Excellent finish, great safety features, great acceleration, excellent dealer support from long suffering and always courteous mechanics and service staff.

For a luxury car the Volvo S-80 appears to use materials significantly less durable than those found in its aspirant peer group. The car has numerous design flaws both in terms of 1. Layout - poorly placed cruise control and radio buttons impossible to find in the dark, rearward visibility. 2.Choice of materials that fail in service. 3.Design of systems that require very expensive replacement such as the inexpensive engine seal and the rear bumper cover that has integral studs that cannot be replaced if one fails.4. Failure to provide sufficient replacement parts such as the radiator debacle thereby greatly inconveniencing owners.

A lifelong Volvo driver - I have owned nothing but Volvos since 1975 beginning with a 144, 240, 740, S-70 and then I bought my S-80. This has been a very poor experience. Many of the problems I have encountered I attribute to Volvo going for too many innovations all at once. With persistence, and IF Volvo actually LISTENS to complaints like these, they may engineer the numerous faults out of this car. My report is factual and based on a years ownership during which I felt like I lived at the dealership who were terrific in t of trying to get the car repaired. Bad driver ergonomics - poor cornering, lack of rearward visibility, uncomfortable seats (killing a long tradition of fantastic seats in all the previous Volvos)plastic rain gutter strips that degraded and mottled, fake interior wood trim that chipped, an instrument surround coated in paint that Armorall instantly dissolved, a rear bumper guard that lost a stud and needed to be entirely replaced for a cost of $8000,a radiator that disintegrated by 45,000 miles, with a multi-week wait because Volvo had no replacements there was such a run on them I assume, a viscolastic coupling engineered with poor seals that leaked fluid, side lights with clips that fell off routinely, a false engine warning that destroyed the enjoyment of a trip to San Francisco, I was advised to get the car towed back to the shop. A $1.40 seal on the engine that failed and poured oil and required that the manifold system be removed to replace at about $600. After just on one years trouble plagued ownership I ran out of confidence. I sold the car at a loss and went back and bought an S-70 GLT.

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I speak from a position of significant strength, I have owned numerous of the previous Volvos produced since 1973.

Fit and finish is excellent Very good value for the price Styling is impressive, you''ll get a lot of compliments! Oil changes are simple, expensive at the dealer, but a piece of cake for the do-it-yourselfer

Transmission! Replaced once at 13000 miles (car was down for 31 days), now is in the shop again for slipping transmission. Electrical - both brake light bulbs twice, license plate light bulb, "position" light bulb, remote keyless entry transmitters failed twice.

Great styling, extremely comfortable both in town and long trips. All controls and gauges are easy to reach or read. Stereo system is awesome. Handles well in corners, although steering could be tighter. I drive a lot - 23000 miles in 14 months. Wish they could get a reliable transmission and overcome the lighting problems that have plagued Volvo for so long. Our dealer is great, but we are getting tired of going every almost monthly for warranty work.

Speed, elegance, roominess.

Wheels get dirty too quickly. Remote could work at a longer distance.

I absolutely love this car!! I have had no problems and the car acclerates very quickly but very smoothly with the twin turbos. Inside the cabin is very roomy and outside the brakes are extremely quick. My friend drove the car and he thought it stopped better than his BMW.

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Audi A6, Honda Accord EX

Comfortable on transcontinental drives. Rock solid handling at highway speeds from 80 to 135 mph. At 85 mph I averaged 25 mpg on a tank of gas driving from Wyoming to California.

I keep worrying about mechanical failure after reading all the negative experiences. I have not had any problems in the first 24,000 miles and two years of ownership. Rear visablity is limited when backing up.

Comfortable. This car is at the top of the food chain. Very few cars can keep up on long highway drives. I have received a couple of speeding tickets which is unusual for me. The S80 begs to be driven at excessive speed. Great passing car.

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Volvo 850 and two Volvo 240''s.

good looks, paint work, sound system, seats are excellent

front end, electricial faults, general poor reliability

the car looks better than it goes. sytlish design and looks once you get under the bonnett the problems begin. Have and continue to have problems with the front end. the car has been off the road alot.

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audi a6

Body style, safety and comfort. Also, interior design is very nice.

Ride is rough, wind noise on windows. Headlights, and tailight bulbs burn out frequently. Dash computer continually indicates bulb out eventhough one isn''t. Dealer can''t find the problem. Trunk baggage strap is not user friendly.

I really loved the style and lines of this car. As soon as I saw it I knew that it was the car for me. The interior is nice and designed well. Would have liked a garage door opener built in. The first year with the car was fine, then I started having a lot of little problems. My biggest problem was that the rear bumper guard wrap came loose on both sides. It was really apparent on one side more than another. I believe a car wash snapped the right side totally off. I discovered later that metal rivets caused the fasteners to crack and weaken. I asked Volvo to cover this under warranty. It was terrible how I was ignored, even after continual letters and phone calls. "I''ll get back to you was the common theme." Even customer service was terrible. It seems that they''re really nice until they have to deal with a real problem.

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Mercedes 300, BMW.

Comfortable ride. Good power. Very little road noise. Good room for tall people. Buttons on steering wheel for cruise control and radio are very handy. Trunk has LOTS of room. Good climate control. Sound system with CDs or tapes is exceptional.

