Hey all,
Well, I've decided to give eneral the heve ho. 17 years is enough. I have 95 bonneville that I love to drive, but its got a nagging electrical glitch. I've also liked volvo's and now that my daughter is 6 safety is a big concern as well. I'm a car nut and know a lot about cars(not mechanichly though, just knowledge) but not much on volvo's. I've narrowed my choice to 94-95 850. There in my price range. A few questions if everyone doesn't mind. Which would be more realible and cheaper to maintain, turbo or non-turbo? The speed thing isn't that important right now. Do you think its okay to get one with around 150k on it? I'm recently divorced and went back to school so I need a car that won't kill me on repairs, not necesarrly price of repairs, just frequently not leaving me stranted. Finnaly, I don't have a Volvo mechanic where I live. I have a dealer about 45 minutes away but they always seem to overcharge and sell things you really don't need. I've known my regular mechanic for over 15 years, I know he can fix
just about nything and he never rips me off, he is a true honest guy. I think if I ran into a major problem you guys can help me out and can relay the info to my mechanic. Any advice would be greatly apprecited.
thanx again

Don't think you will find much difference between maintenance on the Turbo vs. non-Turbo models. I also have a friend that is a mechanic that can fix most anything. He absolutlely hates working on my 850. At one point he made me dislike the car because all he did was complain about how difficult it is to do certain things on the car (i.e. change the evaporator). He did it and it now works fine, but he said he would never do it again. He liked the 240 and 700 series cars quite a bit because they were rather easy to work on. I now take my Vovlo's to certified Volvo mechanics or do it myself by getting information off this and other message boards. I really like the 850's. I think they are great cars, but 150K is getting up there if the car has not been maintained properly. If your going to get one that old with that many miles, you need to have somebody who knows Volvo's do a pre-purchase inspection. It should cost around $60 and is worth ever penny. There are definitely things to look for on these cars.