A teenager can get into trouble in any car. My friends and I were able to do so in a litany of cars (CRX, 90s Maxima, Ford Aspire, Eclipse, Ford Bronco, Acura TL, Mazda B2200, 300ZX Turbo, Ford Contour, Mercury Montego, Aerostar, VW Beetle, you name it).
I would go for the car that is heaviest, and has ABS, and carries the least number of his friends that can egg him on. So S80! I have little love for Volvos, but when I have a teenage son, he'll be driving an old diesel Merc.
1988RedT2 said:In reply to Joe Gearin :
My son and I will have to fight my spousal unit over the manual trans. She's convinced that it's a distraction. I'd make the exact opposite argument, but I may not be able to win her over. Not ready for WW3 on that issue. Got any studies showing that manual transmissions make better drivers that I can email to her?
It's harder to text while driving a manual. Just sayin...
I think she doesn't understand what distracted driving means...
Driving a manual by default increases driver involvement and engagement.
Perhaps she doesn't like manuals because she can't borrow the car then. Plus 1 on a manual discouraging texting while driving.
Jerry From LA said:Perhaps she doesn't like manuals because she can't borrow the car then. Plus 1 on a manual discouraging texting while driving.
Wrong! She drives a stick shift quite well. She's owned a 2010 Mazda 3 manual and a cute little late-90's Neon manual. She actually has the best 1/4 mile time in the Turbo II, although I've cut the best 60-foot. I tell myself she's faster in the quarter-mile because I weigh more than she does.
I agree on the texting thing. Might be a good place to start the discussion.
Streetwiseguy said:
A friend bought a black TSX and painted the stupid grille black. Massive improvement. I think you could make it look a lot better by parking next to newer Luxus suv's, too.
I’ve been thinking that grille begs to be wrapped. Dark gray or body color if a close match.
Just saw this and posted another s80 thread. Oops. Lol
I guess i have more personal s80 experience than a lot of people on this forum. I guided my mom into an 03 s80 9 years ago and we are just now replacing it. Bought it at 95k miles, it's now at 235k miles. This one has the straight 6, which is basically the straight 5 with one more cylinder. It is slightly underpowered by modern standards although it really overdelivers on expectations considering its an NA 2.9L in a full size car.
So far on this car, i have done two timing belts (including shaft seals), one water pump (which is on the timing belt, i didnt replace it the first time), repaired a PCV issue, replaced some lower control arm bushings, replaced some strut mount bushings (but not the struts that i can remember), replaced a turn signal switch, maybe one motor mount, resealed the valve cover (THAT is a job on this engine), maybe replaced a coil or two. For a car with 235k i would call that better than average.
To me it's silly to call this GM trans fragile. Compared to the other transmissions you can get in a Volvo this thing is an anvil. This is the same one they stuck behind supercharged 3.8s and 4.9L v8s. Even if it does break, it'll be easier and cheaper to find someone to rebuild it than with the other Volvo transmissions. Ours is original at 235k and acting fine.
My biggest gripes with this car have been 'trim degradation'. Lots of little things aren't aging well. The power window design i would honestly characterize as fragile. I've had to work on them multiple times and they have a habit of binding and literally bending their own parts when their crappy plastic clips fail. The car is also sort of too smart for its own good. This gen of s80 was one of the first cars with a LOT of modules on a can bus and it is a hypochondriac, storing codes for things that work perfectly well saying they are broken. I've also had issues with the instrument cluster although there are lots of repaired units on ebay for <$200. The heater core just started leaking which is the first HVAC problem in the whole 9 years and 145k we've had it.
Overall this car was fantastic, but given how many things are aging poorly i wouldn't buy another one in 2018 unless it was a garage kept creampuff, to avoid all the different plastic/leather/soft-touch/trimtape/fabric/adhesive failures this one has seen which is all probably traceable primarily to UV exposure and heat cycles. Engine bay- No complaints. Interior/trim problems - Annoying.
Oh yeah, the Scion tC. That would be an excellent option here as well. Here's one that is a perfect disposable first car.
I've long said the perfect first car is something from the rental fleet. Think midsize sedan and underpowered but designed to be abused: Taurus, Camry, etc. Jr is more than likely gonna wreck it, that's just a statically probability. But as you know more metal around them is better.
A choice for the "enthusiast" kid that's more upscale looking, super safe and a bit nicer to drive: Saab 9-3. Orphaned and cheap but actually really nice cars.
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
I've always had a fondness for Saabs and I see nice ones for sale all the time. Any issues with their orphan status? Parts availability?
1988RedT2 said:In reply to Joe Gearin :
My son and I will have to fight my spousal unit over the manual trans. She's convinced that it's a distraction. I'd make the exact opposite argument, but I may not be able to win her over. Not ready for WW3 on that issue. Got any studies showing that manual transmissions make better drivers that I can email to her?
