I just got the first car EVER that is in MY name. It’s a 1983 silver-gray Volvo in great shape. I love this car like my own son. I wondered if anyone on the Boards had any good stories/fond memories of Volvos, either their own or someone elses’. Let’s hear em’!
Do you have the DL or GL model?
I have a 1981 4 door DL that will not die. Evidently 1979 to 1984 were the heart years of Volvo’s million mile engines. They are relatively simple to work on and pretty darn rugged to boot. The GL used the Renault engine and it was nowhere near as reliable.
I call it my armor plated Swedish snowmobile.
You may adore your Volvo, soundly built and sensibly designed but spares cost an absolute fortune not that you should need many.
I wish I could link you to a few biker sites though, they seem to have differant opinion of Volvos 
Why does she want me to touch her Volvo?
I love my Volvos. I have a 89 240 DL with 160k miles and the engine and trans are still great. Only thing that happened was the rack and pinion went. The newer 240s don’t seem to rust (I live in WI where they salt the roads about every day.) I just got a 1996 Volvo 850 Wagon (non-Turbo) It is such a nice car. 60k miles and I can see myself putting on 150k more. The most comfortable seats in any car. Swedish engineering at its best.
This is nice to hear, as I also have the 4-door DL model. It has 136,000 miles on it. I had a mechanic check it out before I bought it and he said it will need a front brake job soon and it’s time to replace the belts. Otherwise there’s nothing wrong with it. Looks like with a little care I should get at least another 136,000 out of it. Yippee!
It’s also the firt 4-cyl. car I’ve ever driven that didn’t feel underpowered, yet it still has quite a large frame. Either that’s a really big four, or the frame is quite light despite its size.
Sometimes you should just do what the woman wants, and not question it. 
Of course Volvos are great. They’re Swedish, after all…
You mean British bikers, or bikers everywhere? And why would they care?
At 136K you will also want to get the timing belt changed.
Mine is at 150K and it’s emmissions are at 50% of what is allowable on city streets and 10% of the allowable freeway emmissions. Them’s some pretty tight rings, I’d say. And, yes, it does have a honking big four cylinder in it thank-you-very-much. The better to haul around all of that armor plate.
Volvos are able to withstand a 60 MPH head on collision so that you can walk away from it. There is a firewall plate that directs the engine underneath the car in such situations. That way it doesn’t end up in your lap. I especially like the ads where they show a Volvo with several other Volvos stacked on it. The picture showing a Volvo with a bobtail semi stacked on the roof is pretty cute too.
A final tip, when replacing a tail light, be sure to replace both of them symetrically. That way the lamp failure sensor is not tricked. Ask your mechanic to explain it to you.
Lizard, In Britain Volvo drivers are reputed to be less competent than other road users owing to the increased sense of security they get from driving a Volvo. They have a particularly bed rep with motorcyclists. This seems to be true in many other countries judging from a quick Google on “volvo drivers” AND jokes. Check this one out from an Australian site http://www.reangle.com.au/docos/herdofcows.html
about a guy that made a short film exploring this biased perception of Volvo drivers (His conclusion was that bad Volvo driving is a myth).
Just answering your query, not slagging Volvos!! I wish you every joy in your first wholly owned vehicle, and safe driving
Oh, and do not read “Shibumi” by Trevanian. He is extremely unkind, at some length, to Volvos. 
Just as SUV’s have a rep based more on bias than facts, there is a light humour at the expense of the Volvo driver.
Cars over here are very expensive at least half on all new cars purchased are company cars. Very, very few Volvos are bought by the man on the street.
Volvos are looked on as a middle class, middle England, midle management type of thing with people who drive new ones full of their own self-importance.
I know its one of those highly unlikely things but it often seems that when there is a queue of traffic going along a clear road at around 15mph less than the speed limit there is usually a Volvo at the front.
Yes I admit that I tend to notice bad driving by Volvo owners more than that of others.
Maybe this is a cultural thing that does not carry the Atlantic well, I’m sure there are types of vehicles in the US that generate stereotypical responses, like perhaps the pick-up with the Confederate flag emblazoned on it somewhere.
At least you won’t be stuck at a roadside waiting on a tow truck, Volvos have a good reputation in this area.
I have a loathing of all Volvos and a deep seated phobia of blue volvos. There is a conspiracy against me perpetrated by blue volvo drivers.
