Safety second to none. Unique protection if hit from the rear or side. No other production car has such features. The car is priced about $10,000 less than then the comparable luxury cars.

Some tire noise on rough pavement
Adequate but not fast excelleration from 0 to 30 mph then great improvement.

The S 80 is a unique stylish automobile. The ride and handling are excellent. The seating is superb and there is a lot of interior space for passangers and luggage. The car is designed to be perhaps the safest car on the road. Many cars do well in a head on accident, they do poorly in a side impact or when hit from behind. The S80 addresses these issues as no other manufacturer has.
The car is an excellent value for a luxury auto.

good gas mileage (recently: 1 litre=1 US $); nice acceleration for such a small engine; good soundsystem; built-in gsm-phone for free

many electronical problems (doorlock, motor-management...)

A nice car, great design, and nice to drive over all.
I´m so happy there´s no tempo-limit on a german "Autobahn", so especially at night you could easily reach the max.-speed of around 130 mph.
And if you are not used to those large-engined cars from the US (4litres+) you are quite satisfied with the acceleration.
Great comfort: wonderful seats, especially in front; low noise-level, even at high speeds (100+ mph).

All in all perhaps the best car for such a low price....perhaps with the recent fuel-prices one of the strong Diesels would even be better (also better acceleration)!

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BMW 520; MB E240;

Speed, spaciousness, low price

Safety and unreliability

This car does not meet its claim to be safe. The engine of my car stopped while the car was in motion. You know waht because of the safety features of the automatic gear box you can not reignite the engine unless you put the gear to neutral or parking. Imagine a bicyle like car suddenly becomes an army tank. It was fixed several times but I have not had thesame problem for abot 6 months. I have not been explained how thex fixed it. One day the temperature went too high suddenly and tphe cooling water was rurring all over. Courtesy of the service they fixed it free of charge. Power steering is unreliable and moody. Works fine one day but the next day it is hard to turn the wheel especially when making long turns. The annoying mechanical noise from the engine is unbearable. They replaced the trigger belt and billiards but no chance. Volvo people say they can not get rid of that noise and confess that it is a porblem bt their car's safety features is the most important. The noise becomes so annoying and disturbing that on can not drive it in pleasure. They do not care much about the noise. My car spent a lot of time with the service last summer and I hav served Volvo legal notices for return of my money. It is quick and spacious with several amenities but these continuous problems make it unattractive.

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None

Seats, front and back are ideal for long drives. The engine is outstanding, the power never ceases to amaze me. Shifting in the manual mode is always a thrill. The manual mode is excellent for mountain driving

Emissions system. In a year and a half I've had 3 check engine light warnings related to the emmissions system. No explanation of what causes the problem, but with the dealer 45 miles away it is always an inconvience to make a special weekday trip in to have the light re-set. Rear bumper skirt separated, replaced under warranty. Upgraded stero, (in dash 4 changer CD) gets very hot to the touch. Dealer could not identify any problem. Most significant irritant is a high picth "chirp" from the front suspension when starting for a stop. Problem began when the ball joints were replaced under recall. To date dealer has not been able to resolve.

An excellent blend of power/comfort/ecomony. The styling is unique, the seats are the best I've ever sat in. Rear passenger room is superior. My teenage Son enjoys the pillar mounted air vents, individual reading lights, 12v outlet for his CD and games and rear seat cup holders for his drinks.

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I have an 86 Volvo 740 wagon which has had minimal problems over 155,000. Looked at the Audi A6, MB C260 and BMW before buying. The S80 offered the best mix of power, comfort and style.

Comfortable and quick when working properly, which is rarely. This car is funny, its strength seems to be that whenever at the dealership for repairs, it has no problems. Yet as soon as it gets out of the shop, within 2 weeks, all the same problems and issues reappear, sometimes new ones pop up. I take it back to the shop and it hides all of its issues. This car must be shy around other people!!!

Please see the Overall Impression above. I'll recap the two biggest weakness and saftey factors, In my opinion. The emission system is totally eratic and unsafe, I had an outside consulting company test the emission system and documented very strange results with the exhaust system, level around 1500 PPM were found. The brake system is completly unreliable. Just 2 weeks ago my wife and 6m old got in the car to find the brakes were so sluggish that the car wouldn't stop. The emergency brake had to be pulled to stop the car. The car was towed to the dealership and of course, there wasn't a problem found at the volvo service center.

