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Jared,
Repair costs ... in most instances, the prices are quite comprable to other mainstream cars, if not even less. Volvo did a lot of mechanical parts sharing between the 240/740/940, and the basic engine design didn't change much throughout the years. They didn't have to ... it worked.
And yes, they are pretty easy to work on. Although Volvo puts in an inline-4, there's enough space under the hood to fit a V8.
As with any used car, preventative maintenance is a key factor of it's longevity. Skip out on that, and even the best of 'em will turn into a lemon. Look for service records showing regular oil changes, tune-ups that are done by the book, various other fluids getting changed/flushed, etc. If there's an indicator that tells me whether the previous owner cared a lot or not, check that all the exterior lights are functioning. If they couldn't bother changing a burned out bulb, they prolly couldn't have bothered to keep a lot of other things in check either. Same goes with tires ... if the 4 are mismatched, with various wear patterns, it's a good sign that they didn't really care.
If there's major weakness in these, it's that the original heater valve and radiator don't age very well. The material gets brittle and will tend to always fail at the worst possible time.
Slightly lesser is the headliner, which has a tendency for the foam to disintegrate, and some of the relays, which develop cold solder joints.
Ones equipped with turbo's do need more care than normally aspirated ones, although IMHO, the extra performance makes up for the little extra cost.
There's a lot more info in the 700/900 FAQ ... check under "Features".
Overall, they are reliable cars. I'm pretty much stuck on 'em for the safety and ease of maintenance. All 4 of mine's are well into the 6-digit milage range, with my '91 just under 189k. Original engine, original turbo, original tranny, original clutch.
-- Kane ... not the original owner, though.
--
Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40
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