The intake manifold gaskets on 960's will fail. I have a bad motor mount on mine and I hear this is a common thing. The 960 requires extremely tight maintenance. Also I get poor fuel mileage. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining though. I LOVE my 960! I did get a nice one to start with and I am continuing a long line of good maintenance. Paul
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'96 965, longtime 240 owner and 200K mile member

have owned 240s and still own 2 1995 940s. If you want simple and inexpensive maintenance, repair, and operation with exceptional reliability, buy a 95 940. They did not work out every wrinkle, but it is a noticably improved, although gentler version of a 240.

The control rod front bushing will likely need to be replaced about every 60k miles, but (IMHO)it was a relatively "easy to replace" bushing redesign that sacrifices itself to save the rest of the undercarriage and suspension, rather than having to replace all the bushings, like on a 240.

just my .02

I had a truck plow into me at 75MPH, and my V90 got totaled but neither I nor my wife suffered any injuries. Anything else that can go wrong with that car are merely details. Get your girlfriend an S90, and you will know that she is driving a car that makes even 245 look like a danger zone.:-)

Ta-ta, j.
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Nautica-Blue Volvo 2001 XC70

you'll get over 200k with a 960 if maintained,dont know how far they'll go yet.they're still racking up the miles.
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92-965-210k, 94-965-215k, 92-944t-205k, 83-242dl,totaled(8/04), 84-242GLT,totaled(2/03),83-245GLT,retired(03)

I have had a 1997 965 for almost five years. Bought it with 13, 000 miles and now has 71,000 miles. It is a great car, I just love the ride and handling for a wagon. I have had almost no problems other than the transmission lights flashing on and off sometimes. The engine light is on most all the time, but have been told by Volvo that this is common and is not of major concern. Out of many 244 & 245 Volvos I have owned over the years and a 944 turbo, this is the best Volvo I have owned and wished I could afford to buy a low mileage S90 for my wife to drive. You do have to change the transmission fluid and antifreeze every 2 years or 30,000 miles, but the owners manual states this is not necessary. The thermostat was just replaced by me, due to it stuck open and would not allow the engine to get hot enough. This engine is not designed to take short trips of less than five miles, as the engine does not get hot enough to burn off condensation and carbon build up on the exhaust valves. The engine is great, but it was designed for high speed use on the autobaun. We also have a 1996 850 sedan non-turbo purchased on Ebay. It is also a very good car with 84,000 miles. Very good gas mileage. 31 mpg. on the open road.

900's are a great ride but quirkey and expensive to repair

Get her a 740 or 940 and expect the repairs to be a subset of what you perform on your 240.

Greg Mustang
Montreal
Canada

Four cylinder (940,940T) cars are very solid,similar to 240s but more modern in feel,electrics are more reliable than 240s in my opinion,especially the last two (US market) years,94-95.Check FAQs;coolant or oil leaks can be annoying or worse.Turbo cars are harder on engines/oil (no surprise here).As with all cars,regular service is a big plus.Creankcase venting,as on 240s is an important maintenance item.Check AC operation.960s/V/S90s are better-performing cars,but what others have written about maintenance,timing belts-ditto!As with most used cars,buy the newest you can find.Love our V90 and '94 940T!

My experience: manual climate control unit is funky and if the A/C goes out, it's probably the electronics in the MCC unit in the dash and not under the hood. Front suspension is pretty weak compared to the 240's - you need to replace bushings more frequently.

Like a lot of the more modern cars, the electrical stuff can be trouble, and can be costly to have repaired by pro's. Check carefully, operation of power windows, sunroof, seats, antenna, etc. Sound system is nice when it works, but many stories of bad amps and head units...and replacement with aftermarket is not a breeze due to weird Swedish engineering of outboard amp wiring, speaker connections and oddball size/shape of front door spkrs. The overall vehicle wiring diagrams compared to my 240 manuals are an order of magnitude more complex.

Very reliable drivetrain..no worries here if it has received reasonable maintenance.

A good one is indeed a pleasure, smoother and quieter than 240's, with some loss of crisper handling and 'feel'. Sluggish performance if a non-Turbo. Definitely a softer car but would be very pleasing to someone who is not a diehard 240 fan.
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Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

The 940 series cars are almost identical to your 240 with regards to the drive train. Same B230F (4 cyl, 8 valve, also available w/Turbo) and Aisin-Warner AW70/71 transmission. All 940 cars have OBD1 system diagnostics which can be easily read by you (details in the 700/900 FAQ above).

The 960, S/V90 cars are also excellent, with proper, on-time, maintenance these too can go for many many miles. I've never driven one but comments that I've seen around here praise the power of the inline 6 cylinder (24 valve), many refer to it as a true luxury car. The engine is an interference type which means if the timing belt breaks, so can your pistons, valves, and ultimatley your wallet. I believe the majority of cars these days are interference design so it's not like Volvo is doing anything different.

The 850 series cars, no comment. I love how they look and will probably get one some day, concerned though about maintenance costs.

I love both my 765 and 945 (almost identical cars), I expect to have them for many more miles!

Good luck with your decision,
Bean
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'80 242GT 93k, '94 945T 143k, '89 765T 68k (new '94 B230FT)