Definition of reliability
 

So, Volvos have a reputation of being reliable and going on forever etc.

However, spending quite a bit of time on this forum shows the other side of things, all the possible annoying and expensive problems that Volvos can develop. Having been using this forum for a number of weeks now, my perception has been slightly warped because I've seen many examples of how things can go wrong.

Of course, this is heavily subject to a bias. This is exactly a forum where people can discuss problems with their cars, and I'm sure there are many Volvo owners out there with perfectly running cars that don't have the need to discuss how well they run on a forum.

But, my question is this. What is a reliable car? Is it one that can develop problems that need fixing, but do not otherwise "just break down"? Car are mechanical and so are subject to failures, so does owning a Volvo mean that I am statistically less likely to need to call out the AA, even if I do need to replace parts of the engine every now and again? Or, does it mean that, on the whole, Volvos generally need less parts replaced, work done on them to maintain them etc?

Reliability is undertaking a 1500 mile journey in a 15 year old car that you use most days of the week,and completing the journey in comfort.

To me it is a car that starts when you turn the key and develops no unexpected faults.A car in which you have trust.A car where consumable parts wear out less than the average. A stress free experience.

Regards

My tuppence-worth...

In reliability surveys, Volvo don't do particularly well - but neither do other perceived quality brands such as Mercedes and BMW. Japanese cars - Toyota, Honda, Lexus - tend to do best.

However... Volvos are, or have been, solidly engineered and constructed cars, and when they do go wrong, can be readily fixed (especially with the help of the many nice people on this Forum!). I guess all models of Volvo have their individual Achilles' Heels, which show up in the various sections of the Forum, but if you know what they are, you can be prepared, and maybe forestall problems before they arise with a bit of pre-emptive checking.

Whenever I work on my 740 (I haven't worked much on my V40), I'm struck by how solidly it was built: it's almost more like light truck engineering than car engineering, and you find that nuts and bolts still come apart easily after many years, that sort of thing. Like m0bzy says, I can and do happily use mine to do 1000 miles in a weekend without any great worries.

And if, God forbid, you find yourself in a collision (as several unlucky souls in the S/V40 section have recently), a Volvo's always going to be the best place to be!

Thanks for the replies. I guess having only had the car for a number of weeks means it is way to early to tell how reliable it is going to be (lets ignore my other posts about engine noises for now).

One thing that did influence by buying decision, although it must be taken with a pinch of salt I'm sure, the 2002 Volvo S40 has a "reliability index" of 16 - the lowest (read best) of all the cars I looked at:

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/256

I never look at my loadlugger through my rose tinted spectacles , mainly I see its faults but its not as faulty as some other brands . Problem is most of the parts that fail are not made by Volvo , some may be made to their specification but in the case of an alternator / DMF / wishbone / O2 sensor etc I dont think these parts are likely to be any different than the same parts fitted to other makes . By the time the car has done over 100000 miles I think the reliability is less influenced by Volvo and more by what the owner does to maintain it , seems to me Volvo owners are more likely to look after their cars than owners say of a Kia Picanto which is not expected to last 100000 miles .

any forum on one brand will be heavily warped in bias because of the shear nature of it, most members on here are friendly and approachable without issue with one another which makes for a way to learn and get along with people of all age groups backgrounds etc. Put it another way i still know many from my fiat days and a certain detailing forum which i no longer frequent for various reasons.

on here i have met many people some a few times and it is just like old times, earlier this year i went to a meet for detailing a bumped into a few people i had not seen for years...instantly like yesterday again ;) brilliant.

As in regard to cars yes the P1 cars have some issues but i think every car does...i hate VW's as everyone perceives this image of them as reliable german quality but in my eyes and from speaking with many i am stunned as all modern VW do is cut the life span of items not try and fix it....at least volvo try and fix it not just oh well :lol:

I do think if you are not a DIY service person a dealer can make or break your views o a car brand to. I do not mind paying for service (not over the odds as my dealer has proved on odd occasion no one can stop you making an offer though, something us brits are not so good at) so long as they give a decent representative service back.

in a perverse way problems bring people together they make friends over a pint or meal or whatever. Oddly, some of the most common issues with both vehicles i have had or trying to add something etc or learn about something has gained me the best friends.

In addition, they are not in "my area" they are from you know Scotland the south or whatever. You learn things about living there and if you are up somewhere local and they in most are willing to say pop in and you laugh about it (one day i swear i will just randomly end up in aberdeen to meet up with one of my best friends from detailing)....even my latest GF i met through a friend of detailing :) it really is a wonderful not only problem solving tool but social tool.

I bought my car with 154,000 miles on the clock, its now at 162,000 .. All I've had to replace in that time is a header tank (slight leak, £20). It now needs 4 new tyres, but thats not really covered by "reliability" I'd say.

It starts first time every time, will carry me and a few passengers in total comfort at motorway speeds, it can do the same with a wacking great powerboat on the back. It'll do 300 miles in one hit with no problems as I found this summer - infact, it did better than the driver who had to make a couple of stops! )

I think the reason you'll find lots of problems being discussed on a forum is because noone ever comes on and starts a thread:

"My car ran perfectly today"
"No did mine"
"And mine"
"Mine too .. "

Etc etc etc.

that is a good point actually people tend to say nothing if something is good...if there is issues though it is scream from the hills.

It is something like 1 person if good will tell maybe 3 but if bad it increases to like 10-20 crazy.

There is a big difference between reliability and durability.
Many cars wil run without problems for a time; some 5 or 6 years, other maybe 8 or 10 years but are then considered worn out and beyond economical repair. These cars are considered reliable but could not be called durable.
At the opposite end of the scale, you have vehicles such as older LandRovers which require almost constant maintenance and repair to keep running, but will do so for decades - I know of several 40 year old examples that are still in daily use; these are undoubtedly durable but are not, and never were, reliable.
I think that Volvos fall somewhere in the middle, they earned their reputation 20 and 30 years ago when they were streets ahead of the opposition in build quality and life expectation; in the 1970's the average life of a Ford or BL car was about 8 years before rust and mechanical failure won, while Volvo's lasted 18 years or so. Now, 18 year old cars are not rare; rust is not really the problem it was, and engines will last 250,000 miles or more if looked after.
Modern Volvos are still very good, easily equal to the best of the opposition, but their advantage has been eroded over the years as other manufactureres have upped their game. Where they still win is in the quality of the steel used, the paint that they finish them with and the quality of the components used. As cars become more complex the emphasis has moved from mechanical reliability to the performance of electrical equipment and ancilliary components, and in this Volvo are about average. I have many friends with German, French and Japanese cars and they seem to suffer problems; the electrical reliability of most French cars is dreadful, Mercedes suffer from build quality problems and you just need to google "coil packs" to realise that Audis and VW's are not as reliable as the owners would like to think.
The fact that you can walk down any high street in Britain and see good K, L and M registered Volvos still with us speaks for itself, but we will have to wait 20 years to find out if the modern ones are as good.