Overview & Reviews

Swedish-born Volvo has long been a forerunner in safety research, and its vehicles have the crash test scores to prove it. These days, the brand has improved its offerings by crafting vehicles that also offer generous amounts of style and performance.

In Latin, the word "Volvo" means "I roll." Volvo cars have been rolling ever since 1927, when the first vehicle (nicknamed "Jakob") was produced in the city of Gothenburg. The company's founders, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larsson, put an emphasis on safety, and that dictum still holds true today. The Jakob was joined by the six-cylinder PV651 in 1929, and by 1931, more than 10,000 Volvos had been produced.

Postwar, Volvo unveiled one of its biggest successes, the PV444. By the 1950s, Volvo had begun exporting cars to the U.S., and the PV444 — with its compact size and stylish looks — helped the manufacturer quickly make a name for itself in its new territory. The decade also saw Volvo building on its reputation for being a vanguard in the area of safety; it was the first manufacturer to make vehicles with a three-point safety belt.

The 1960s saw the launch of a new Volvo sports car, the P1800. The car's sculpted good looks helped earn it celebrity status when it was featured on the long-running TV series The Saint, with Roger Moore behind the wheel. Safety features grew more advanced during this decade and Volvo was again at the forefront of the action, offering features such as padded dashboards and energy-resistant crumple zones in front and rear.

Volvo distinguished itself as the exclusive home to a number of valuable new technologies during the 1970s. If you were looking for safety features such as childproof locks, collapsible steering columns and rear-facing child seats during this decade, you'd only find them in a Volvo.

Like BMWs and Saabs, Volvos became an American "yuppie" favorite during the 1980s. The company proved its technological know-how wasn't just limited to safety when it rolled out its first turbocharged car. By the end of the decade, Volvo had unveiled new models like the front-wheel-drive 480 hatchback (for Europe) and the Italian-designed 780 coupe.

In the early '90s, Volvo launched the 850. The car was Volvo's first front-wheel-drive executive car, and teamed performance with the company's trademark attention to safety. The decade also saw Volvo rolling out new models like the S40 and C70 — cars that updated the automaker's boxy image with a more rounded, sculpted aesthetic. The company became part of the Ford family when it was acquired by the automaker in 1998. Ford helped Volvo financially, while Volvo provided Ford with new safety technologies and car platforms. Due to Ford's financial troubles during the American recession, however, Ford sold Volvo to the Chinese automaker Geely in 2010.

It's unknown how Volvo's new owner will guide the brand long term, but chances are Volvo will continue to offer sedans, coupes and SUVs known for their combination of safety and driving excitement.

User Reviews:

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  best car ever! - 2006 Volvo V70
  By bob bob - July 17 - 1:13 pm

  good handling, very safe, good visibility, very comfortable, nice car, heated seats, i will drive it for a long time, best car in the world

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  The Anti Lemming Mobile - 2008 Volvo C30
  By RapidRick - July 16 - 11:20 pm

  Purchased my C30 OSD in Mar, picked it up & drove it in Sweden over Memorial Day and picked it up again in Tampa in July. The car is a stunner and draws rave reviews from folks, especially the younger crowd, but plenty of wiser enthusiasts have forced me to chat with them about it. The turbo comes on smooth and fast. Going 115 in this car is like going 30 in my great ZTW. Real easy to bust way over the speed limit, if you dont pay attention. Mine is in matte Gold, which the factory said there were not many made, and supposedly thats the only car Volvo makes that you can get in matte gold (?)

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  Brilliant Automobile - 2011 Volvo C30
  By modcookieparty - July 15 - 7:42 pm

  This car is absolutely fantastic. Ive had the R-Design for about 6 months now and love driving it. The handling is very tight and the acceleration is good for its class. The body styling sets you apart from the crowd and the interior styling is comfortable and very functional. The ability to customize features and options hits the mark. The only drawback is that the exterior r-design styling features seem a bit flimsy - well see how they hold up over time. I couldnt be happier with this car - at least until the polestar version is available.

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  Great car but I have a wish list for changes - 2016 Volvo XC90
  By Pat - July 15 - 6:26 pm

  I give the car a five-stars but I do have a wish list for changes 1. Hard to see the heads - up display while wearing sunglasses 2. Needs captains chairs - theres no comfortable rest for either elbow for either front seat 3. Would like the front pockets in the front seats like my 2005 XC 90 4. The moonroof just has a mesh interior covering . I suggest a plastic cover to keep the sunlight off of your head 5. Factory SPF protection on the windows

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  Happy with my purchase so far - 2010 Volvo V70
  By Greg Rasa - July 15 - 1:23 pm

  Had it 1K miles so far. Solid build. Nice ride. Great seats. Nice stereo. Quiet. Reasonably-priced luxury. Beats my old SUV in every way. Getting 21 mpg city so far. As for models I didnt buy: Audi A4 Avant was gorgeous but had terrible rear-seat legroom and bit of road noise. Passat wagon had lots of road noise. V70 won out on those counts and others. Also, it has 5yrs/60K full maintenance. My only beef: It was scarce in my area, so I didnt have many color choices. Scarce because Volvo would rather sell you an XC70 or 60 (for way more money); also most V70s are a factory buy, apparently. But V70s mileage is better than the XCs. V70 is sleek, solid, luxurious ... the quintessential Volvo.

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  Keeping this one! - 1999 Volvo V70
  By Jennifer - July 14 - 7:10 pm

  I really enjoy our wagon and the goal is to keep it as long as possible. We recently had to do some work on it but I would consider most of it normal wear and tear for a 10 year old car. We have gone on several 12+ hour car trips and always enjoy the ride and I am six foot tall so I cant say that about most cars.