I would argue that is a WW3-worthy argument. A manual transmission is the exact OPPOSITE of a driving distraction. You are forced to pay more attention to what you're doing rather than being tempted to futz with phones, the radio, passengers, etc.
My favorite young-driver car is a small manual transmission 2-dr pick-up. The fewer friends they can carry, the better.
Jerry From LA said:Perhaps she doesn't like manuals because she can't borrow the car then. Plus 1 on a manual discouraging texting while driving.
I'm pretty sure you can text while driving with a manual trans.
I have witnessed somebody skillfully handle an orange juice, a Croissan'wich, and a 4 speed Cavalier (no cupholders) in downtown Cleveland traffic.
Ian F said:1988RedT2 said:In reply to Joe Gearin :
My son and I will have to fight my spousal unit over the manual trans. She's convinced that it's a distraction. I'd make the exact opposite argument, but I may not be able to win her over. Not ready for WW3 on that issue. Got any studies showing that manual transmissions make better drivers that I can email to her?
I would argue that is a WW3-worthy argument. A manual transmission is the exact OPPOSITE of a driving distraction. You are forced to pay more attention to what you're doing rather than being tempted to futz with phones, the radio, passengers, etc.
One of my relatives bought a new '96 S-10 with a manual trans because he wanted something with a manual trans.
I was in the passenger seat when he blew right through a red light because he was so focused on trying to shift smoothly.
Vigo said:I guess i have more personal s80 experience than a lot of people on this forum. I guided my mom into an 03 s80 9 years ago and we are just now replacing it. Bought it at 95k miles, it's now at 235k miles. This one has the straight 6, which is basically the straight 5 with one more cylinder.
Technically, the five is the six with one fewer cylinder. The whitebock's first incarnation was as a six cylinder in the 960.
Your interior concerns are kind of odd to me, in my experience Volvos have the best wearing interior components as long as you are starting with a letter-number car. The 240/740/850 cars have the polar opposite and make E36s look good in comparison.
In reply to Knurled. :
I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around how the hell you do that. Perhaps they shouldn't be driving at all?
Yes, you can text while driving a manual (I'll admit it - I've done it... back when texting was novel and "new" ), but let's face it - you need a fair amount of experience with driving in general before you can. These days, unless I'm using it for navigation and it's hanging off the windshield somewhat in my field of view, I don't pay much attention to my phone while driving these days.
I don't have much of an opinion on manual vs automatic. I think the main thing i could generalize off of is driving enjoyment. If you enjoy driving it will hold your attention. I even get a little mad at people for talking to me in traffic. IM CONCENTRATING! I also think it's useful to think of cars in terms of how dangerous they are. I am into fast cars and all that but they don't even have to be special to hold my attention. Feel bored while driving? Imagine your feet touching the ground. Imagine if your windshield wasn't there. Imagine you and your E36 M3ty body having a tug of war with the E36 M3tiest running car on the planet. Imagine being between the front of your moving car and a brick wall. Limit it to 10mph if you want! Normal cars doing normal things are scary enough that boredom is really only possible with a loss of perspective. To me, waving all that around in front of hundreds or thousands of people a day, day in day out and not hurting a one of them is a point of honor and one of my greatest responsibilities and accomplishments. Maybe that sounds stupid, but that's my take.
Vigo said:
To me, waving all that around in front of hundreds or thousands of people a day, day in day out and not hurting a one of them is a point of honor and one of my greatest responsibilities and accomplishments. Maybe that sounds stupid, but that's my take.
Amen!
I've mentioned it multiple times before, my immediate family is a "Volvo family," among the multiple XC90s, 850, S70, S40, V70, 242, and a recently acquired 760 parts car, dad had an S80 T6. Dad still talks fondly about that car, even though he put a transmission in it.
Comfortable, GT-esque, smooth ride, good road manners, and that T6 was deceptively quick. Like, I just pulled out of the driveway and all of the sudden I'm doing 90 MPH, holy crap, how did that happen?
The T6 issue has already been covered, they eat the trans, learned it, lived it. Otherwise mechanically fairly reliable.
I've described them as having a computer to control everything but the floor mats, towards the end of dad's S80's life, it had a warning message on the display, for all kinds of stuff, but it kept going. The interior had plenty of squeaks and rattles, but the seats and touch points all held up well, which is more than can be said for any GM product made in the past 20 years.
My opinion, and most other Volvo enthusiasts, avoid the T6, but I'd maybe avoid the S89 all together. Instead, maybe get a S60, or if they're into wagons (who isn't) a V70 or V60?
You'll need to log in to post.
