scootermcfly wrote:My wife and I bought an '04 XC90.
It's understood that new Volvos are crap. The rear-wheel-drive Volvos aren't.
Never mind buying a first-year-of-production car in general. At least you didn't buy the T6...or did you?
I can tell you this, though. I sure made a sh*t-load of money off those XC90s that year. Anecdotal, but I learned to run and hide when I saw a Disco II pull in the lot. A backhoe couldn't dig them out of that negative equity situation.
scootermcfly wrote:My wife and I bought an '04 XC90.
It's understood that new Volvos are crap. The rear-wheel-drive Volvos aren't.
Never mind buying a first-year-of-production car in general. At least you didn't buy the T6...or did you?
I can tell you this, though. I sure made a sh*t-load of money off those XC90s that year. Anecdotal, but I learned to run and hide when I saw a Disco II pull in the lot. A backhoe couldn't dig them out of that negative equity situation.
If he had a tranny go out, it was in a T6. The modified GM 4T65E was pure crap, be it a XC90 or S80. Or in a GM product, for that matter, they're not much better in their original home. As a service writer, I've replaced tons. The 5 speed auto behind the 5cyl motors were great.
Volvo was always good about stepping up to the plate to replace them, even well out of warranty. Sounds like this was a problem with the specific dealer.
andrewlcraft wrote: The 5 speed auto behind the 5cyl motors were great.
That might be a bit of a stretch IMHO. They too were wrapped into that whole 'lifetime fluid' thing that BMW is equally guilty of. The fact of the matter is they need a flush around 75k-100k and are notably prone to failure as well. But I agree otherwise. Likely a T6... but he may surprise us both as that required some serious scratch and were more scarcely produced by comparison (If my memory serves me).
On a side note I particularly pitied the owners of the '99 S80 T6. They deserved immediate wings and a limo ride into heaven.
scootermcfly wrote:My wife and I bought an '04 XC90.
It's understood that new Volvos are crap. The rear-wheel-drive Volvos aren't.
Never mind buying a first-year-of-production car in general. At least you didn't buy the T6...or did you?
I can tell you this, though. I sure made a sh*t-load of money off those XC90s that year. Anecdotal, but I learned to run and hide when I saw a Disco II pull in the lot. A backhoe couldn't dig them out of that negative equity situation.
Regrettably, it was a T6. I never liked it from day one but it was bought for the wife and kids. Now she's in my truck.
My uncle still has his 240 wagon which he is the Original Owner. 91 I think. It has well over 300k miles on it and the only expensive replacement part was the auto trans a few years ago. He drives a newer S60 now, but the 240 still see's weekend duties.
My favorite tale of reliability is my first car. Which I received when I was 16, thanks to a hand me down from my mother, as she got a new Mustang GT (circa 1999). It was a butt ugly tan on tan 1984 300d Mercedes that she bought 2 months after I was born. It was slow, It was loud, the A/C didn't work, the radio only worked intermittently between large bumps in the road, The odometer Hadn't worked since the mid 90's and it was about the hardest car to ever try to pick up a girl in lol. I owned it for 7 years. through highschool and college. Not being mechanically inclined as I would consider myself now, I treated that car like junk. I used to go offroading in it to get a few laughs, Burns outs on what i didn't know was a transmission apparently made of glass...I even towed a Subby Brat out of a hole waist deep once. I changed the oil on a bi-yearly basis at times...Just pretty much neglected it. The car, in exception of a few dead batteries, never failed me. It always started, ran, and got me to where I needed to be. It wasn't Until later, After I sold it, that I realized how much I loved that car. It still runs today, but was converted to a veggie car by a friend who purchased it. Someday I will have another one
andrewlcraft wrote: The 5 speed auto behind the 5cyl motors were great.
That might be a bit of a stretch IMHO. They too were wrapped into that whole 'lifetime fluid' thing that BMW is equally guilty of. The fact of the matter is they need a flush around 75k-100k and are notably prone to failure as well. But I agree otherwise. Likely a T6... but he may surprise us both as that required some serious scratch and were more scarcely produced by comparison (If my memory serves me).
