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All good points, however.
1)The $2500 per year maintenance figure I quotted is for dealer maintained cars, not cars worked on by their owners. Believe me, at the $85/hour labor charge my local dealer charges, it doesn't take long to run up a $2500 bill (A PNP switch change is $675, belt change is $475. A new heater core replacement is $1500, and just changing the instrument cluster lights is over $500!
2)This forum is NOT representitive of the cross section of Volvo 960 Series owners. I would expect the cars here will last MUCH longer than 75% of the remaining cars.
3)Replacing the parts I mentioned (at aftermarket prices with your own labor)will result huge savings over the period you own your car. Replacing all the "extra" parts will only cost about $250 more than just buying the belt, and the water pump is considered a normal "wear" part, so why wait until it fails to replace it since you are indeed "in there" doing the belt?
4)The design feature changed in all later 4-Valve Volvo engines was a return to solid valve lifters. This alone prevents many of the engine damage (or no compression starts) problems.
5)DO at least run synthetic oil, and carefully inspect your belt sprockets when you change your belt. If the cog edges are rounded off, you will be miles ahead if you change them with the belt.
Hope you picked up your car and are as happy with your 960 as I am with mine! The 960 Series is a sophisticated car, though in many ways simple as well (being the final RWD "brick").
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