My first Volvo, 93 850GLT

I just recently bought a '93 850GLT non-turbo from a friend. I have had
American, Italian, and Japanese but I always wanted to own a Volvo. Here's
what I got:

128K
teal green, tan leather
sunroof
automatic
power doors, seats, cruise, blah blah
keyless entry (no workee)
service records since '96(recent repairs inc. timing belt, cv boots,
struts) has been maintained well
one crease in rear quarter panel, not too noticeable
AC blows cold but the ac off, rec lights blink (problem?)
dash is slightly loose

I paid $1700 which seems like a steal to me . The car drives and looks
great.

I understand that repairs can be expensive but I am prepared to buy a
Chilton book and root around in salvage yards. I can do about anything but
major engine/transmission work.

Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated as I am just starting out.

Thanks

 

wow...nice"'catch" for the $

 

The one thing that is typical with these is the automatic
transmission/FWD unit fails and you need to get a rebuilt one.

I drove my '93 Volvo 850 sedan 185,000 miles over mountain roads,
Interstate highways, and city driving. It averaged over 25 MPG and got
29 MPG highway. I had four problems: 1) the radio antenna had a poor
connection when new and had to be replaced, 2) the gas struts that hold
the trunk lid open got weak at 80,000 miles and had to be replaced, 3)
the throttle linkage would stick if not cleaned until a Volvo tech found
an adjustment* that was out of tolerance and 4) at 145,000 miles the
automatic transmission had to be replaced. The automatic transmission is
a weak point of the '93 850, but 145,000 miles is not too bad.

After 9 years and 185,000 miles we sold the '93 850 for $5,000.

*See my website for the story.

 

Well, I got depressed when I read about your 25 MPG. I have 850
station wagon for 8 years and never ever could get more than 24-25 GPM
when driving 110 km/hour. Driving faster drops this 24 to 22. City
driving (Europe) achieves at the best 17 GPM. City driving in winter
and it drops to 15. The car is 175 HP automatic. Everybody here tell
me it's normal.
How is this possible?

 

We get 25 - 26 mpg on the highway, and 17 mpg in the city. Our city
drives are short drives in traffic that are always 3 miles or less.
I've noticed that making these longer drives seems to improve the
efficiency to 18 - 20 mpg.

That is what the Volvo mechanics tell us as well.

We have had everything on the car except the evaporative emission
control system checked. Everything checked out okay.

bev

 

Hello Emmit, Tony, Bev, Steve et al.,

I own a 1996 855 Turbo (manf date 2/96). On a recent road trip to
Charleston, SC from Florida we averaged just over 28mpg highway. In city
driving we average anywhere from 17mpg to 20mpg. My car has 118,500 miles
on the odo.

Just had its first major problem - the dreaded A/C Condensor failure.
Cha-ching! $1250 later (less a 15% off parts & labor Coupon from Volvo
corporate - thank you very much) we're back in business. My A/C blower
motor was also

Also had the recent Seat Heater campaign (recall) done which involved
replacing the harnesses and thermostats located beneath the front seats.
Thank you Volvo.

Otherwise, also just replaced the two front struts with Boge Turbo Gas and
the newly redesigned (by Volvo) upper strut mounts. They were prone to
cracking with age which caused a "clunk, clunk" when travelling over bumps
or rough roads.

We love our Volvo despite the recent $2000+ repairs. Bought it from the
original owner back in 2001 with 98k miles for $10k.

Cheers,
"Parataxic Distortion"

 

Thanks, I'm really enjoying this car. I live in Tulsa OK and just drove it
to Iowa and back; about 1000 miles total.
Everything worked fine. Better ride than my Accord. Felt safe. My only
nagging worry was the tranny. I've been hearing all kinds of warnings about
them going out at about 150k miles. I am going to research and see if the
transmission had ever been serviced or replaced and then I guess hold my
breath and save up.

 

Hey P.D.,

About the coupon from Volvo, how'd you get it and is it still good?

Also, the Seat heater campaign; do you know if it applies to '93s? where
might I get info?


Thanks, Emmit

 

I have a 93 2l 20v 850 saloon and so far it's always returned over 30 mpg;
generally 32ish but up to 34. This is 90% driving Scottish country roads
(i.e. generally stuck behind something and unable to use cruise control,
and having to pull off overtaking maneuvers as quickly as possible) with
the final 10% being town/city driving.

I expect the "emissions control" gear that seems to be fitted to US cars
doesn't help fuel economy much?

AJ

 

Probably not. BTW, by gallons do you mean US gallons or Imperial gallons?

1 US gallon = 3.84 litres
1 Imperial gallon = 4.76 liters

If it is imperial gallons, then you get about 6.7 miles/liter, while under
similar conditions with a US 850, I get about 6.5 miles/liter.

Bev

 

I *SUSPECT* the Scots use imperial gallons, not US gallons which yield
something in the 20 to 20+ MPG range.

Chuck Fiedler
Nothing but Volvos since 1974

 

30 MPIg = 24 MPUSg
34 MPIg = 27 MPUSg

This is what I get with my '93 854 and '95 855.

 

Great website! Very informative. I'm looking at the 850 wagon or V70 as a
replacment for my aging 93 Saab 9000CSET (still going strong but I need more
room).

Natural Light Black and White Photography
http://www.phastnet.com/~geos/
-George-

 

Emmit,

I believe you need to contact Volvo NA in California. Go their website and
also "register" with them as an owner of a '93 850. I also joined the High
Mileage Club...perhaps that is how I got on their coupon and recall mailing
list. That is what I did. Let me know how you make out and if you have any
other questions.

Cheers,
ParataxicDistortion (PD)

 

<Hangs head in embarrassment!> Of course! Sorry. Being an Engineer you
would have thought I might have remembered - this is why I point-blank
REFUSE to work in the oil industry; these Yanks *insist* on using all
sorts dodgy units just to make life difficult for us here in the civilised
world!

And me Canadian by birth, too...

Cheers,
AJ

 

I am a retired physicist and worked with engineers all my working life.
They use a calculator for everything, even 2 + 2. At least when they
used slide rules they could add, they just couldn't multiply or divide
without their slide rule, even 2x2. But they could figure out the
decimal point in their head, they had to. I had a several profs that
made every test problem come out even so you could estimate the answer
in your head and you were always right. If you used a slide rule, you
risked making an error.

 

is that imperial pancake syrup or petrol? you get much better milage on petrol.

 

I drive a 94 (5 Speed Manual) 850 Turbo Sedan with just over 230,000kms on
it

I just recently did what, up until now, I though was impossible for this car
which in the city averages somewhere between 11 and 12 Litres / 100Kms.

I drove 730kms. It was 99% highway at about 125 - 130 Kms/Hour, some
slightly higher streteches but not much below 125kms/hour) 730km's. I
consumed (based on a full tank to full tank again fill up) 61 Litres. This
works out to about 11.96 kms / Litre or about 28.6 miles/gallon. This is a
record for me..and I'm happy about it !

Just sharing....

Richard
Toronto, Canada