Holy Cow! $31,412.00 in repairs over 10 years! This is good?

[FlyingVolvo]

I wish I could go around town and put an MVS advertisement under the wipers of every Volvo I see.

[jimr2345]

LOL - Ya, this site is a valuable resource for sure!

[pkc303]

Jim, the fact that you are on this website is an assurance you will not spend anything close to that to keep your 1997 Volvo 850R running properly. We have one, and have spent less that $4,000, and that includes the acquisition cost of the car.

[jimr2345]

Jim, the fact that you are on this website is an assurance you will not spend anything close to that to keep your 1997 Volvo 850R running properly. We have one, and have spent less that $4,000, and that includes the acquisition cost of the car.

Thats conforting. I took a drive late today out into the country with my honey. About 150 miles round trip, long straights - up to about 80 mph and lots of good curves. Like my honey!

With the exception of some rough roads and a broken motor mount, it ran like a top. Good acceleration, good handling and a darn fun ride! I love the car and want to keep it but hard to do when I don't have anywhere to work on it! Trying to work that out but no good solution yet.

[bronxnativ]

Know what you mean. I'm getting ready to move. Currently in a place that has a huge paved parking lot. This is where all of my work is done; as the manager of the complex is clueless. Now moving to a better place BUT with dirt paved parking stalls. It's going to suck after it rains or snows, as jack stands are a scary thought on that type of ground. Looks like ramps will be added on my grocery list of items for the car.

[seb21051]

Well, here's my little story (prior to getting the 1998 V70XC).

Bought a new Nissan Frontier pickup in 2004, 2.5L 4 banger. Change my own oil and filters (Mobil 1 at 20,000 mile intervals, the vehicle does not work hard). Earlier this year with 115K on the clock I replaced tires and front pads for the first time. Now at 120K, regular oil, air filter change; fuel filter and spark plugs for the first time. I figure I have spent under $1200 on the vehicle including consumables (less petrol, of course) to this point.

Vehicle may need shocks, timing chain next. Simply excellent reliability and reasonable cost, averages 24MPG.

Two years ago picked up an '85 Suzuki 700 V4 Madura with 13K on the clock for $500. Wasn't running, but that model has another exceptional Forum, very similar to this one. Read extensively, then rebuilt the carbs ($110 for all the parts, oil, filters, seabreeze, etc), Voila, the bike runs very well.

There is no doubt that if one is prepared to spend the time and a little money, and do the research, that it is possible to save an enormous amount of money, and, get a lot of satisfaction in making these electro mechanical contrivances work.

I fixed the chainsaws of two of my friends this year by a simple carb rebuild (parts cost no more than $15 each, labor 1 hour), and a friend gave me a 1990 Ford YC16 Twin Cyl Riding mower that he cannot get fixed, approximately $100 and I hope it will be running as well. People dump their old snowblowers, lawnmowers, unwanted pets, etc etc off here, most things get fixed one way or the other, lol . . . then there's the gunsmithing, PC repairs, and my newest hobby, MicroControllers. So much to do, so little time, then my family wonders why I don't remember their birthdays, and even sometimes, their names . . .

[fields 100]

I think the moral to this thread is that if you can't wrench the car yourself or you have a huge trust fund, don't buy one.

Over the last year I think I have spent around $1000.00 on all 4 of mine. I spent around $1000 / per car when I first bought them for Stage Zero stuff as I bought them but that has been amortized over the years and miles. The lions share of the money went to the new shocks, struts, and spring seats on the '94 along with a new axle from Marty at RAXLES.

Even with 260k on the clock that is one of the best cars I have ever owned.

...Lee

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. Problems with these cars are countless, even with a low milage ones-cracked PC ABS boards,dreadful SELs, emission problems,air pumps, PCV, ECUs,electrical bulbs, switches, etc., etc.,and, of course, my signature one- cold start moan-the greatest enigma ever.God bless my wrenches, knuckles and, especially this forum-helps to save quite a few dollars.

[Xilikon]

Even my 2007 Yaris was plagued by a manufacturer defect with the abs system. The rear sensor are sensitive to road salt and 90% of the Yaris from 2006-2008 will suffer from it with a 700-900$ bill to fix it. I ignored it as my 3 year/ 40k miles comprehensive warranty was gone. I could fix that issue myself but for that, I must do a diagnosis from toyota at 120$ a shot, not less expensive than the Volvo's.

The only impact is that the ECU disabled the ABS system and you get the annoying ABS light. I don't care as I hate ABS in the winter and even in the summer, it's marginal at best.

So even the cheapest car doesn't always translate to cheaper costs...

[fields 100]

Well, I believe everything should operate properly , no exeptions.But then again, it might be just someone's bad luck.(Could be my S70 T5) I use to own 940T for 7 years, never had single problem. I have heard some 240s are going over 500,000mi . And now all Volvos have pretty good reliability ratings.2012 S60 T5-I wish I owned one!

[byeboy]

Boy! This sounds like the 850R I just bought from a friend. She is an attractive, friendly, trusting Canadian transplant, ans is well off enough to simply pay the bills they flop in front of her. the dealers (two different) were the worst, as I went through all the receipts. Really made me wonder what I had just bought into..until I started seeing the "Going Fishing' trips by the mechanics at the dealers...Ironically the main "fixes" ultimately came from Independent shops...already after she paid big bucks, and basically got nothing for the problem, just a bunch of expensive parts and procedures.