I am considering the purchase of a 2000 S80 2.9. I have owned several other Volvo's, including a 740 Turbo and an 850 GLT. I have read a lot of negative reviews regarding the reliabilty of this model. I am wondering if there are any specific areas of concern that anyone can point out that I should look into before purchasing. I'm also wondering if anyone can address the quality/reliability issue since Ford purchased Volvo. Any direction would be appreciated. Thanks.

Motor mounts (a problem area on more models than just the S80) should be checked out. But many of the problem-prone items can't be inspected, including throttle module, ABS module, pedal pressure sensor, etc.

I love my S80, and I wouldn't necessarily run from this one. It all depends on how cheap you can buy it. Low-ball the seller. He knows the long-term costs of owning this car, believe me.

" I am considering the purchase of a 2000 S80 2.9"

Unless you enjoy visiting your local dealer weekly and unloading ALOT of money, just steer clear of all newer Volvos, especially early S80s. They simply aren't anything like what you're use to. Quality, durabilty, dependabilty......ALL GONE!!! No kidding.

My advice, get a nice used 940 and that car will easily last you another 10+ years with very few problems, cheap to keep too compared to ANY FWD Volvo.

When Consumer Reports did their story on all this they noted that the BMW 7-series has something like 120 different electric motors with a couple of dozen in each front seat. Predictably, all this complexity leads to failures and BMW 7-Series and 5-Series are on the Consumer Reports list of least reliable cars.

In contrast, the Japanese manufacturers try to make their products as simple as possible. (We also have an Acura, the reliability has been amazing, with 0, that's ZERO problems! But in contrast to the Volvo when I look for some familiar component that breaks in the Volvo, in the Acura it often just isn't there!)

So here are my suggestions:

1. If you want to drive a relatively complex Volvo (S80, S60R, V70R, XC70, XC90) don't buy it, LEASE IT (new), and then let the poor sap who's the second owner deal with all the poltergeists that will hatch.

2. If you want luxury AND reliablility, AND tend to keep your cars for a while look to Lexus and Acura. The new Acura TL is one impressive machine, you owe it to yourself to at least take one for a test-drive! The Lexus LS430-LS400 tends to remain reliable even as it ages, so that's an OK used car buy.

3. If you just LOVE Volvos, buy the most basic, simple one you can find. Preferably a model that they've been making for a few years. The base V70 and the V70 2.5T should be OK now. Even a T5, which has a lot of the luxury goodies but is nowhere near as complex as the S80. This is the FIFTH year of the V70 model run, if they haven't figured out how to build 'em by now, they never will.

My $0.02

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 151k mi, IPD stabilizer bars, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes, V-1, Mobil-1 since new

The S80 is a very complex and very sophisticated car, with lots of electronic gizmos and computer modules that are serviceable only by the dealer, thus the expensive repairs.

The '99 and '00 are the most unreliable of the bunch with a lot of electronic gremlins, avoid them. Try the S60 instead, a more reliable volvo.
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'88 240, '92 745, '98 v70 John, Tampa Bay