WestcoastPete;64656 wroteNup. Plans aborted. Terrible traffic in 44C heat and the aircon wasn't doing anything. It'd come on occasionally but it didn't really cool and then it'd stop altogether and blast hot air. With a 1 week old in the car it was too stressful and dangerous to keep going.
It's pretty demoralising really. I know I can get it fixed but it's broken again and stopped us going away for the weekend with family. It's cost more than $3500 to get roadworthied and reasonably reliable and it's still breaking. I like the car, I'm trying to love it, but it's let us down again. Right now I just wish we'd kept the boring shitty XTrail.
Try not to get too disheartened.
When new, they were very much a 'high performance' type of vehicle, with very good power for a car back in the mid-late '90s - however the original owners often didnt realise this.
The issue with the 'volvo people' that owned them from new is that they expected them to last a long time with absolutely basic/minimal maintenance, just like their 240/740 cars had. The platform was quite a shift from the RWD stuff and required different types of maintenance.
In the middle somewhere, they're likely to have been owned by someone wanting a well-appointed second car. Often these owners might not be volvo people, and they're expecting a camry-like maintenance schedule.
They then change hands again, later in life, ready to be 'adopted' :)
By this stage, there is a heap of maintenance and wear items that need attention that have fallen outside the typical service schedule.
The cars are hard on front brakes and front suspension items. ABS/TRACS modules fail and, while I shudder at the common method of AC fix that the internet has been spewing forth, the AC issue is a common one too.
Once you get through these niggles, you'll be surprised how good they can be for a 20 (or so) year old car.
Ex850R;64690 wroteP80 = love/hate
Yep, very true. Good vehicle and quite capable but not without their flaws.