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  My first Wagon - 2004 Volvo V40
  By arness - July 14 - 10:00 am

  I recently purchased a new V40 and so far, I was quite impressed with the features that it came with for the money. The seats are comfortable as well as the ride without eliminating the road feel (I have 16” wheels with 50 series tires). The V40 is a perfect family car and perfectly fits my needs of hauling family and groceries without the gas mileage of an SUV and most of all; it is a very SAFE car. I like the quality of fit and finish of my Audi A4 better but I would say I get more value on the V40 for the money I paid for it. It is definitely a better choice than any other common SUV since it is not only practical but it looks good on my driveway.

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  Best of Volvo - 2005 Volvo XC70
  By hcsaun - July 13 - 5:30 pm

  This is my fourth Volvo, which I have been buying new since 1996. My 2005 XC70 is by far the best of all. Its handling is what I like best, so solid in its gripping of all road surfaces. Seating and interior space are top notch. I currently have 30,000+ miles and have not had any maintenance issues, other than those scheduled!!

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  Like My Volvo! - 2006 Volvo S60
  By collmm - July 11 - 10:40 am

  The S60 is reliable, comfortable and fun to drive. Both interior and exterior styling are sexy beautiful with nice fit and finish. Accelerates and brakes nicely. You really have to DRIVE this car on clover leaf type on/off ramps-the steering jerks and fights you all the way! Rear passengers (that can tolerate the limited leg room) complain of car sickness because the rear seating position is low and back end of car tends to roll when cornering. Ive owned the car for 13 months-no repairs except for a broken gas cap (broke when removed to fill-up in very cold weather). Mileage could be improved as Im averaging only 20.4 mpg (at least it runs on regular)!

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  Long Term Review - 2016 Volvo XC90
  By Matt H. - July 9 - 2:12 pm

  We bought our 2016 XC90 T6 Inscription in December of 2015 with only 3 miles on it straight from the factory. It had every available package, except air suspension. We also had the 21" upgraded wheels, and later added the towing package when the parts became available a couple weeks later. Ours also came with Apple pay at no additional cost before Apple decided to start making the car companies make their dealers (and subsequently buyers) pay for it. Since then, weve also paid for some software upgrades. Just recently we paid to have the Auto Pilot upgraded to Auto Pilot Assist 2 for 2017. This was well worth the money to upgrade since it gives our older model semi-autonomous features. So far weve loved it. We also renewed our Volvo on Call service through the rest of the life our vehicle loan because we like the remote start feature since we live in Colorado where we get snow during the winter. Now onto my actual review. Weve had the vehicle almost two full years now with minimal issues. Ive noticed several reviews that gave bad ratings due to software issues. I can understand that for factory delivered vehicles. They were brand new and they shipped with bugs already in the systems, Volvo pushes several software updates to the dealers every month, and so the vehicle is in a constant state of repair basically because the car is so loaded with technology. Weve never had any issues with software but only once when the OS would randomly reboot itself. That ended up getting fixed with a software update. Mechanically weve only had 3 issues, one being the rear brakes were heavily squealing. They gave us the upgraded rotors due to that being a known issue on early 2016 models which was covered under warranty. Our second mechanical issue came when the blinkers would fail to work and it popped an error. We brought it into service, and they replaced the entire assembly, new controls, wiring, and software which fixed the issue, they had the car for two days but theyve always given us a loaner vehicle, even when brought in for a regular interval service. Everything was covered under warranty. We also recently had a fuel sensor go out, which was also under warranty. Weve gotten a few recalls since weve had the vehicle, but none were ever issues that would jeopardize safety and all were fixed promptly at the dealership, about 95% of them were all software recalls. That has been the extent of any trouble weve seen, which to us has been pretty minimal. We had a brand new 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee before we bought our XC90 and it had 14 recalls in the first year we purchased it, most of them were life threatening major mechanical issues, and we were extremely unhappy with both the vehicle, and our quality of service with Jeep, and will most likely never go back. Volvos service department near us has been absolutely wonderful, and some of the best service weve gotten from any industry. They go out of their way to make us 100% happy when we step out that door and weve been extremely happy with customer service. Now for nitpicks we didnt like after owning it for this amount of time. There needs to be more USB ports. The 2016 model only has one in the entire vehicle, and I believe the 18 models now has 3. In all honesty, it needs at least 4. 2 in the front and 2 in the back for passengers. The 18 XC40 has wireless phone charging, which I would also like to see in the XC90 range at some point. We noticed a significant difference between the lower end models and our model with road comfort, and thats due to the upgraded 21" rims. With less tire on the road, theres less cushion for a smoother ride, so while you feel more bumps, its still extremely quiet. It has some of the best seats in the industry and has been great for long car rides. In the future however, well be not doing the upgraded wheels since we learned that makes a large difference in ride comfort. That doesnt effect our review negatively since that was a choice that we made when purchasing, but just something to keep in mind for future buyers. Gas mileage has been less than advertised, but its worth it to note that both me and my wife are heavy on the foot at stops. We do keep the start/stop feature on, but forget to turn on echo mode on the highway which makes a difference. We also mostly do city driving which also makes a difference in gas mileage overall. When were on road trips or actively trying to conserve gas we get an average of about 24, which is closer to the actual estimated. I feel that letting you know how we drive the vehicle makes a difference in why our combined MPG is the number it is and not something higher, which it could definitely get. Other than that, weve been extremely happy with our XC90 and cant wait to get our next Volvo in the future.