My 850 has just about reached the end of it's life. I am considering purchasing one of 3 available 2000 S80's, but would like to hear about what to expect from this model of volvo..what are the usual suspects? Should I avoid specific model years?

Hey PIN,

Your 1996 should last a while longer. Here is a 1998 S70 for cheap:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/car/414608459.html

It probably needs all of the things your car needs - I wonder if they did the timing belt at 140K? But the window lifts are at least built in the doors instead of under the cup holders.

Klaus
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Please answer, we need to know if the advice is good or bad. The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are 2 turbos :)

Hello,
With all the info available on this forum re:S80 problems I`m not sure why you would even consider an S80. Klaus is absolutely right on the money!
I`m a former 850 owner which like yours got "tired" & when we went shopping for another Volvo the S80 sure wasn`t a consideration(not that it would have been, given our preference for Volvo wagons). We bought a 04 XC70, great car, love it!!!
Rich

A 2000? Why? It is fraught with electrical problems.
With all of the feedback on this board, the only sedan that I would buy is an S60. Perhaps the 2007 S80 with the 3.2 6 cylinder is better, but it is still too new.
If you get an S80, make sure you get an extended warranty that will cover electrical problems.

Klaus
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Please answer, we need to know if the advice is good or bad. The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are 2 turbos :)

Hey guys, I'm confused. Fact 1. Most of the electrical parts are the same for S60 and S80. Fact 2. The wiring diagram from Volvo is in a combined book for both cars. Avoid year 1999. After that most bad problems are fixed. My 2000 is a dream. Except for the Throttle module, which Volvo is now covering, they run and run. By MY 2002, the throttle module problem is gone too.

The S60 has the 5 cylinder and the S80 has the 6 cylinder and twin turbos. The turbos generate so much heat, the electricals and wiring cook under the hood. Plus, Volvo has had problems keeping the 6 cylinder cool and gaskets also go fairly fast.
Consider your self lucky with your 2000 S80. I am sure there are a lot of people happy with the S80, but there are just as many, if not more, that have had their car in the shop longer than they have had it on the road.
I cannot recommend buying a used S80. Or an XC90 with the twin turbo.

Klaus
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Please answer, we need to know if the advice is good or bad. The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are 2 turbos :)

Greetings. I started the recent thread regarding "Common problems with the S80".
I mention in the thread that I had deciced to buy a 1999 S80 with low (58K) miles. I've had the car for about three weeks now, not long but it's actually been pretty good. I've put on about 500 miles so far. I knew the former owner, a doctor, now deceased and he took very good care of the car and had all the recalls performed. His wife said that they had few real problems and overall were very happy with it (not as happy with the Volvo dealership though). She was very surprised when I related to her all the troubles these cars were notorious for and said they had few of the troubles I mentioned.
The car did/does suffer from some of the common annoyance problems on the list (in the other thread) including: driver door lock non-responsive to keyless entry, water leak into trunk basin, remote mirror switch broken (the physical plastic switch - the mirrors still operate), cloth trim on windshield pillars fell off ( I easily reglued them), the check engine light is on and I'm ordering the OBD II code reader to find out what's up with that, the moonroof sometimes just stops working (sometimes when already open) then just as mysteriously starts working again a day later, AM reception is also intermittantly bad.
All just small annoyance type issues. A few more issues that have cropped up but haven't manifested themselves yet are: The ABS light has flashed on a few times, as well as the STC light (not the on/off indicator), I've had to add power steering fluid (ATF) twice already - hoping it's just a line and not the rack!, the passenger side headlight wiper gets stuck in the up position then eventually gets back to the rest position (within a day).
I do believe what has been mentioned on this forum before, that there are decent early S80s out there as well as bad ones and it's a crap shoot whether you'll get a "good one" or not. Overall I feel okay about my purchase, and I really like the comfort and driveability of the car. HOWEVER, I had the advantage of buying it from a very trustworthy friend who would have let me know any problems or if they thought the car was a lemon. I'm able to do most repairs myself and that helps a lot. My final decision was based on the current milage versus the history of the known potential problems that had shown up to that point, and decided that it MIGHT be one of the "good" ones. Also I only paid $3500 for it, so I won't take too big of a hit if I have to bail from it. Having researched all the troubles I might have on this model I pretty much felt like I was still taking a chance. If any of these factors were different, I probably wouldn't have bought it, but so far, I happy. Hope this helps