2008 VOLVO S80

Used 2008 S80 Nicer than Most New 2016 Vehicles

Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

Just bought one of these used for around 12K and have been floored by the quality of the vehicle. I went out looking to buy a new (2016) vehicle but just was not impressed with any of the sub 30K offerings. I haven't bought a new vehicle in 18 years (drove a 1998 Mitsubishi Montero for that entire time) and I was expecting the offerings to have changed substantially in that time. Instead what I found was pretty looking vehicles with terrible visibility, cheap interiors, frustratingly anemic CVT's and lackluster fuel economy. If I'm going to drive an unresponsive brick I expect it to get close to 30 MPG overall, not 21 city 28 highway. My massive, old clunker of an SUV got 18 city 25 highway and was fast to boot. So I was pretty disillusioned and decided to go have a look at some used vehicles. Our family has had many Volvos and apart from replacing turbo seals (an issue they have apparently resolved since 2001) never had any issues with them at all (and I'm talking not a single one of them has ever failed to start or had a single mechanical failure over about 40 years of combined driving, 5 cars over 8 years each). So I started looking and was quickly interested in the AWD S80's particularly the turbo inline 6 or T6. I test drove a 2008 with 64000 miles and was elated. The car is solid as a tank, looks new, smells new, feels glued to the road and is a ROCKET! I bought the car as soon as we got back to the dealership. The vehicle is a little slow getting through the first 3 gears unless you give it a little more gas but once it's going and especially on the highway, the car is untouchable. By far the fastest most responsive vehicle I've ever driven or ridden in with the exception of a standard BMW M5. The ride is really smooth with almost no body roll even in tight turns and you feel glued to the pavement. The AWD is definitely noticeable versus front and rear wheel drive mostly as a reluctance of the car to deviate from the line it's on until you turn the steering wheel. Like I said in the title, every aspect of this 2008 S80 is nicer than any new 2016 car I test drove and that includes safety features. You'd be a fool to pass on this car if you have a chance to get a low mileage one.