lease. That means few oil changes and how long then will those engines last as a result of poor maintenance? Too soon to know so far.
You can get a good idea of its past oil change frequency by simply removing the oil fill cap and if it looks very sludged up (it's obvious), you can then assume that the engines oil was rarely changed.
If it's a lease return car sitting at another type of car dealer, you'ld be best to have a safety check done at a Volvo dealer before you buy just to be sure that the car's in decent condition. Most of the higher mileage lease returns we see aren't nice cars and many have been in some sort of accident too with obvious bad bodywork and repaint jobs. I've seen people complain about bad used car paint jobs on other sites so I know others see this elsewhere too. Take a good close look at the cars paint, including bumpers in daylight because a bad paint job might bother you after the fact.

Thanks Frank. The cars I'm looking at have about 35K miles on them, build dates of Oct.-Nov. '00, probably 10-11 months of warranty left. One of the first things I do is look in the oil fill cap to see if anything is funky.

Once when I brought mine in for dealer service the advisors were laughing about a lease return they had just received back with all the dash warning lights aglow. They had NO records of any service and said the lessee gave them a blank stare when they asked about oil changes....

I've used Mobil-1 synthetic in my '98 V70 since new and at 134,000 miles it STILL uses no oil between changes. In contrast to many here who have called the white engine an oil-burner. The only reason I can think of is that I've been meticulous about maintenance. The electrics/electronics have unfortunately been just as bad as any other 850-70. I drove 100 miles in the snow today. The Volvo's just a great car in the snow, it's a darn shame Toyota can't supply the electrics.

-Sami

"There's a lot of debate on this subject - about what kind of car handles best. Some say a a front-engined car, some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car. Nothing handles better than a rented car. You can go faster, turn corners sharper, and put the transmission into reverse while going forward at a higher rate of speed in a rented car than in any other kind." -P.J. O'Rourke

You bring up another good point that should be mentioned here. Whenever buying any relatively newer Volvo, always check the maintenance book that should be kept in the glove box. If there are NO dealer stamps OR any other records (receipts) showing maintenance done, even oil changes....ASSUME that little maintenance was ever done.

Sure, I know that some are DIYers or simply go to places other than dealers for maintenance BUT many new Volvo owners are religious about services and make sure that it's always done at a dealer. We have many customers who never miss one service and every service entry has a dealer stamp. Most also get their oil changed in-between the 7,500 intervals which is also highly advised unless using a good synthetic which few do.

Frank:

As you work for a dealer, do you ever know of good used Volvo's available? I am gun shy on purchasing FWD Volvo's without really knowing a good one. You could get a good finders fee with all your knowledge and seeing how most of tend to hang on to your advice.

dick

I don't buy cars often myself but I'd agree with V70 Guy's advise from above:
Quote: "My recommendation would be to read the cars for sale ad's and find the rare owner that has most of his receipts. Then take the car in for a pre-purchase inspection by a dealer."

It's often easier said than done these days with a newer car because most people trade in newer cars when they buy a newer car but it's not impossible.
If you do find one at a dealer or used car lot, do check for its history as best possible, do a Carfax check too but realize too that minor accidents won't show up.