Buying Advice Volvo s80 1998–2006 Common Issues Engines Inspection

Hi everyone,

We are back with another buyers review, today i present you with an alternative to the Big German sedans. We go up north to Sweden, we will check out the Volvo s80. When you think about Volvo’s you probably think about stationcars, big and practical cars.

But Volvo also attempted to rival big sedans, the S80 is at the top of the range, well at least until the v90 showed up. For the sake of this video we will focus on the first generation Volvo s80, this generation came to the market in 1998 and was built until 2006. In this video i will try to answer the question to if this car is a good car to buy. The Volvo s80 was even the chosen car for the Dutch Royal Family and the special police units also drove them here in Holland.

This car was available on European and North American markets.Since its introduction it has since been built in Gothenburg, Sweden.With a few 1999 model year cars for the North American market built at Volvo’s Halifax Assembly plant.The s80 was not available as a stationwagon, this was a sedan only model.

As a matter of fact the s80 was technically closely related to the v70 stationcar. In 2006 the second generation came to the market, but we will discuss this car another time. Over 368,000 first-generation S80s were built. As said before the strong point of this car is its safety. The S80 was equipped with numerous safety systems, including Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) and Whiplash Protection System WHIPS.

The S80 featured a straight-six engine in a transverse engine mounting. Most of the line up off engines consist out of 5 and 6 cylinder engines. There were also three 5 cylinder diesels on sale. And for the green hippies around us two bi-fuel engines where on sale as well. These bi-fuel engines could run on LPG or natural gas in combination with petrol. No existing manual gearbox would fit in the engine bay with the six-cylinder engine, so Volvo had to develop their own, the M65. If you are looking for a sportive sedan, then look elsewhere.

This car was designed to drive long distances in comfort and above all safety.The s80 is now replaced by the s90 and V90. So what are some of the reasons you should by an s80.

Space
Comfort
Safety
Modest appearance

As always there are various points you should look at before buying such a car.Actually there are not that many points, it is quite reliable.

Let’s look at

The chassis
The adaptive chassis is a wonderful piece of technology, but maintenance is more expensive than with a regular chassis, keep that in mind.

Now the drivetrain
The five cylinder diesel D5 can decide to run on four cylinders instead, this can have two causes;

First one, a power plug could be loose, this is easy to fix. Second one, an injector could be broke, this is expensive to fix. The variable valve timing can be polluted, the engine will then produce a high beating sound and lacks pulling power. Some complain that the gearboxes are not the most modern ones out there, apart from the last production years.

Talking about gearboxes, they should be able to shift smoothly if not, they need to be flushed.

If that does not do the trick, revision is the only option. Or look for second hand parts if revision is too expensive. Then the diesels, especially the older 4 cylinder diesels, during regeneration of the filters, there is a chance that diesel could run into the oil. This will cause the oil level too rise too high and this will result in damage of the regeneration filters. It is wise to stick to the strict service interval.

Electronics
There are reports of the electronic steering lock being defect, resulting in not being able to start the car.This can be solved be roadside assistance, but it requires you to buy a new steering lock. There is also a case of people accidently hitting boardside computer which is located under the front seat, this can cause electrical issues.

And then the last item, there are sometimes trouble with the electronic handbrake. In the interior, buyers complaint about the leather seats. Some find the quality of the leather used not sufficient. The seats themselves are very good indeed.

Thanks for watching this video, if you find these videos useful subscribe to my channel, take care.