24th Aug 2007, 13:11

Someone got a lemon!! The thing with a Volvo is that if you get one with a couple of electronic faults, chances are the components need to all be replaced rather than "repaired" because they are never going to function together correctly. I've seen this problem with many other makes, by the way. On a Honda, IF something breaks, it is better to throw that component away and buy a new replacement because they are difficult cars to bring back if they get in a bad way. All things considered though, Volvo and Honda and other equal brands do make good cars and I would not be scared to own any of them.

25th Aug 2007, 08:40

I have never heard of a Volvo 960 stopping because of sensor failure - I think something else must be up. I have two 960's Estates (one with 181,000 miles and one with 186,000 miles) and neither of them have just 'stopped'. I would fully recommend these cars for anyone doing high miles!

6th Sep 2007, 21:47

I can attest first-hand to owning/driving a Volvo that would suddenly shut-off no matter the driving conditions or speed. My trouble was with a '93 940 turbo sedan. It would let me drive for 5-10min. then suddenly cut-off and wouldn't restart for several minutes. It did this to me at a traffic light, then again after merging onto the highway, and various other times. Eventually it cut-off while going up a hill in a neighborhood and refused to start. I ended up having it towed to my trusty Volvo mechanic. Guess what the cause was? A speed sensor! I have never had that issue on any past vehicle. He replaced that sensor and the stalling problem was gone for good. Otherwise it was a fantastic car.

15th Oct 2007, 04:34

Hi, I haven't experienced the vehicle stopping at random because of Volvo's problem. Here in New Zealand half of the Volvo 960's 850's etc with the sensors were made immobile for what seemed like no reason. This was because although the fuel was the right grades (91 regular, 95/96 Premium or 97/98 Super, depending on what gas station you go to) it was either poorly refined or it was half stale or was contaminated. So for several weeks Volvo was very very busy. Maybe this will explain your problem.

And maybe mine is different as it's only a 2.5L version, but I get 25-27MPG typically and I'm a young male driver!

And you Americans have cheap cheap fuel anyways, what you pay for a gallon we don't even get 2 litres! So maybe your fuel is rotten - that could explain the lousy MPG and the sensors deciding something isn't right, and thus stopping the vehicle to stop major damage (yes it's also an irony from that safety aspect!)

23rd Nov 2007, 11:20

Amazing luxury and comfort, cozy lumbar support, which is great for long highway drives, incredible safety.

Strong built cars with powerful engines that last forever (The Guinness record is ONE MILLION miles on a Volvo).

Beautiful smooth driving, incredible "U" turn range, the best quality sound equipment, all instruments at hand.

A very reliable vehicle in all aspects, not cheap to fix at dealers though, I fix somethings myself, getting original lower price parts on Internet, way cheap compared to the dealer. Even if it is expensive to fix at the dealer, the car pays itself (be sure to find a good expert mechanic for Volvos).

I have owned more than 30 cars while living in 3 different countries, and I reassure you that for the price, I have never driven such comfortable cars as the Volvo 960 and as the luxury Mercedes; there have been times that I have looked and driven other good vehicles just to see if I could try another vehicle, and still haven't been able to find one that drives like a 960 Volvo.

Sweden steel is the best and strongest in the world; the reason why Volvos are great.

The only thing I do not like is driving on the snow, so I am looking for an AWD (4WD) Volvo. In the meanwhile I LOVE my 960 Volvo, one of the greatest and most comfortable cars in the world.

24th Nov 2007, 09:28

Guinness record is 2,600,000 ++ miles on a Volvo. The car is p1800 and belongs to a guy named Irv Gordon.

29th Nov 2007, 20:30

Thanks for updating, over 2 million!!!, so be it!!! one more argument to confirm this wonderful automobiles:1996-960.

1st Dec 2007, 06:51

But he does not own a 960. He owns a 1960's P1800. Not every engine made by Volvo is the same as his, so why do you assume yours will last as long? Volvo longevity seems to be restricted to the earlier 4 cylinder motors that were old fashioned, but strong.

3rd Dec 2007, 09:15

It's true that it is a different engine, but the 6 cylinder is still strong. I have three 960's and all of them have done over 150,000 miles without problems. Anyhow, why not let owners think there car will last? Toyota owners seem to generalise the range (did you know that EVERY Toyota ever built will NEVER give any problems whatsoever? - sarcasm) without problem or question - so why not Volvo owners???

21st Oct 2008, 07:51

The computer may have gotten wet somehow.

I dated a gal who owned a Chevy Cavalier. The car all of a sudden would stop... it would start jolting then shut down... almost felt like the camshaft snapped.

Found out it was the computer, located behind the driver side wheelwell... the computer got wet... common on these poopy vehicles.

She asked me what she should do... I told her to take it to the dealership and once they saw the baby seat in her backseat, and if she yelled at them they would probably replace it and they did... free of charge.

She is the 2nd owner of the vehicle... and naturally, this was a common problem on Cavaliers in snow belt regions.

And if you own a Volvo, know a good mechanic... that way you are not wasting time messing with the dealership on sensors.

12th Dec 2008, 23:03

We had a 1995 960 Wagon with 213,000 miles that we just destroyed in an accident - we hit the rear of another car, the front end of our car accordioned (as it is supposed to do) and we walked away unhurt. But we lost our wonderful car as the structure was hopelessly bent and we are now looking for a replacement 960 wagon - which are not that easy to find. We did have the sensor problem also - I think the car did stop - but had the sensor replaced (at about $400 for the part alone) and haven't had any problems since (I think that was at about 160,000 miles).

We also had a 1992 940 Turbo Wagon which we had over 200,000 miles with no engine problem, but it began to have other structural problems and we donated it to charity. We only go to independent Volvo mechanics and in trying decide what cars to look for to replace our 960, both of our mechanics told us we were better off buying a pre-1998 Volvo if we wanted to keep our maintenance costs down!!!

28th Jul 2009, 15:58

I was interested in some of the comments made by others on Volvo 960 models. I have owned a 960 2.5 24 valve model and have done close on 50,000 miles in three years. The car now has 186,807 miles on the clock and has only had one coil replaced in this time. It is one of the safest cars made and returns around 25 miles per gallon. It has never just cut out as some people say.