1996 850 - That's all she wrote

Well, so much for that one.

A couple of days ago, doing about 65 mph in the passing lane of Route 128
around Boston, my 1996 850 suddenly decided to shift itself into neutral and
stay there.

Fortunately, I managed to coast safely across two lanes of traffic to the
side of the road. I had it towed to the nearest Volvo dealer where they've
determined it needs a new tranmission ($3200). While they were at it, they
pointed out that I need new tie rod ends, steering knuckles, and motor
mounts. Also, at 65,000 miles I'm almost due for a timing belt. They
offered to do it all, in two weeks, for a mere $ 5500.

So, that's it. It's over. Just two weeks ago I gave it a new exhaust
system ($650). Now I've paid for the tow, a $50 cab ride, missed a day of
work, and I've got to get it out of the dealer's lot before they start
charging me for storage. I'll probably have to donate it to charity, which
means I have to pay them to tow it away. I've spent a fortune on this car,
including the purchase two years ago and the fact that it now has zero
value, it's cost about $500/month.

65,000 miles and not worth the price to fix it.

Anyone out there want it?

I will never buy another Volvo (though my wife still drives our other '96
850).

 

Did you buy it new? It is hard to believe there is a '96 850 out there
with less than 100K on it.

If it was a wagon, it would be worth fixing even if you just sold it.

 

find a used tranny and sway it out for $800
including labor.......there are prob 100k miles left
on the car....

 

find a used tranny and sway it out for $800
including labor.......there are prob 100k miles left
on the car....

 

find a used tranny and swap it out for $800
including labor.......there are prob 100k miles left
on the car....

don't take an old volvo to a dealer...ever...they just
want you to get into a newer one....find a good
local machanic/volvo shop......

 

I'd sure take it if I were nearby, junkyard tranny $150, timing belt and
water pump $150, motor mounts and tie rod ends $100 or so, figure about a
weekend and it'd be a heck of a car at a great price.

 

Is this car turbo?

Where are you located?

What is exterior color? Interior color?

 

Erm...the OP did mention 'the purchase two years ago'.

We just this week went over 69 000 _kilometres_ (<43K miles) on our '95
850T (which we bought new).

cheers,

Henry

 

Second opinion?

Junkyard Trans?

Independant shop?

Transmission shop?

Sure Volvo might be a better idea, but I am sure the trans can be repaired
by any shop that has experence with european transmissions--Volvo, good as
they are does not make their own transmissions, and I suspect that soon
enough the jointly developed and (?) produced GM/Ford 6 speed slushbox will
find it's way under Volvo hoods as well...

Click and clack are in your city too, you know...

 

I think that vehicle has a Japanese Aisin-Warner transmission, so a
tranny shop which works on lots of Toyotas would be a good choice.

John

 

Thank you all for your condolences.

The car is dark gray, has a perfect black leather interior and drives
beautifully (up until last Monday, that is). The AC works (probably still
does too). It's got a factory stereo with CD (sorry I don't recall the SC#)
to which I added Infinity speakers and a 12-disc Pioneer CD changer.

KBB value is somewhere betweeh $3-4K.

I bought it two years ago for $3000 at 58,000 miles. The reason I got it
relatively cheap is that it had been in a an accident, and the hood, grill
and front left headlight and fender were replaced. It has a "reconstructed"
title. Perhaps the accident was the origin of the tranny problem, but I
doubt it, beyond the front left corner, there is no sign of damage under the
hood.

I first saw the dreaded "flashing up arrow" over a year ago. I took it to
my foreign mechanic, who sent me to a tranny shop where they said they
couldn't work on it because they don't have the VADIS computer. They sent
me to the dealer who told me then (a year ago) that I needed a transmission.
On the advice of this group, I instead had the tranny flushed and it has
worked pretty well ever since. I've occasionally gotten the flashing
up-arrow but it usually went away after a couple of restarts (see my earlier
posts to this group).

Now the car is parked at a different dealer, 30 miles away. It's undrivable
and this dealer also declares that it needs a new tranny, for $3200. The
car is obviously a lemon and wouldn't be worth $3200 after the repair. I
need to get it towed away by the end of the week or the dealer will start
charging me storage.

Just getting it towed home would probably cost me $100. I suppose, if I
owned a tow truck, I could drive it around to tranny shops until I found
someone who could fix it, but I don't own a tow truck. Nor do I have the
time to shop for a tranny in a junk yard and install it myself. Perhaps
most importantly, I need a car to get to work.

If you would like to have it towed away from 128 Volvo, at the intersection
of 128 and 93, just north of Boston, you can have it for $500 (the stereo
alone is worth more than that). Send me an Email quickly.

I've always loved Volvos, this is my 7th in 30 years. I've had all of the
usual problems over the years, collapsing seats, failed wiring, failed
tankpumps, etc., which I took with good humor, but this is totally
unacceptable. I will never buy another Volvo.

 

just swap it out w/one running ok...it is cheaper and faster...in my
expierence...(on my 3rd one in a 1993 940t)....aprox
3 hrs labor...

 

Probably more labor in an 850 since they're FWD, but I've never done major
work on one so I can't say for sure.

 

Location?? If it's near Seattle I can go pick it up this weekend and pay the
storage fee.

A dead transmission hardly makes the car a lemon, it's just a dead
transmission. Now if the car had the same fault multiple times then it could
be considered a lemon, but most of the time "lemon" just means the mechanic
is incompetent.

 

I'm pretty sure you have to pull the engine to pull the transmission on
the 850s. Not a fun job, also why replacing the clutch on said cars is
quite spendy.

 

Well, I'm not going to pull the engine and neither my mechanic (who's pretty
competant) nor the tranny shop he recommended will touch it.

I've got to deal with it today. The Volvo dealership has been fairly kind
but is going to start charging me storage after today.

One possibility is to have it towed to my house (my wife isn't so excited
about this), for about $100, so I can swap some of the newer parts onto her
'96 850 wagon. If I were to do this, I could at least stop and catch my
breath while I figure out what to do with it. Unfortunately, her car
doesn't need much so it may not be worth the $100 or the disdain of my
neighbors for openning a chop shop in my driveway.

Is there anyone else out there who'd like to buy some parts off of it (or
the whole thing)?

It's got a perfect black leather interior, brand new exhaust (converter
back), new air pump and relay, new battery, and a good engine.

Also, I made adapters to install a nice pair of Infinity speakers in the
rear, using the original Volvo mounting hardware, which drop right into the
rear deck with no cutting. They won't go into the wagon. Anyone want them?

I don't really want to get into the autoparts business, but if I can recover
some $$$ from it before junking it, it may be worth the $100 towing fee and
some cross-eyed looks from the neighbors.

I'm in Marblehead, MA, just north of Boston. If you're interested, let me
know ASAP.

 

have the car towed to your driveway...and count to 1,000...
i wouldn't ever shoot a volvo w/less than 250k miles on it

my $0.02.....

 

Contact Erie Volvo www.erievovo.com they have Volvo parts have used them
in the past with good results

--
"*-344-*Never Forgotten"
Is for the New York City Firemen who lost their lives on September 11,2001.
The official count is 343, but there was also a volunteer who lost his life
aiding in the initial rescue efforts. And I will never forget them as
long as I live,
nor should any American.

 

Robert, I would reconsider your decision to let it go. The car is
worth a lot more than you think. Don't let you dissapointment over
ride the real value of the vehicle which is a lot more than a mere
$500. Spend an afternoon to find a used transmission on the net or a
local salvage yard. I think that's what I'd do if I had your problem.

Best of luck.