getting a jones for an S 80

Volvo. Nice Swedish Luxo Barge. Nice looking cars available for ~4000.00 around here. I know gas mileage is not great, but they are comfortable cruisers. Anything to be afraid of? Run away and hide? Thanks,hive.

What year are you looking at?

These are cars that I hated when they were new but I'm craving now. I long for Volvo seats.

Well my friend has nothing but problems with hers. I don't remember the exact year though.

I am interested in the response for this as well. I have a client that is looking for a nice luxo but wants to spend no more than 8k with less than 115K miles. I am a bit of a pickle.

I just read on the net that this car was on the list of near luxury cars that are considered the least desirable. Just saying.

In reply to jimbbski:

well then, because someone said it on the internet it HAS to be true.

Wasn't there something about weak transmissions? Underspec'd because they've got a transverse mounted inline 6 which doesn't leave much room for a transmission.... Might want to confirm with some googling.

Transmissions are GM hydramatics in the earlier ones. They are not really up to the task in an AWD twin turbo XC90, they are fair in the turbo S80, and seem to be fairly troublefree in the non-turbo 6. There were a few built with the same turbo5 and Aisan trans from the s/v70.

The turbo 6 has always underwhelmed me, partly due to the traction control, but mostly due to the trans.

I'd buy a N/A 6 or a turbo 5. They are pretty nice cars, easy to cruise at 80+mph.

Looking at 2001-2003 or so. Around 100k miles. seem to be a few available around here. I like the looks, have seen mixed reviews on the web, just wondering if anybody here had any real experience. Do not want turbo or all wheel drive. Want comfort for my aged butt.

Woody wrote: I long for Volvo seats.

+1... they have best seats in the junkyard. In fact, I was just commenting to a buddy that I should rip the psuedo-luxo-crap ones out of my truck and go hunting for a nice clean pair.

I found my mom a nice 03 s80 2.9 n/a with 95k on it for 5k.. and that was 2 years ago.

It has 150k on it now. Ive replaced the timing belt (preventatively), the right front seat belt (expensive and annoying part failure) the plastic doodads that connect the window regulator to the door glass on the RF (twice, but cheap and easy -ish), and done a little work on the PCV system. It still needs front control arm bushings but i am being lazy about fixing that. Oh, and i put spark plugs in it for no reason recently (mom asked me too).

I LOVE the thing, considering the money. Other than the control arm bushings on our example, it drives great for a cheap car (i could probably buy this exact car for ~3k if it were on the market right now), and it has a lot of presence/panache in metallic black with the nice 17" factory wheels and dark tint. It looks way better than it cost, which is perfect for my mom liking it.

It's surprisingly easy to work on. I love the straight 6. It drives like it has more power than it does, because they just seemed to put a lot of effort into tuning the driveability aspects of it. It's not slow, and it actually gets great MPG considering its size (25-28 driven lightly). My experience driving the turbo and non-turbo 6s is that the n/a overdelivers on expectations and the turbo underdelivers. I would still buy the turbo for myself (i think i can fix what ails it) but would recommend the non-turbo to anyone non-enthusiast. I'd also recommend the n/a 6 over the turbo 5 for simplicity/reliability reasons.

The front seats are comfortable but have 0 sporting pretensions in this veihcle. The rear seat is comfortable and very roomy, plus there are rear ac and heat vents.

In all, i would recommend it IF you can find one that isnt already falling apart. A lot of the ones ive seen have a lot of little stuff wrong with them, mostly interior related. If you buy one with lots of little stuff messed up, you will never fix it all and you will always have a not-nice s80. So, buy a good one.

My parents have had 3 S80's. Their current T6, like the ones before it, is quick in a straight line, very comfortable on long trips, large back seat. But I hate driving it - none of the controls were set up to make driving enjoyable. The handling is terminally numb, the steering is wickedly overboosted, the brakes are touchy, the fake leather interior bits wear excessively. But the real reason I'd warn you off is because that they have had years of on and off trouble with the transmission & traction control modules.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Woody wrote: I long for Volvo seats.

+1... they have best seats in the junkyard. In fact, I was just commenting to a buddy that I should rip the psuedo-luxo-crap ones out of my truck and go hunting for a nice clean pair.

You know, that's not a bad idea. I was thinking about putting a set of Porsche seats in my truck, but maybe I'll see if I can find a Volvo with a nice gray leather driver's seat.