It seems that this sophisticated diagnostic system that volvo has can't find anything wrong with this vehicle.

In addition to the above, the car has cut off while driving a couple of times, the problem acceleration is very dangerous, I can't chance pulling out into traffic unless there is no car in sight for fear the car not accelerating properly. This car is dangerous and volvo doesn't care. I am the only person that will drive this car. My wife and child will not be in this car!!

This Car is DEFINITELY the WORST car I have ever owned. Not 30 minutes after I drove the car off the lot, I received a call asking me to bring the car back in so the Emission Control Sensor and EVAP system can be replaced. Problems continued from there. I've had the car cut off a time or 2, continued emmission indicator lights, very high emission exhaust results, Mass Air Flow filters changed, ball joint recall replacement(car drives less smooth after replacement and the turning radius was shot),brake pad replaced at 30K miles, cold start problems when starting car in the morning, acceleration problems consistantly, brakes just stopped working but of course worked fine at the service center. I can't count the number of software downloads this car has seen. I have visited my newfound friends at the volve dealership almost every 2 weeks for the last 7-8 months.

Strangely, Volvo NA just got involved after months of continous visits to the dealership, their solution is to buy my car back for $12K less than I paid 12 months ago and grasiously sale me a new S80 at invoice. I can't believe that they would let me drive this car with the safety problems I've witnessed. They don't seem to care!!

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I have driven Toyota's religously until my wife and I decided that a volve may be a safer car to drive. We decided to deviate from the norm and purchase the volvo. This would prove to be a huge mistake.

Style, ride, handling, quality. And oh yes, those leather seats! Or should I say "sofas"

No wind deflector on sun roof, total wood trim should be standard.

We looked at the BMW 5,and the X5. We decided on the 2001 S80. We absolutely love it. We have no regrets. Runs flawlessly. Ride and handling unparrelled. No problems. Dealer was a class act. The car is a head turner for sure, it gets noticed ! Comfortable and classy. I was reluctant to stray from BMW but have no regrets.

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BMW

A good size car with a lot of room in the trunk. I bought the car for its safety features and for its beautiful design.

Maintanance is expensive. Rear window view needs improvement.

A very safe and fun to ride car. It is hard not to fall in love with it, especially when you see heads turned after it. A good price/value.
I didn't have any of the reliability problems I am reading here about and that is maybe because is a 2000 version of S80 2.9L.

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N/a

Interior comfort and safety (ie. safety curtain/airbags,etc)

Reliability - I have 22K miles and have had the car in the shop 5 times for the air mass meter and EVAP filter. There are problems with emissions system and the dealer and Volvo North America will not come clean with me on the problems. For a $40K car there are too many problems. Car actually "conked out" on me in traffic because of air mass meter...

Generally satisfied with the overall car. Have concerns about reliability and Volvo Service and support. Interior is exquisite and very comfortable. Upgraded stereo sounds great. Wheels are very hard to clean. Fast enough, don't need the T6 unless you are in Germany. Always in the shop for reliability problems.

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Purchased a SAAB 9-5 and like it much better. I will have to see about reliability. All of my friends have BMW 5 series and love them...

The engine is very responsive and not fuel hungry. On a 3 hour trip, at sustained speeds of 70 to 80 mph, the miles per gallon rate was 24.7. The engine never strains or feels overwhelmed. Even while going up 6% hills. The entry remote control recognizes different drivers and moves the seat and mirrors to the pre-selected positions. I didn't get the upgraded sound system. However the on-dash CD player can handle a symphonic orchestra beautifully. Actually the cabin is among the best automotive sound stages I have heard in recent years. My sound system at home is a 5K dollar system. The one in this car more is right up there. It sounds sweet and fulfilling. The sunroof is UV blocking glass. For the front passenger it augments that feeling that you are flying. The S-80 has front wheel drive with different settings for wet and slippery road conditions.

The remote entry could work at a greater distance. The strap in the trunk to hold groceries and parcels could work with greater ease.

The S80 T6 is a great value. The cabin is spacious, functional, elegant and beautifully appointed. The engine is smooth, responsive and very able to humble other cars popularly perceived to be faster. (Yes, I mean German cars.) In higways, back roads or city driving the car is nothing short of pure unrentless pleasure. The next best thing to being the driver is to be a passenger. Nothing in it is frivolous. Yet no comfort is lacking. The seats are better than in any German car I have owned. They cradle you so comfortably that you are not fatigued when you reach your destination after hours of driving. As a passenger, the difficult thing is not to fall asleep in this exceptionally tight, smooth and quiet machine. The sensation is akin to being in a jet powered aircraft, on British Airways...somewhere between business and first class. As a driver the only disappointment is arriving at your destination.

