Did I buy a lemon?

[JRL]

Here:

[nortons]

The thing is, these cars CAN be great cars, BUT....
If it was neglected by previous owners, (neglected means lots of money spent at astonishingly high priced dealer, OFTEN)
It will need a LOT of high priced parts thrown at it. If you do ALL of the work yourself, (and you better be a pretty darn good mechanic!), you can own and maintain one. But it ain't gonna be cheap. These cars can be bought for surprisingly low prices, but that is often because they need expensive repairs, very often transmissions and one of those is going to cost $3000 minimum vs about $2000 for a domestic American. Lots of independent shops won't touch it because many parts are difficult to source, or they are so pricey that the mechanic is leery of telling you how much they cost and scares you away, or the software and "special tools" necessary to fix it are priced out of practicality for an independent shop who only occasionally works on Volvos.
If you're looking for basic transportation or an inexpensive 2nd car, I would keep walking or buy the cleanest, nicest, low mileage 240 RWD car you can find. They are well built, parts are usually quite reasonable, a person with decent mechanical skills and a moderately well equipped tool box and a garage can keep one running forever, or at least until it rusts away to nothing. If you wish, hot rod parts are out there, lots of info on V8 swaps, suspension & brake upgrades are available, too. You could build a really nice, fast, great handling 240 for the same money or less than what you'll pour into any FWD/AWD that has "problems" It'll be way "cooler", too.
I bought a 2000 V70XC for cheap, it was rust free, (very rare in Michigan!) and had what I thought were minor "problems", mostly interior damage from hauling around big dogs and piggishly sloppy owners), that I could address for a minimal investment. It was filthy, had some very minor paint issues and the usual rotten front seats, but I used to do used cars and I know how to polish turds better than most. Previous owner was so frustrated with pouring piles of $$$$ into it that he said if I didn't buy it he was sending it to the crusher. So I bought it. Now it needs a transmission and I'm debating whether I want to save the R&R labor and do it myself because with the $800 purchase price, app. $800 in interior bits, new tires, battery, plugs, filters, O2 sensor, wires, hoses, timing belt, tensioner, vacuum lines, etc, (roughly $1000+), detailing supplies $200, and now over $2000+ for a transmission rebuild, (that's if I do the R&R myself. If the shop does it, along with towing, software upgrades, unforeseen additional parts, etc, about $3300) all of this for a somewhat thirsty car that is worth $3000 to $4000 around here, (Detroit area, SE Michigan), in PRIME condition. Sure, it's a very nice car, but the numbers don't add up. If you just gotta have one= stay away from the AWD cars, never even consider one with ANY type of "iffy" transmission, buy one with a manual trans if you can find one, if the front seats are beat up, (and ALL of them are!), count on spending $500-$1000 for those, and find the location of every local salvage yard that might have a bunch of FWD/AWD Volvos because you are gonna need 'em. Nice cars, but NOT cheap cars.

[Xilikon]

I will have to agree with nortons. It's very hard to find one which is very very well maintained and I did the mistake of buying one (2000 V70 XC SE) with a few issues thinking those are very easy to fix. I poured about 4000$ total in addition to the purchase price in may 2011. I will be handing the keys to a new owner today after trying to sell for 3 months and having the bad luck of having the radiator fail the morning of a buyer tryout... At least I sold it for 1200$, which is not bad considering the condition. The new buyer (the one who was victim of the radiator failure) bought another 1999 V70 XC in much nicer condition and wanted mine as his parts car so we agreed on the deal.

I'll chalk this up to a hard lesson learned but it's still a great lesson about learning to fix things, the necessity to follow the maintenance to the letter and enjoying a comfortable ride.

[instarx]

A twelve year old car and you are complaining it has cost you $3,300 including purchase price, and including new tires and a new battery and new filters!! I just don't get what people are expecting. What in the world do you want?

It seems like you guys want to have your cake and eat it too. If you want a car that won't have any repair costs then get a new car with a warranty, but it will cost you a fortune in payments. I've spent $650 in three years on repairs to mine. To the best of my knowledge $600 would be about ONE car payment for a comparable car. If repair costs had been four or five times that it still would still have been a great deal. I have mostly done my own wrenching. True, I've spent more than that on maintenance (brakes, oil, etc), but I would have spent that on a new car too. I buy some high price parts (brakes) and some low price parts (thermostats, motor mounts, etc). I shop for the best price on parts - I don't buy expensive IPD stuff. I don't buy sway bars, silicon hoses, HD coils, etc and then complain that I've spent $4,000 on the car.

its like you guys are expecting cars to become free at some point. It just ain't gonna happen.

[nortons]

Instarx,
The costs I listed were for what has been done SO FAR, and DO NOT INCLUDE the yet to be done transmission repair which is going to be well over ANOTHER $3000 or any OTHER yet to be discovered suspension, steering, exhaust, or most scary- electrical problems. (The P.O. spent a Bundle on electrical issues already-charge system, various sensors, radio, A/C. And these cars are very well known for electrical problems.) Woe to you if you need to start replacing ECU or any other electronic modules!
Even using a USED salvage yard transmission at around $1000 for a decent one with a guarantee of 6mos or a year, it's 10+ hours labor, (app. $1000) to R&R the trans. If the used trans fails, sure, they'll give you another one, but you're going to pay ANOTHER 10+ hours labor to take the bad one out and replace it again.
This is just to get it into safe, driveable condition and to make it look half way decent inside and out. I've done everything in the most cost-effective way possible and it still is eating me alive. And keep in mind that these cars in nice condition only go for around $3000 to around $4000 TOPS here in Mid West. It just costs too much to fix them, even if you do it yourself, (like me) I'll have somewhere near $5500 in a car worth maybe $4000-$4500 if I'm lucky. I could always sell it off to some unsuspecting "fish" on Ebay, I suppose. If some hayseed wants to spend too much money on it and jack his bid up to the sky, I'll take it , but it's kinda creepy to do that.
I'm not whining about getting "burned" by somebody, I burned myself. I buy and sell motorcycles and cars often and I've always done OK and made a few bucks consistently on dozens of them, but not this time. Kelly Blue book valued this car at $4600. I thought I could fix it, fluff and buff it, and either turn it over to the wife or sell it and make a few bucks. At $4600 I'll be losing money, lots of it at this rate. These cars just cost too much to fix, even using salvage yard parts. I pity the poor sap who has to take it to the dealer.

[nortons]

One more thing, it's not the fact that filters, O2 sensors, or the upcoming trans issues etc had to be replaced, it's the HIGH COST of them! You missed that, didn't you? Even things like wheel alignments cost double what I pay for same work on my other car and truck. O2 sensor was $175 EACH! vs $39 for my other car and truck. Transmission? Most reasonable overhaul from a seemingly reliable shop, (Most shops wouldn't touch it!), is $3300+ Transmission for wife's minivan last year? $2100. Trans rebuild (heavy duty everything!), on my old cop car? $2200. On and on and on. $$$$$$>>>>Volvo That giant sucking sound!

[andre123]

Easy... i read that the OC II readers reflashing the system.. pleeeease spare me the silliness. In my case the ABS light flashed, the tranny arrow blinked and the dashboard looked like a xmas tree.
Seems every mechanic has suggested ABS module changes, replace the computers... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overboard.
Someone on another site suggested a simple answer... take the leads off the battery, pour a coffee, read the newspaper, send some emails, then return and reconnect the leads. At that silly p1618 tranny arrow returned then after two minutes of idle it vanished. Been driving the car for 4 weeks and nothing returned. Hope it works for you as well.