Best damn car we have owned so far

[Arthu®]

We own have owned a large variety of modern cars and well I have to be amazed at how well this car is doing. My dad has had 2 Grand Caravans so far which were never anything but trouble, from transmissions to A/C to the electric mirrors. Than we have had the Jaguar S-Type R which blew 2 transmission in it's first year we had it. We have also had a 2002 Peugeot 206 SW which kept having a loss of ground or something which just could not be found. And we have one of the last classic Mini Coopers which you shouldn't even get me started on.

Than when my mom was looking for a cheap daily driver that was safe, comfortable and still have enough power to get along with the traffic. So I went out on a mission. I have always been a fan of the dureability of Volvo's, they are a tad on the heavy side but are safe and have ok power. So I went to look at a couple of S60's, V70's and V40's the S60's and V70's soon proved to be too big (both in taxes and fuel economy) so the V40 was left. I went to look at a 1.8i a 2.0i and a T4. All were great but the last two just had too many options which added up to the price. All were in the 10k (euro's) price range but the last too had more than twice as many km's on it as the 1.8i. That and the fact that it had no options at all which means that there is less to go wrong and it only had 69k in km's on it.

So we went with the 1.8i I was first not too fond of the idea of the V40 as it was not made in Sweden but here in the Netherlands. But I was proved wrong, the car is just absolutely amazing. We bought it at 69k last July, I serviced it at 79k and again at 89k in that period of 10k in km's it only used a quarter of a liter in oil. Which is just great, I also changed the cam belt which was suprisingly simple as most cars these days get too complicated. We have had no problems with it other than a regular bulb change.

Now last I week I couldn't sleep so I took her out for a spin in the middle of the night to see how she would fare under extreme conditions. It was around 2 AM and I took the main road through the country (A12 which is for the most part a 4/3 lane high way. Right to germany. Except for the 3 parts where they controle your speed over a certain distance I put it all the way down. It has a top speed of 210. It did just that for almost 3 1/2 hours straight. Than I was home and I burned an entire tank of fuel, the engine did not hesitate once the temprature stayed level and no where over normal oparating level.

I can recommend this car to any one, it is a safe car, very well put together, not that well on gas but that is mostly because it has to drag all that weight and I am not the best driver when it comes to that. Ok just thought I would share, it deserves credit, the cheapest car we ever bought is by far the best and has never let us down yet.

Arthur

So what is yours?

[Ponch ®]

I can recommend this car to any one, it is a safe car, very well put together, not that well on gas but that is mostly because it has to drag all that weight and I am not the best driver when it comes to that. Ok just thought I would share, it deserves credit, the cheapest car we ever bought is by far the best and has never let us down yet.

Arthur

So what is yours?

too bad the V40 isnt sold in the USA...

[Arthu®]

too bad the V40 isnt sold in the USA...

Ok my bad should have done my research than this is for all the europeans out there

Arthur

[Brock Samson]

  My GF has a S-80, it's big as I like and plush.. i don't care at all for the busy switchgear placement but it's very well equiped and competant, as long as it isn't pushed... I am extreamly impressed by the paint which is refrigerator white and absolutly flawless...
there's no orange-peel anywhere on the car.
Plenty of grunt yet nimble reflexes under 30 MPH... but rising speeds show a soft mushy side i dont like so much. the s-80 is the basis for the new ford 500 too.

My personal pick for a great compatant modern car is my Chrysler 300 M, and if you can find one there inexpensive. I'd buy another.


joking..

[Jon Smith]

my 960 is the most comfortable and reliable car I've ever owned,
just a bit thirsty for a daily though

[MassCharger73]

I love my 740 Turbo wagon.

[Mefirst]

I killed a Volvo 745 in 2 hours.. Worst piece of crap car I ever owned. The ones with manual transmissions are kinda OK, but don't waste your time with the auto trans 740/745 !!

About the Volvo engines, the older B20 and B23 engine (2.0L and 2.3L), guys over here in Sweden use those engines in their 1/4 mile race cars, they mount a BIG Turbo + intercooler. One guy managed to pull out 1050HP outtaw a bone stock B20 engine using a intercooled Turbo that was more or less the same size as the engine itself. The engine actually survived a whole season worth of 1/4 mile abuse before it died...

/Tom

[Silver R/T]

havent been fan of volvo's & SAAB's

[Chryco Psycho]

Cummins Turbo Diesel in an old Ram
Awesome truck