So you want an 850?

From time to time, folks post about whether or not to buy an 850. The
answer is simple, with caveats.
Yes buy the 850 IF
it's not a '93 or '94 AND it has had (1)decent maintenance.

My '96 850 turbo is my love child. I used to be in the car business for
6 years and had the occasion to drive literally hundreds of cars as what
we call in the US -- demos. Cars driven by salesmen/managers for 3k
miles then "retired" and sold at cost (less hold back, of course )
(ok hold back is typically 3% of the mystical 'invoice' price... all
this stuff is scarcely secret anymore for anyone wanting to know... the
invoice is roughly 10% of the MSRP, except in the case of really cheap
base models where invoice is less.)
at ANY rate, my '96 Volvo 850 turbo is the car I have enjoyed more than
any car I have ever driven. Folks, that encompasses a lot of personal
experience/data.
Just today, I drove on a large mutlilane highway, and instead of looking
to merge as I sped up the on ramp, I passed 3 cars going onto the
roadway. The boost gauge was indicating a good measure of boost, and the
car went from 45mph at the inception of the onramp to 85mph at the
terminal merging point. All the traffic was in my rear view mirror.

I have 128k miles on the clock. It's such a solid nice car. There will
be a naysayer or 2 that have not had very good luck, but then we must
retire into the realm of statistics to explain that. Did your car have
all the maintenance,etc. If everything was perfectly done and you still
have an auto with issues, you might have an outlier. AKA, a statistical
anomaly.

Nothing is impossible, but I will vote, after much research, and
personal experience, that definitely YES, buy the car, especially if
it's a turbo. There is nothing quite like pressing the accelrerator
pedal to the floor and feeling your body pressed strongly back into the
seat as the laggard party impeding your progress disappears rather
abruptly in the rear view mirror. It will cause you to entirely forget
about your boss and what he said... even if your boss is the IRS or some
other omnipresent entity.


Cheers!

(1) timing belt and water pump every 60k miles... front control arms at
100k indifferent of condition, fuel filter at 100k indifferent of
condition, spark plug wires at 100k indifferent of condition, spark
plugs every 30k miles indifferent of condition, air filter every 10k
miles indifferent of condition, only 93 octane gas indifferent of what
you can afford, flush the coolant system every 20k miles indifferent of
condition, use only synthetic oil and Volvo oil filters.
And last but not least, the transmission... ah, what a story here. It's
a FWD rig folks... front wheel drive. Volvo indicates that it never
needs service.... that's an optimistic assertion emanating from people
with good intentions. But it was good intentions that paved the road to
hell.
I have been flushing mine every 3rd oil fill, aka 12k miles, and the
cars shifts hard and strong. It's a fine machine, treat it that way.

If this sounds like "too much trouble" you might better get a Toyota.
But then there is always a trade off... it's like the guy said, "you get
what you pay for" and I would amend that to say... "something is only as
good as you make it."

As a final last note, if my wife said "You get rid of that hot rod Volvo
or I'm leaving you." I'd have to say, "I sure will miss you." And get
in my 850 and head to a nice hotel.

Fred aka Steve aka misc

 

