I'm looking into 940s, 960s, 850s and there is one 740 for sale too.
I'm only looking at manual transmissions. The very few turbos available are fully restored and out of budget. So I'm comparing non-turbo versions. I value wagons (there is a 850 available) and also rwd, but I'm open minded.

Can you help me figure out which car would serve me best? I want a car to drive on the weekends and to put some diy work in. If it's something that maintains or increases value in the future, even better. But mostly i just want a car to call "my baby".

Questions:
Is the 960 that overcomplicated?
Is the inline 4 redblock worth it when compared to the whiteblock?
If you had to choose, which engine would you prefer? Redblock, whiteblock 4, 5 or 6?

And the most pressing question. Is there anyone on this forum doesn't love the 960 manual trans?
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The RWD versions are what Volvo made their reputation on.

As they progress from there, they got complicated. Plastic...it is brittle and bio-degrading by now.

A RWD is easy to fix....an 850....I had/have one, not sure that I'd buy another.

 

That seems to be more or less an unanimous opinion here on the forum.
I just love the looks of the 850 wagon so much... There aren't any/many 240/740/940 wagons available on the local market. And the ones that exist, are so overpriced it is crazy.
One opinion that seems more contentious is the whiteblock / redblock, or 940/960. I'm inclined to get a 940, and I have a good deal on a 1998 940 classic turbo with 250000km. But it's 650km away from me and 5 previous owners so I'm doubting myself. Having a 960 in great condition available 5km from my house isn't helping me make my decision either.

 

960s may be the least reliable/most difficult to service, the redblock 4s are the most reliable. I owned an 850T for 20 years and never found it to be that complex to repair. My view of the 850s is that there are common issues that are widely documented. That's not to say the car won't need servicing, more to say you can find resources on how to fix most of the issues you'd ever come across.

 

I see what you mean. Between the 940 sedan and the 850 sedan I would prefer the 940 though, for rwd. But I love the 850 wagon. There is one available for 1500€ negotiable. I know the guy bought it 12 months ago for at most 600€, but I can't get in touvh with the original owner to see why he sold the car that cheap. But I know I can beat the price down to at least 1000€. Paint and exterior isn't great but not too rough either. But ac isn't working and the dash hasn't worked for god knows how long. So I guess there is no way to know when the belt was changed. Haven't seen it yet, nor pics of the engine bay.