Back in the 60-70-80 Volvo's had reputation for two primary things - 1. Being ultra safe in an era of unsafe cars 2. Being built like a tank and being designed to last more than 100k miles when other cars were basically scrap at 100k.

In more modern times most cars have become a lot safer overall as public awareness and regulations regarding safety increased so Volvo lost this edge almost entirely. And Volvo's reputation for reliability slipped badly starting in the late 90s and has never recovered. At this point the Volvo brand's reputation hangs on the cars supposedly having nice comfortable seats and that's about it.

I'd get the LS430 - it has safety features galore so thats not an issue. If they like the seats on the LS430 it should be a no-brainer.

 

Years ago safety was Volvo's forte, but nowadays all cars have to conform to gubmint safety standards that are very strict.
Oh, and that Volvo V8, Isn't it made from the old Taurus SHO V8 that never sold very well, the second gen. SHO?
It was a dud.

 

Interesting comments guys, thanks! Found a good walk thru of the ls on YouTube and that is helpful too. I am 1100 miles away from my parents so I can't help much from here save the info and send them to drive one.

They want "newer" but I tend to forget newer if I can get a flagship. I has never bit me and I have enjoyed the car 10x more and keep it longer....

 

Looking closer at the LS makes me wonder if I should have got an LS over my GS400!

 

You should have... haha. At this point, we can't drive anything but a LS.

 

Once the bar has been raised it is SOOO hard to go lower.

I had a 91 Bonneville LE (base car), then a 91 Cadillac Deville (loaded), then went to a 94 Fleetwood (top of the line, almost every possible option) and then went to a 00 Park Ave Ultra, may have been the flagship Buick, but it is NO CADILLAC, let alone the flagship Cadillac.

The GS400 is fun, not near as optioned out as I expected, but I was after a sports sedan, not necessarily a luxo cruiser. I don't regret it. Great car so far. But the LS is tempting me. Gonna wait till I wear the GS4 out first...

 

What sort of issues might be common on a 04-05 LS? They seem to think the car is too "old" and have problems. So they want newer, but a newer LS is way out of price range. So the s80 is in price range, but I think newer s80 would still be more expensive to own and drive than older LS.

 

They just called and bought an 08 ES350. Sounds like a regular base model.

 

That's a much smarter buy than the Volvo, however, it can't compare to an LS.

I hope they enjoy the Lexus ES. It's still a fine car.
I just learned that the 2013 ES is based on the longer Avalon chassis, rather than the Camry.
It should be a winner.

 

08 ES should be pretty bullet proof...they are nicely optioned, should be safe and very comfortable. That Toyota V6 will run forever with decent maintenance.