Yes buy the 850 IF

Oooooh. Why - I got a '94 just recently with 103k miles on it. . .
~~~
The biggest obstacle on the path to success is the stupidity of others.

My eBay Stuff:
http://tinyurl.com/u0fi

 

if you check you will find that statistically, teh 93 and 94 had more
mechanical issues than did the 95,96,97

You might have a '94 car that will last forever... when evaluating
purchases one must first consider generalites and then specifics.

For example, one wouldn't set out hunting the best Yugo they could find....

 

I bought a 94 850 turbo wagon with 37K miles on it several years ago and now
it has 130K. One bad fix, needed a valve job at 85K. A few or several too
many smaller ($200-$500) fixes. No problem with the A/C at all (had to have
it recharged two years ago). Regular maintenance on schedule at the dealer,
synthetic oil. Switched tires to the higher profile and softer riding; now
it's only a hard rider, not bone-crushing. A great car, with some things I
think must have been designed in the dead of night of their dark winter.

 

e.

I had an '89 740 I sold to a friend at work when it had 230k miles on
it... his daughter is driving it and it has 250k on the clock, b230f,
non-turbo. Uses no oil, had every maintenace done. I sold to it them for
US$1300 ... they guy is still my friend

 

Hi Mick,

I own a 1995 850 Volvo, 115,000 miles with Michelin MVX tires. I'll need to
buy tires soon.
What tires are you running that you consider are "higher profile and softer
riding"?
I plan on changing to a higher sidewall tire, because I'm tired of having to
watch out for every
road pot hole!

Regards
Tom Green

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

{snip}...

 

You'll be needing some different rims to goto a higher sidewall tire too.

 

Hi-
I read this reply with great interest - I guess I am in the statistical
minority. There will not be another Volvo in my garage. I posted a note
previously with an RPM drop-off problem, the dealer called today, 2
computers need replaced at a cost of over $2000. The headliner is sagging,
the windshield moldings were slowly lifting off requiring repeated adhesive
applications, the a/c compressor was replaced 2x, the sunroof needed several
'adjustments' and at 60k, on a trip with my 20 year old sister-in-law and 3
girlfriends, the water pump went out, causing additional problems (not to
mention 4 freaked out college girls) with a head gasket and IIRC, a warped
head. There were a couple of other items I can't remember off hand. The
local dealer closed, and the next closest is 30 mi away, about 45 min
driving time. Teh service intervals were faithfully followed, my father in
law, the original owner, was anal about those, he even bought the extended
warranty, as well as 4 studded snow tires for the 'nasty' winter snows we
get here in lower PA.
I follow the manufacturer recommendations on my cars, too. I buy Dodge,
Ford and now a GMC truck. Every vehicle I drive (not my wife) had over 150K
when I traded or sold them with NO major problems, nothing to let me sit
alongside the road, and I run regular gas and pay far less in regular
maintanence and 1/3 less insurance then the volvo owners I know, and I also
paid less to buy the vehicles.
I believe, and feel free to express your differing opinion, that most
vehicles out there will provide long lasting service as long as you are
conscientious about routine maintanence.
My grandmother, who most recently was driving the Volvo, put 4,000 mi on the
car the last 3 years.
Its an '89 740 GL with 130,000 mi. I hoped it would last longer, I guess my
expectations were too high.

Email with offers if interested, I am near Harrisburg, PA. lol.

Mark in Harrisburg.

 

Exactly my point...there are good cars in a line and bad ones, I guess the
one I am familiar with is one of the bad ones. I was hoping for better
service from it. Most quality cars will last the miles you are referring to
if you take care of it, not really that special, at least in my experience,
if someone holds onto one vehicle that long, which is the exception these
days, it seems, no matter what manufacturer it is.

 

I have 205/55 R 16 Mickelin MXV4 tires on it. I think they're into the 50K
miles range now.

 

I've got a 94 850 N/A and it's a sweet car. Sure it can't whip my 93 Jeep
with the 5.2 motor, but then again it rides like a dream, nice and firm and
handles corners so much better.

I bought it at 87k miles on her, and only replaced the compressor because it
was making some noise, other than that I've not had to do anything to her
yet other than oil changes, though Im due for my 90k service (actually 3k
overdue), the past owner (though I didnt know it at the time of purchase)
was a stickler for maintenance and repairs. She left the owners manual in
the trunk that I found when I got home with every service and maintenance
stamped off by the local volvo dealers around here, as well as a recent
receipt for the T belt, and water pump replacement. She apparently took
very good care of it even though she was a lousy driver as all 4 corners of
the car has a small dent proving she couldnt drive worth a darn, but still,
she maintained it mechanically beautifully.

I love my 94, and if I get up to 150k on it without having to do major work
on it, I'll be thrilled. At 94k on the odometer it still doesnt burn *any*
oil, unlike my Jeep. And the only other thing that happened to me besides
the compressor was the lower ATF cooler house popped off the atf cooler and
dumped all the ATF on the ground as I was pulling into a gas station to get
fuel, fortunately the fueling station had a repair house that got me on my
way again for about $35.00

As far as running 92 octane. Well......... I only run 92 in her when it's
really hot out so that she doesnt ping, otherwise in the cooler months of
the year, it's plain old 87 octane and she does just fine on it. Since Im
moving to the desert in 2 months it'll have to be 92 for the rest of the
summer to keep the predetonation down to a minimal.

Many of the people at our sister dealership have these cars, but again most
of them agree to get 95+ 850's but a few of them have the 94's and the only
one that I was warned against getting was the 93.