I've had a 2001 V70 (worst year for reliability) for 5 years now, and I've put 75,000 miles on it (158k on the odometer). It has left me stranded exactly twice, both times were my fault due to me not noticing a radiator hose clamp that was skipping teeth and not tightening fully. All I did was dump coolant, I had to put the hose back on using the screwdriver from the tool kit and then add coolant.

It has been semi-expensive to maintain, I've had to do the throttle body and timing belt and pcv as expected (throttle body fixed in 03, you won't have to replace yours). The clutch and slave cylinders have lasted far longer than I expected them to, as has the exhaust.

Other odds and ends that I've had go bad: Power steering reservoir (redesigned in 05) coolant reservoir a couple times, radiator once, boost sensor once, TCV once, replaced rear view mirror glass, replaced driver's door lock, replaced passenger window switch, replaced gas door, shocks all around, upper spring seats, tie rods, brakes (with parking brakes) only once... Can't think of much else. But that's still not bad for 5 years and 75k miles, starting at 83k.

Yours should be far more reliable even than that. Basically budget around $2000 a year for maintenance if you're not doing it yourself and it should be dead reliable otherwise.

 

I have had my 04 as long/longer than my Accord EX-L VTEC wagon. Both were bought at around the century mark mileage-wise. I have put a few more miles on it than I did on the Accord, and both went on an extended Northern Arizona tour with a carful of stuff and kids. Excepting the suspension rebuild, the Volvo has cost me less to maintain and has been every bit as reliable, has had less down-time, has been more comfortable, a BILLION times more versatile, more powerful and only a bit less fuel efficient, despite being larger and heavier. People hype Japanese cars to demi-god status, pooh-pooh American and European cars and generally show their ignorance like they do their plumber's cracks when they bend over. The reality is that most of how well a car will last and how much R&R it will require comes down to the 1st owner and the 1st 10,000 miles.

 

I have had my S60 2,5T 2005 for +4 years now and im happy with it, I have replaced the brakes and some other normal wear items.
I do all the maintenance myself and im satisfied with the quality of the car.

 

I have a 2005 S60 2.5t, Black Sapphire Metallic. My dad bought the car used in 2007 with 20k miles. The car now has 84k miles, has since been passed on to me, and has given neither of us serious trouble. Do your maintenance as scheduled, get the timing belt done at around 80k miles, and I think youll have just as much luck as my family. Issues with this volvo have included: passenger side fog light continually falling out (fixed), tail light issues (fixed), drivers side headlight failure, twice (did not need to replace), power steering leak (easy fix, look up the vids by FCP Euro), and finally, the paint seems to be oxidizing in some spots, but have not spread.

No show stopping issues here, just small things. Good luck, welcome to the crew.

 

I have a 2002 S60 AWD. Bought it new in dec 2001 and it now has 165k on it. No major issues, I have had to replace 3 of the 4 wheel bearing and the full exhaust (low cycle fatigue from snow/water split at a weld). Engine is rock solid and is just now starting to us a bit of oil but nothing more than most newer cars would use. I am still on the original transmission, I think that will be the killer eventually, but I keep on the maintenance. I had an oil leak on the turbo oil drain that cost $200, little stuff here and there but I am somewhat anal and if something isn't right I typically fix it. The suspension bushings have been replaced also. My car still looks almost new. So I think with good maintanence they are good cars.

 

Hoeing....how did you fix the tail light issue? Mine will burn bulbs out and sometimes the bulb is ok yet not lite, if I wiggle the bulb holder it will lite. I have just also lived with it...but intrigued by your fix??

 

2003 S60 fwd base with 149,000 miles. I had to replace control arms, 3 engine mounts, spring seats, 2 hubs, struts, and a DIM. A lot cheaper to do the work yourself and the car seems to be easy to work on. I'm the third owner.

 

bought my 05 T5 with about 70k miles on it and now have about 150k
I'm old and lazy now,so have most of my work done for me, so has cost a little more than if I did it myself.
I have it serviced at Volvo recommendations which sometime seem like overkill,but I do it so I'm confident it will last a while longer.

Had the throttle body removed and cleaned due to rough idling at around 90k.
Had the control arm bushings replaced at about 145k due to two being cracked.

Most everything else has been normal wear items with belts,filters etc being replaced per the Volvo recommendations..
With 150k on it,it still seems to drive like a new car. Doesn't use any oil and the tranny appears to still be strong.

 

I've owned an '05 2.5t for about a year and a half. I put just under thirty thousand miles on it in that time and have had zero issues. I did the timing belt last year and other than that, brakes, and oil changes, she hasn't needed anything. Never been stranded, which is good because I take at least three or four 1000+ mile trips per year. You're under 50k miles so I'd say keep it! It should give you years and years of good service if maintained properly. Go ahead and do your timing belt now, though. Volvo recommends doing it every ~100,000 miles (I think 105k?) OR after ten years. Don't want to risk it snapping due to age.

 

Im at 295,000 on my 02 and im going for 400k just do timing belt every 100k plugs every 30-50 keep up with filters brakes and maintenance its when people let a bunch of problems stack up that they get expensive and people say they are too expensive to fix this is most often because of the owner being cheap we have plenty of customers in the 200k range even a few in the 300-400k and its always the people that change their oil every time it starts to got brown not the people that pay for conventional oil and run 15000 between changes and skip maintenance