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I've been driving volvo cars for a number of years now. My car at the moment is a S80 T6, I thought it was my dream car, expensive(for me anyway)6months old,10,000 miles on clock,pristine condition. Within a week I was having trouble with central locking - car taken back to garage to be sorted, Then driving on M275 car died, transported back to garage. A new computor system had to be fitted.33,000 miles on clock now 2.5 years later regular servicing etc the gearbox has just died!!! I am not a speedster,Iam a 58year old female who likes a comfortable car and was hoping this one was going to last me a few years.Over £4000 to repair, is this right after such a short time?
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Do you not have any warranty left?
Has to be said that the car would seem to be something of a liability if it's costing that much so soon.
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We've had a number of Volvo's in the family and it has to be said that the older ones were the best. My 1991 940se turbo was the most reliable car I've ever had. In contrast my brother's 1995 940 Wentworth suffered a number of serious problems including the turbo (twice!) and water ingress under paintwork.
Another brother has a newer 850t5 and has had problems with that too. Of course all of this is a very small sample but I can't help thinking that as cars get more complicated they seem to breakdown more. To need a new gearbox at this stage is very surprising IMO. The gearboxes on all of the above Volvos have been fine and all have done well in excess of 130k. I think I'd get onto Volvo HQ and ask for some form of goodwill contribution towards the cost - you may be lucky. If not get some advice from Trading Standards and/or your local CAB. The problem of major failures just out of warranty comes up here fairly frequently so do a search and see what you can find. IIRC there's a recent Alfa thread (cam belt failure) somewhere in which the various opitons for complaining are set out quite well. Good luck.
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But then I suppose that's the logic behind setting warranty periods. You do your sums and work out at what age the average car gets it's first big repair bill. Three year warranties suggest that they expect the first notable repair after very slightly longer than that...
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Dont Ford own Volvo now? An havent they done so for the last 5 years? If the answer is yes is there a connection with Volvos product quality demise?
\" Keep doing the same old thing, youll get the same old thing, try something different today!\"
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Dont Ford own Volvo now?
Yes they do. But only the car business. The stuff at www.volvo.co.uk is still made by "Volvo". i.e trucks and buses.
If the answer is yes is there a connection with Volvos product quality demise?
Probably.
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Mike Farrow
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I doubt the Ford link has anything to do with it.
Cars are complex things and they do sometime go wrong and break down. People generally expect a bit too much, especially from the 'premium' brands. Sure, some will go 150k without a hiccup, other examples of the same car will only go 30k until trouble hits.
I know a chap who had 3rd gear synchro go on his Merc at about 30k miles (just outside of warranty) - he was pretty mortified.
Anyway, don't pay the £4k dealer bill - take the car to a transmission specialist and get it looked at.
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Tell him to double-declutch, it's cheaper.
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This is what worries me about buying nearly new. Someone could have caned the living daylights out of your Volvo in its first 6 months - or alternatively it was a Friday afternoon car and gave so much trouble that the first owner got shot of it.
Maybe if your budget ran to a 6-months-old S80 you would consider going for a new S60 next time. Others will be along to say I'm talking rubbish and you should never buy new: but these decisions aren't just financial. I buy new for peace of mind: over the last 30 years with one exception (a Fiat!) I've had just that.
If you've lost faith in Volvos, you could try an Audi A4 like mine or a Honda Accord.
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This is where I disagree with you there Avant (respectfully of course!)
You could have a Friday Afternoon Car and that would be far more troublesome new than 6 months or even a year old. I suspect this is probably the problem with Maz's car; I can't see a) many people ragging an S80 and b) how would that cause the ECU problems.
I will never buy a car new. Never. In my opinion, it's a complete waste of money. The newest I would buy would probably be a year old with 10,000 miles (ish) on it. That's assuming I have enough money of course!
The way I see it, any niggles on the new car will have been sorted by the owner by the time I get it. (Although this never happened with Maz!)
As to how other people have driven it before me? I can't do anything about that. I let Mum drive mine and try not to think abotu it too much. Your new car has to be driven to the dealer or taken on a test drive by a careless garage worker or a person testing it who doesn't care how they drive it.
Assuming this post never existed, I'd choose a year old S80 over a new S60. I'd rather have a nicer older (to some degree)than a lower spec new one.
Just me though.
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Adam
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