850's with 100k miles +

sorry hit the wrong key ... if any major unexplained gaps JUST WALK AWAY ... the world is full of 2nd hand cars & in the January/February doldrums the customer is king, esp. if he's brandishing a wad of cash. Check for cambelt changes at 80K; check for clunky or jerky auto boxes (been thrashed, £2K+ to rebuild); check for steering rack leaks (£400+ to replace); watch out for cracks in the bracket holding the drive belt tensioner (bent bracket shreds belt in seconds); be prepared for electrical niggles, expensive switch replacements, knackered rear wash/wipe assembly. Buy a pair of headlamp protectors for £35, better than £80 per headlamp unit to avoid MoT failure! Fit the best tyres you can afford (don't pay more than about £90) - the 850 ride is firm, the T5 is like driving on rocks (I quote my local Volvo service manager) and good tyres are ALL you can do to soften it a bit. Soft or wallowy suspension = knackered shockers. If I think of anything else I'll let you know! Oh, one last thing - give the gutless 2.0 litre a miss, the trade's favourite at the time was the 850 GLE 2.5, sweet (VW Audi) engine, if a little busy at times, that'll return you 250K+ miles if you look after it

Thanks so far guys, its been so long since i had to look at cars i think im just a little nervous

A good list of check points there, and the comments about the slightly later cars v/s early models, 2L v/s 2.5L, and full service history ring true with the homework i have done so far.My problem is the bank account is not as flush as i would want, so i want to get it right first time.

There are other makes of large estate out there which can be had for hundreds, rather than thousands of pounds, but i figure unless i am very lucky one of these will most likely be scrap heap fodder 12-24 months down the line, im hoping you get what you pay for, and my past experiances of Volvo's have been +ive.

I notice people always seem to talk about the petrol models with these volvos, am i right to assume any fuel savings may well be offset by higher servicing / repair costs? i have certainly found this with many lesser makes of car?

Over the years we've had 2 240 estates, 2 940 turbodiesel estates, 2 850 estates, 1 petrol/lpg & 1 diesel, and a petrol/lpg V70, all automatics. They all did high mileages (210K in the V70 before it was written off) and none of them was perfect but the one I'd go back to would be the 940 - not necessarily turbodiesel, which only returned 28 m.p.g. from its noisy & smoky VW straight-6 2.4, though it was in every other respect indestructible, but probably a 940 Classic - 1998 R 2.3 petrol was the run-out model loaded with goodies. I hankered after a juice-sucking 960 (or V90 in its final form) but that's no working car or everyday driver - more of a mobile living room with full leather three-piece suite. About £4K should get you into a perfectly good late high-than-average-mileage (don't be afraid of it - just get the service history) 940 which, trust me, can do more than any other estate car known to man. We took the family on camping holidays to Italy in them, they clocked up hundreds of thousands of miles as fleet cars in our company, we moved house with them, and if looked after they're good for 300K miles and/or 20 years - and although big and boxy, they're still a classic, probably the last 'proper' old fashioned Volvo. Hundreds of pounds? Forget it. You'll just end up with endless hundreds more pounds' worth of grief. Lay out the proper money to start with and feel the fear melt away as year after year of trouble free motoring goes by. Happy hunting!

QUOTE(big_ben @ Jan 29 2005, 03:57 PM)Hello to all!

i am about to become a private car owner after many years after numerous company cars. No matter what i look at i keep coming back to the early 850 (circa 93-95), would like newer but the bugit is tight.

Most cars advertised have between 90k and 130 k miles on the clock, but worryingly anything with say 160+ on the clock is claiming major money spent on it recently, usualy things like hydraulic tappets, ABS etc. So if i buy one with around 100K what can i expect to fail in the next few years, also what should i be looking for when viewing a potential purchase?

Any help greatly received.


You will want to know when it had the A/C evaporator replaced. Check the transmission oil for color. If it is not red but a deep black/brown color that may indicate it was poorly maintained nd may soon require work. Check for oil leaks.

I have a 95 Turbo and after driving regularly aspirated Volvo's...I would only want a turbo. I am hoping to get about 5 more years out of mine...I hope...I hope. I have 124,000 miles on it now.

You can go to www.volvospeed.com and I think there may still be a list of typical problems with 850's. Bay 13 has repair tips on that sight. The Brickboard is another good source of information. There are extensive archives to search.