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I drove and shopped around for about a year the following models before deciding to go with the S80 T6: Audi 8-L, Mercedes S-430 and BMW740il. I did not shop for any Japanese cars because I believe they are all a soul-less joke. I am biased toward German cars. In fact I think almost everything else should get off the road. The Audi 8-L at 75K was not big enough. The cabin was cramped. As a passenger you felt thoroughly underwhelmed. As a driver it was annoying in many little ways. The bumpy ride vibrating throughout all that aluminium not being the least of them. It is a pity. My previous car was a 1991 100 quattro. But these new AUDIs are more like Volkwagens. Worse, it is as if The Audi people are psychotic in their bi-polar attempt to sell you and under-designed car a la LEXUS and building a souped up Volkswagen. The 8-L still has the edge of quattro but the cabin is narrow and the seats are ok for a Toyota. I mean FREUDEN! we are talking $75K here!!! The BMW had dismal MPG and evidently most of the thrill here it is about perception. If you want to be perceived as a powerful or worldly wealthy individual, or rogue, then I guess you would buy the 740il. It even has secret little compartments in the back seat armrest (you guess for what!). The 740il is a big, fat car with all the space, luxury and extras you would expect from AUDI to put in its flagship model. However the 740il is a rear wheel drive car like the Mercedes S-430. And on that subject the only wrong thing with the S-430 is that it is a rear wheel drive also... for near $80K!!! Perhaps in sunny California that does not mean a thing. But the rest of us don't live there and we are kind of sick of California being pronounced the bell-weather state for everything anyway. The MPG rate on the S-430 is not as bad as the 740il but it is not that great either. The Volvo S80 T6 is a front wheel drive car, which driven conservatively on snow or sleet should do fine. Finally, I don't know how much money you could put down on a car, but I'll say this: I could buy any of the above mentioned cars and still retire comfortably. Yet it is not about displaying your wealth to gain approval, it is about encouraging excellence in engineering and getting as much bang for your buck as you can possibly muster. I also admit that although I enjoy automobiles there are plenty of weighty, substantial and rewarding achievements in other areas of my life. Thank you.

Comfort, smooth ride, decent mileage, external appearance

Mechnical nightmare---tired of dealing with it for the past 6 months or so. Engine shutdown is unexcusable....think Volvo needs to take this seriously and begin checking into this. I know they are aware since several reports read indicate active ligitation and discussion with them.

This is the fifth Volvo I have owned over the past 14 years. I have always been a real Volvo advocate due to the safety, style, and comfort of their cars. This particular vehicle, the 2000 S80, was great the first year. No significant problems. I began experiencing issues at approximately 17-18 months, at which time the engine "shutdown" while driving 30-40 miles per hour. The mass air flow meter was changed and it was assumed that the vehicle would be fine. Only 4,500 miles later, it "shutdown" yet a second time. Even though the Volvo Technical personnel were called in to try to ascertain and get the problem to duplicate, they were unsuccessful. I was asked to pick up my vehicle with no repairs being performed because they were unsuccessful in identifying this intermittent issue on their diagnostic equipment. I have refused to pick the car up and am now engaged in active communication with the NHSTA, Center for Auto Safety, Volvo, and the Attorney General's office. I have found at least six additional complaints filed by customers on two Websites (NHSTA and Carreview.com). It is unfortunate that after many long years of driving Volvos that I no longer feel safe in this particular car. How frightening these instances would have been happening in the middle of an interstate at 55 mph and no where to go. We were fortunate that they occurred driving into a parking garage and on a country road. I refuse to take the car back at this time with no assurance and comfort that this will not happen yet a third time. How ironic the safety of Volvo vehicles is so widely acclaimed and publicized on their air bag and restraint system....yet as a customer, you can't feel safe that the engine will not stop in busy traffic. Who cares about a great safety system if you can not keep the engine running and you risk your life and safety by driving. Several additional more minor problems have occurred as well on the vehicle....front headlights burning out, brakes needed replacement at 18,000 miles and the lower ball jint assembly recall repair. Have also had several lights (Check Engine and Emissions Systems Service Message) that have come on at times. I have had this car in the garage more than all my other Volvos combined.

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Audi