S80 Warranty?

I bought a "certified" 2001 S80T6 about 13 mo ago. It's been fine. It did have a broken front motor mount when I went in for service (common problem). My warrany covered it but the actual cost is about $100 bucks or so. I felt safe getting it as it had the extended warranty.

I don't believe they are as bad as the early reputation (Consumers Report) and others gave them (S80). I expect it will give you good service. I am satisfied with mine. Only other problem I have had is a few bulbs but I think that's standard for Volvo's.

I previously had an 850 and drove it to 120K w/o major repairs.

You might could get an extended warranty with a higher deductable (less money up front) to help if you had a major failure.

Fred-

Go ahead. I bought the same car new in October of '01 and I've now got nearly 53,000 miles on it. So far so good (mostly).

However --- as I understand it I am nearing a crucial milestone. I have gotten the impression that at 60,000 miles I will need to have my timing belt changed. Never having had a Volvo before, I am a bit leary about what I'm in for on this one. Naturally the salesperson didn't proudly proclaim this fact while attempting to get my signature on the buyer's order and a check. I guess longtime Volvo owners/lovers become sort of enured to this requirement and don't object too much. Apparently it is considered "preventive maintenance" rather than a breakdown. Some have told me to get plenty of Vaseline and get ready to be well and truly shafted. Apparently your new acquisition is still under warranty so I'll guess it has somewhere in the high 30's or low forty thousand mile category. The point is that you, too, will be staring this 60K ordeal in the face within a year or year and a half...and of course it's non-warrantable and probably wouldn't be covered even if you DID opt to spend extra bucks to buy the extended warranty.

Is it a good car? Yes and no. I mostly enjoy mine although I would have liked it more if it had the turbo. It is comfortable and fairly quiet except I admit there's a disturbingly high level of mechanical whirring, and fan noise during acceleration. Not the nice kind of sound like a Ferrari either. It helps to turn the radio way up so you can't hear it. This and the fact that it takes 3 acres to make a u-turn are downers. Plus, the steering is a bit under-boosted at low speeds and takes more effort than a normal car.

Otherwise mine is still rock-solid. No rattles. No wind noise. No rain leaking in from faulty door seals. And I sort of like the eclectic appearance of the thing. I mean it doesn't LOOK like your typical homogenized FWD Acura or other such stuff, does it?

Yeah. It ain't great but it's alright.

Inspired?

Pat

I think most car owners of most makes face this at some point. I have had cars that have needed this at 40k and ones needing it at 100k but they all need it.

"Hank" skrev i meddelandet news:6vxUc.55$ snipped-for-privacy@newshog.newsread.com...

I´ve now had my -99 S80 2,9 company car for three years and driven about

120000kms, it has 185000kms on the clock. During this time had changed: starter motor, cooling fan kit, battery, front shocks, front disc rotors and pads, one set of tires, top engine support, one headlight, both front fog lights and about 20 light bulbs in the tail lights.

I could consider getting on once again, but it must be with a 170hp or more engine. 140hp is far to week for that car.

This May I drove in germany during long stretches around 240km/h and it handled nicely.

Johan Stockholm

Timing belt replacement is in almost all new cars, is indeed preventative maintenance, and if not done in time will be much more expensive than the replacement cost. My daughter's '85 Honda Civic had a belt break and ended up with an engine overhaul to replace valves bent when the belt broke and the engine stopped cold.

Expect to pay about $300-$500 for the 60K service. I have been a Volvo owner for almost 10 years now. I currently own a S60. Same issue(s), sunroof carriage rattles, drivers door is now rattling to no end. All will be covered by warranty. However, I wouldn't waste your money on purchasing an extended warranty. Pending your mileage, you should not have any major issue for quite sometime.

Some cars have timing chains or push rods, so they don't have timing belts that need to be changed. However, timing belts are quite common these days.

Timing belt replacements are a fact of life for the vast majority of overhead cam engines sold today.

John

I think the vehicles with a timing chain are the ones that cause engine problems. I had a belt break in my 1987 Volvo 745 and the engine was fine. BTW, service intervals vary greatly too. My Subaru Outback is 105,000 miles between timing belt changes.

Some "interference" motors are on belts - the engines in the 960's, 850's, S60/S70/V70/S80/S90/V90 probably the S/V40, as well as the 16Valve 740's, many new VW engines are interference, and on belts (my Golf TDI for one... it's interval period is a little longer then our Volvo tho... 60K Kms compared to 45K kms - tho I think the sticker on the engine is outdated, I think there is a new belt that lasts longer).

Its not just belts or chains that can cuase problems when they let go...

I had a MK2 Ford Capri V6 with a Nylon toothed timing gear that decided to let go... result? Nine valves out of twelve made contact with the pistons and were bent... Fortunately, apart from removing the sump and replacing the valves there was no other major work required....

And that was a pushrod engine! Incidentally - thats a common problem on that engine!

A.

Timing gears tend to be used on older engines (usually V configurations) where the distance from the crankshaft to camshaft is relatively small (as in a push rod engine). The benefit of a gear is low noise and low maintenance. They do sap more power than either a chain or a belt.

Throwing a rod does refer to the conrod. Pushrods almost always fail by bending or snapping - neither of which are particularly fatal to an engine (unlike throwing a rod!).

I remember a tale of a well knwon rally driver in the Rally of NZ a number of years retiring from the event with 'Electrical failure'.

When pressed, he admitted the starter motor had fallen off.

When further pressed it was revealed that in actual fact the reason the starter motor had fallen off was because the conrod knocked it off!

Super high performance (purpose built racing engines) often use a train of gears to drive their overhead cams because they allow more precise control of cam timing. Belts and chains stretch and shrink with every power pulse. Ducati (and others I'm sure) even had an engine where the cams were driven by a tower shaft - a kind of driveshaft with bevel gears.

That is not correct! The timing belt doesn't need to be replaced until

105,000 miles or 14 years (whichever comes first). At 60,000 miles Volvo recommends replacement of the belt that drives the alternator, power steering pumps, etc.but that is a simple replacement. The S80 has a longer service schedule for belts than many newer cars.

I have the T-6 and was shocked when I got a new 2.9 loaner during one of the scheduled services. The T-6 is very smooth and quiet compared to the 2.9 which does sound like it's straining for anything but the most gentle acceleration. I wonder if the T-6 has more sound-proofing installed or if the engine is just that much more quiet?

Spanky