On a side note I particularly pitied the owners of the '99 S80 T6. They deserved immediate wings and a limo ride into heaven.
Well, in comparison anyway I honestly don't remember replacing one while I was with Volvo. At least not when they were "new", i.e. well under 100K. I remember a few 850's that needed trannys. We included trans fluid on our 60K services for the "lifetime fluid" cars.
I remeber expecting that twin turbo S80 to be uber impressive the first chance I got to drive one. I was sorely disapointed! My father was, too. He bought an original S40 after driving the T6. Not that those were really Volvo's, but it ended up being a great car for 'em. And their C30 I believe has been problem free and it's nearing 40K these days.
andrewlcraft wrote: The 5 speed auto behind the 5cyl motors were great.
That might be a bit of a stretch IMHO. They too were wrapped into that whole 'lifetime fluid' thing that BMW is equally guilty of. The fact of the matter is they need a flush around 75k-100k and are notably prone to failure as well. But I agree otherwise. Likely a T6... but he may surprise us both as that required some serious scratch and were more scarcely produced by comparison (If my memory serves me).
On a side note I particularly pitied the owners of the '99 S80 T6. They deserved immediate wings and a limo ride into heaven.
Well, in comparison anyway I honestly don't remember replacing one while I was with Volvo. At least not when they were "new", i.e. well under 100K. I remember a few 850's that needed trannys. We included trans fluid on our 60K services for the "lifetime fluid" cars.
I remeber expecting that twin turbo S80 to be uber impressive the first chance I got to drive one. I was sorely disapointed! My father was, too. He bought an original S40 after driving the T6. Not that those were really Volvo's, but it ended up being a great car for 'em. And their C30 I believe has been problem free and it's nearing 40K these days.
Quick story:
So here I was fresh out of a Buddhist life and this guy keeps circling the latest S80 (the first change over to the 5cyl model). I approach:
Me: "Instead of just ogling it perhaps you should drive it."
Kevin: "I already own a T6, it is barely a year old and is an utter shitbox! I'm lemon law-ing it!"
Me: " Errr...Ahhh...Errr" In my head: "I've been sitting on a cushion for 5 months...".
We ended up being great friends! He still owns his S80 5cyl and is relatively happy with it. He started with 240s easily 20 years ago at the time. What a disappointment...
scootermcfly wrote:My wife and I bought an '04 XC90.
It's understood that new Volvos are crap. The rear-wheel-drive Volvos aren't.
Never mind buying a first-year-of-production car in general. At least you didn't buy the T6...or did you?
I can tell you this, though. I sure made a sh*t-load of money off those XC90s that year. Anecdotal, but I learned to run and hide when I saw a Disco II pull in the lot. A backhoe couldn't dig them out of that negative equity situation.
If he had a tranny go out, it was in a T6. The modified GM 4T65E was pure crap, be it a XC90 or S80. Or in a GM product, for that matter, they're not much better in their original home. As a service writer, I've replaced tons. The 5 speed auto behind the 5cyl motors were great.
Volvo was always good about stepping up to the plate to replace them, even well out of warranty. Sounds like this was a problem with the specific dealer.
I did not know Volvo used GM transmissions those years.
But being around GM for a very long time and growing up with them, I can honestly say they build the best auto trans. I have not heard of many failures of the 4T65E. Those were used ont he s/c 3800 cars. I had a 4T60E in my '93 Cadillac Coupe DeVille (4.9) and a 440T4 in my '89 Oldmobile Eighty Eight. Multiple other family members with 3800-powered cars (both s/c and na). The 4T80E in the Northstar Caddys performed well and lasted too.
No problems with the TH400 in my '79 Cadillac DeVille either, though a different animal. I've yet to drive another auto that performed as good as those from GM. Even after all the updates/upgrades, the 4R70W in my '96 Lincoln Town Car shifted sloppy.
They too were wrapped into that whole 'lifetime fluid' thing that BMW is equally guilty of. The fact of the matter is they need a flush around 75k-100k and are notably prone to failure as well. But I agree otherwise. Likely a T6... but he may surprise us both as that required some serious scratch and were more scarcely produced by comparison (If my memory serves me).
