We need to trade in our S40 for something that is safer and won't just shut down and stall while driving down the road.

What do you all think of the 2004 VOLVO S60 2.4 SEDAN.

Is that a better car? What issues have you had with it?

What about a 2002 V70 AWD with 80,000 miles on it?

My only concern is it has a rebuilt title. "Toss Loss" in 2007, that's when the new owner got it and fixed it apparently? They say it was light damage. It had been a leased vehicle until 2006, in NJ then in Texas....per CarFax....weird.

Thoughts?

I only looked at craigslist and cannot vouch for any of these cars or the people selling them. Some could be interesting:

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/5429392749.html

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ctd/5429361987.html

So long as the AC still works:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/5428212837.html

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/5426319991.html
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Thank you!

Pass on 2001-2002 due to tranny problems and other 'new model' bugs.

Salvage title is from insurance companies that deem the cost to fix greater than the car is worth. In 2007, that car was only 5 years old, so the damage needed to be greater than $10,000. If a car lived in the east coast for several years, then salt becomes an issue...

The S60 gets better in 2005, the XC70 gets better in 2004, while the V70 gets better in 2003+.

Even an XC90/S80 with the 5 cyl engine would be good, after 2002. Do not look at anything with twin turbos.

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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Anything is better than a 2000-2001. The first gen S40 was a disaster.

The 04 S60 will be a big improvement. Some of the electronics are questionable, especially the Central Electronic Module which can overheat or unplug. But that generally produces error messages and not sudden failure.

Don't look at the S80s with the T6 engine, twin turbos.

If the S60 has AWD, make sure it has been serviced. If you are looking for cheap on Craigslist, insist on maintenance history which could be a dealer printout. Beware of people/car dealers who buy auction cars and flip them, ask for a Carfax.

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Keeping it running is better than buying new

+1 on the `04 CEM. Just did this repair on wife`s `04 XC70.....it ain`t cheap even at Xemodex!

I don't understand - do you mean your wife's car had the same issue mine does....? and it was the CEM?

No, Greg said that his wife has a 2004 XC70 and the CEM started to go out. It is a $500 repair at Xemodex, $1200 for a replacement at the dealer.

Perhaps you should look at other car brands; Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen. When trading it in, there is no need for you to disclose ANY problems. Remember the 2000 V40 is 16 years old! You should be looking for 2005+. Use the internet, cars.com, autotrader.com, or even Craigslist.com for private sales. But none of them will disclose problems with their cream puffs... And the miles on the odometer means less than maintenance history and cleanliness.

Just playing around:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/cto/5345866456.html
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Volvos aren't what they used to be. I drove 30+ year old 240 with less problems than this.

We can't sell private as we have the loan. And dont want to deal with that sort of hassle.

Thank you. The one we were looking at is at the Volvo dealer (they will buy back our crappy s40).
The 2004 just sold tho. Naturally I couldn't get there to have a look because my car is there being serviced. They dont have any loaners right now.
They are trying to sell us on a 2011 s40 now...
But it's 15000 and we don't have that money.

What is the best most reliable volvo and what is the worst? I loved my 240 wagon; the 1998 v70 has been pretty good. But what do you think...?

The only thing I would do with that dealer is complain to VolvoUSA. If course they want you to buy another S40, marked up about $3K. Then they could sell your V40 for $3K and have $6K profit!

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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Well, they're probably the only place that will take it as a trade in at this point, right? I don't know how we could trade it in elsewhere with this problem AND the loan.

I've never been in this predicament before. I've always been able to pay cash for a car, never had a loan and never had such a cr@ppy Volvo.