Volvo Maintenance Costs...

My 760 is 19 years old. It has 300K of poorly maintained kms on a B280F V6, the notorious cam eating engine.

It's been in the family since new.

It's only failed to start 3 times (needing service) in 19 years.

It has the original wheel bearings front/rear (I've since been maintaining them up front).

No major service to components, except alternator, exhaust, and brakes.

Our other two Volvos in the family are an 850, and a V70. Both have travelled many kms, without fail. I'd almost say "Toyota reliability". I've owned a Corolla, and I'd say at least my 760 is just as reliable (especially for being so old!!).

Sure, a Porsche is nice, and yes, they are reliable too. But you're comparing two very different build qualities of cars. Sure, my trim is falling apart too, it has something to do with the heat in your area.

What do you need an AWD for in Las Vegas for? Just curious. Volvos aren't perfect, but they are damn good cars.

I bet if you owned a Ferrari, you'd be complaining about the bills (and believe me, I collect Italian sports cars, I know how expensive they are to maintain!!), but you'd love it for every other aspect and wouldn't ever complain. It's like a beautiful high maintenance wife. ;)..

Maybe it's time to sell, what would be something you'd consider replacing it with?

I guess you're having some bad luck with your Volvo. I owned several in recent history but never had any problems or high maintenance bills. On the other hand, my brother in law owns a Porsche 911 and experienced some troubles with it, resulting in rather "spicy" costs for repair. Either you are lucky with your 911 or he is having bad luck with his. Or rather: the truth is somewhere in between.

I think it has more to do with where one buys parts, or if they pay someone else to work on it, where they take it. 911's use many of the same Bosch injection, ignition, and other electrical components as many other European cars including Volvo.

On the subject of the care and feeding of older cars, Volvos are a good choice to buy and maintain, especially if you can work on them yourself.

It is a bonus if you live near a U Pull It wrecking yard which has a deep selection of comparable cars (as do I).

It seems to me that Volvos are stout, sturdy cars which were built solidly, designed for long, hard wear.

The quality of mfr. is good, the steel is stout, the systems hold up nicely and do not seem shabby.

Sure, I am always "working on it," but that is because I enjoy keeping it in top-flite shape, and am anal about maintenance, squeak repair, oil changes etc.

My '82 Volvo has never stranded me, and that's saying something.

My '81 stranded me only once, when the wiring harness from the alternator shorted out due to years of heat and oil contamination (common problem, in hindsight, which I should have prevented via changing out the harness ahead of time: live and learn).

Why an AWD? Well, I'm in real estate here in Vegas and I frequently drive onto new construction sites where some roads in neighborhoods are not paved, and particularly after or during rain which can be quite torrential at times, the AWD has come in very handy...There's nothing worse than soft, wet desert sand. Certain areas of the city still have enormous flooding problems. I also like the extra ground clearance.

As a replacement, I'm leaning toward another Lincold Town Car. With the Touring suspension my on / off ramp speeds can be much faster than in the XC. I know the owner of a limo service here in town and they usually keep their Town Cars until around +- 200K abused miles. He let me drive one that was just pulled out of service to wholesale and it was tight, fewer rattles and squeaks than my almost 58K, '03 XC, engine was quiet and so smooth at idle that I thought that it had stalled.

The so-called Volvo purists will be scoffing all the way to the service department. Most of them on this site who love their Volvos are for the most part driving Volvos that are 10 years old or older. The other Volvo lovers on this site are driving Volvos that are one to two years old with no miles on them. I depend on my vehicle every day but in the last year, even when it was sitll under warranty it cost me a bundle. Now, out of warranty, it has cost me $3,000.00 since November, NOT including normal maintenance...all mechanical problems...particularly a VERY expensive rear wheel alignment that necessitated new hard parts, not just bushings. Amazing to me how a nearly 45K vehicle doesn't even have a rear camber adjustment to take of a one degree variation, or a way to open the back door when something internal goes haywire. Almost criminal. AND...I've had TWELVE new Volvos since 1967.