The collapse of the front right wheel has me very concerned. When I told the dealership about the poor AM radio reception, their explanation was that Volvo isn''t known for having good radios--I''m so relieved to understand the problem. The service light goes on and off--I''m not sure if it needs a service or not. Backward visibility is poor. Lousy turning radius and a lot of torque on the wheel when making u-turns. Front seat cup holder is very flimsy. This is my second Volvo and I have found that their electronics and interiors are not very good quality.

Very comfortable ride. Good power and handling. There''s a lot of steering torque when making u-turns. AM radio reception is very poor--lots of static. View to rear is poor--you really have to turn all the way around in order to see clearly. At 22K miles, front right wheel just collapsed one day. Car was only going 12 mph and there were no potholes. No one can explain it. An engineer was called in and could find no defects. I''m still concerned about safety because I continually hear noises from the front end--it makes thunking sounds depending on what you''re doing. Looking at all of the other reviews and the problems I''ve had, I doubt that I''ll purchase another Volvo.

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Volvo 760 turbo wagon.

Comfortable seats. Good looking. Fast! Climate control excellent.

Cup holder flimsy. Sun roof rattles. A little squirrely upon excleration. Keyless remote not sensitive enough. AM radio produces static but can be fixed by adjusting the electronic contol on the drivers seat - Go figure???

Decent automobile. Very nice looking -- especially black. Not many problems. We are taking it on a road trip from Ohio to California and back soon. I''ll report back.

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None.

A solid car reflecting great judgment by the designers in the tradeoffs that end up characterizing a car. Excellent drive train and suspension. The turbo is smooth throughout the range, and has mucho power. A very solid feel. Braking is smooth and stopping distance is well within expectations and relatively little "diving" in a hard stop. Fuel economy decent. I get about 19 mpg commuting. More on the highway. For a luxury car, excellent cornering coupled with a smooth ride that is not sloppy. The seats are the best I have ever experienced in a car. In fact, after a ride in the back seat of my partner''s Mercedes E320, I''d say the Benz folks could use a lesson from the Swedes. Roomy front and back, with a spacious trunk. Good turn radius. Even the standard sound system is excellent to these tin ears. Climate control works beautifully.

Not many and certainly not very significant. Rear visibility is compromised with the rear headrests up, but presumably you keep them down unless a passenger is sitting there. The 17" (optional) high performance tires are noisy on the highway, but my tire guy tells me they are actually quiet for high performance tires. The steering could be a little tighter, but I do not mind it. Service intervals could be longer (a la the Japanese) and the scheduled service is not cheap. On a per-mile basis, this is a fairly expensive car the firt few years. However, my experience with Volvo is that the economic benefits come after the first few years, when the car just keeps humming along year after year. Anyway, I will pay a few extra bucks for a car with the crash test safety record this one has.

A fabulously comfortable car with a silky smooth, powerful drive train. Safety, good looks, performance and a highly competitive price. Volvo has a true winning combination in this car. It should have very broad appeal to those in the price range. I''ve read all the stories of problems, especially with the 1999''s. By 2001, Volvo seems to have worked the bugs out. My only need for service so far is an odd one: sometimes when I put the shift lever in reverse, the indicator lights for reverse and the Geartronic "manual" blink in an alternating pattern. however, there is no impact on performance. Before buying this car, I had decided that my searching would be limited to FWD or AWD, inasmuch as I live in New England. For 8 years, I''ve been driving a Volvo 850, which has been a dynamite car. This might have predisposed me to the S80, but I was more influenced by two of my partners, who have had 2000 T6''s and coiuldn''t be happier, and by my comparison shopping. Only the Acura RL 3.5 came close in terms of comfort, responsiveness, roominess and value. The A6 2.7T was also a contender, but I could not close the price gap and did not like its interior fittings or exterior styling as much. Also, the T6 had noticeably smoother acceleration. Steering on the A6 was a bit tighter than than the T6, though, which I liked. The Audi dealer, however, could not hold a candle to my Volvo dealer, which I know well from my other car. To get FWD from lexus or Infinity, you''re stuck at their entry level cars, which are no match for the S80, A6 or RL. The Lincoln LS was a reasonable candidate when I drove it, and the price attractive, but there are already reports of them not holding up and I tend to keep my cars a while. Note that I purchased the car used, with 6 mo. on it from someone who decided he should have bought a Mercedes, after all. Hence the price was a couple grand lower than one could expect on a new car.

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Audi A6 2.7T, Acura 3.5 RL, Lincoln LS, Lexus ES300.

Safety features, seats, ergonomics, stereo, exterior styling, build quality.

Rear visibility (backing up can be hairy) Remote locking system is lousy. You often have to push the button several times to unlock the doors. Not as much fun to drive as some sedans.

Roomy, comfortable, great family car, beautiful inside and out, great stereo. Handling and ride are good to excellent. Seats are exquisitely comfortable and supportive. Gas mileage is ok in town, excellent on trips. Interior ergonomics are super, including the stereo controls which have gotten some bad press but are fine once you get used to them. I haven''t experienced any reliability problems, although I only have 18,000 miles on the car.

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