Volvo!!
I’ve been driving around in a 1979 GLE wagon… it’s great. My only complaint is I got the 6 cylinder engine, which was an apparent mistake by the Volvo people.
Ah well, I just change the oil every few months, and I’m gradually ironing the bugs out… I should have it in pristine shape just in time to trade it in and buy my wife her truck.
My father-in-law is known as Mr. Volvo to the dealerships around here… he sold the dang things for like 10 years, and was insanely good at it.
Do a search on IPD. It’s a company that makes aftermarket Volvo parts… and they’ve got stuff for yours (like a turbo kit! woo hoo!!) as well as a host of other things.
Also, I think the URL is http://www.brickboard.com for a Volvo enthusiast site.
In the States, at least the parts where I’ve resided, Volvos were seen as the preferred car among middle to upper middle class liberal intellectuals and activists. Their bumpers are festooned with stickers reading “Visualize World Peace” and “Free Tibet” and advertising their local NPR affiliate, during the week they’re parked in the faculty lot at some university in the Northeast, and on Sunday they’re parked in the lot of the local Unitarian Universalist church.
Personally, there’s a 1999 Cross Country I’ve had my eyes on. Maybe after the house in Denver sells …
Actually, anyplace where such trucks are actually driven is unlikely to generate a response to it’s presence. I’m from such a region myself. The cars that would get a response there would be a BMW or Mercedes. (“Rich, pretentious jerk”) or any foreign-made sports car (same). If you drove a Corvette or Ford Mustang, you were just rich, not pretentious. Ahhh, thoughts of home. 
I agree with elmwood as to what Volvos usually represent, but down here, where most of the Democratic voter base is very poor, Volvos are just like any other luxury car, perhaps less pretentious than a BMW or Mercedes. I often pause when I see Volvos on the road with “Bush/Cheney” bumper stickers left over from the election - I keep thinking “No, sir, madam, you bought the wrong car. You need to be shopping for a rich conservative’s car, not a rich liberal’s.”
As for us, we have a 2000 C70 convertible, which we like very much but have had to return to the dealer numerous times for problems relating to the stereo system. On the last trip, they had someone from the factory there who pointed out to them that the stereo had a Surround Sound component box that wasn’t on any of their engineering diagrams! :o So they replaced that and now it works, but there was other little stuff too - the keyhole in the driver’s door broke, they forgot to take some of the spacers out of the suspension, the top was tricky at first, sometimes refusing to go up or down, the all windows up/down button sometimes operates only one window, etc…
Ah well, so much for being bought out by Ford. And ironically, our other convertible, a 1982 Chrysler LeBaron with 42,000 miles, still runs great with a recently replaced carburetor.
You have the C70… May I perform oral sex on you for a ride? I’m a straight guy, but I love the looks of the car…
If you have an IPD catalog, or just find them on the web(sorry, no site of the top of my head) they can convert your turbo…
You should have the low pressure Turbo on that thing… with a little bit o’ cash you can boost your boost, and fly by a lot of things on the road…
Mmmmmmmm… such a nice car.
I come from a long line of Volvo drivers, although I do plan to rebel at some point in the next year or two and buy a Saab.
I drove my Mom’s 84 Turbo on Saturday. It’s at 250,000 and needs to have the tranny resealed, but beyond that it still performs better than most brand new mid-sized american cars that I rent every couple of months.
I own an 84 Turbo and it has issues, but mostly because it’s been wrecked and salvaged twice.
Maybe this is an appropriate place to share my theory about Volvos in the movies. It seems to me that whenever a character drives a Volvo onscreen they are soon killed, or experience major emotional trauma.
I drive a '91 240 wagon with about 100K on it. It handles like a dream on snow & ice, very handy here in Saint Paul during our coldest & snowiest winter in 100 years. It’s missing a couple sensors: an 02 sensor and something else. That’s about $700 in parts. The guy at the shop took pity on me and said that he’d put the parts in for free if I bought them, because it takes about 2 minutes, but that wasn’t in my budget.
I’ve been driving it without the sensors for a year and a half, and haven’t noticed much of a difference. Maybe if I win the lottery, I’ll get them replaced…
Volvos, they’re boxy but they’re great.
Although the ABS on three of them (89-92) I know about cost $1500-$2800 to service. sigh