Ok first of all, Hi to all you volvo guys. As you can see by my screen name I am a proud owner of a full built Neon pushing around 330 WHP running low 11s. That said, I already own my toy and am after something a little different/more mature.

I recently left germany and came back to california. While in Germany I rented a brand new V50 D5 wagon and fell in love instantly. Power, comfort and Unparralleled high speed stability all wrapped in one package, whats not to love?!

I am currently in a position where I am able to buy just about anything I can afford barring 3 things:
No Manual tranny (wife is sick of them after 12 years owning one)
No V8 (wewt turbo time)
Under $2500

This leaves me with a couple options concerning volvo mainly being:
740 Turbo (3 or 4 on local market for the right price)
940 Trubo (2 sedans on market for right price)
850 Turbo (1 on market for right price)

I cannot for the life of me discern the difference from the 740 and the 940. They both seem to look alike, be the same size, and have the same motors. Bottom line what I am after is a reliable car, with a little bit of pep to it, that is highly reliable, and in the future has the ability to have a bit of power added without affecting daily driving ability.

The 850 Turbo I see if FF engine/wheel so thats the lowest on my list of cars, I would preffer a RWD car this time as I am fed up doing FF work already. Also I should mention all maintenance will be done by myself, as I cant honestly bring myself to pay for work I am fully capable of doing myself.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

 

740 and 940 are basically the same car built in different years. Not sure what year they switched over. The 760 and 960 turbo's are also the same basic car with a few more bells and whistles. As you said the 850 is a totally different car and the first of the FWD Volvo's. I had two 760 Turbo's before buying a 94 850 Turbo. I think the 850 with the turbo is a faster car and more fun to drive, but it is FWD and a little harder to work on yourself, but not impossible by any means. I do quite a bit on them myself and I am not a mechanic by any means. You can get on the internet (mainly right here on this forum) and find out how to do most anything on any Volvo.

I had an 85 760 Turbo Diesel as my first Volvo (really liked this car, but it black smoked a little too much)
Then a 760 Turbo Intercooler (my least favorite of all)
Charcoal 94 850 Turbo (great car that all three of my kids learned to drive in, engine went at 206K, and I should have replaced the engine)
Burgundy 98 V70 GLT - This is a Low Pressure Turbo and is a very good reliabe car - basically same car as 850 Wagon
White 97 850 R - Hard car to find with Charcoal Interior - Have had quite a bit of trouble with it, but would not get rid of it for anything. I will put a new engine in it if need be.
Yellow 95 850 T5R - One of 185 of these imported to the US. Just bought it Thursday and picking it up today. This is one unique, very hard to fine car.

If you really want the RWD, I would look for a 960 Turbo, and stay away from the six cylinder models. In the 740, 760, 940 and 960 the turbo models had the 4 cylinder engine and that's the one you want. But for $2500, you are not going to find one that does not need some work. You probably need to go to at least $5,000 to get one that is not inneed of work. Try and find one with service records too. Volvo's need to be maintained properly.

Hope this helps.

 

I have to concur with JimKW.

Concerning the $2,500 price, JimKW's final price is about right. Longship's Volvo principle: "All Volvos cost at least $5,000. If you pay less than that for a Volvo, the extent of the difference will eventually be paid to put it in prime condition."

My latest is an '89 745 GL (non-turbo w/ 5-sp) for which I paid $2,600. It's in darn good shape, but I had to put in a new clutch (existing one was *original*), drive shaft bearing/bushing, starter, spare tire, washer motors. Also needs A/C work (high pressure hose and evaporator are holed), front rotors on next brake job. That will eventually get me to about $5K. But the car is definitely worth that. Engine/tranny/suspension are perfect and the car drives that way.

I really must stress that what you want is a four cylinder B230. Avoid the B234 dual cam/16-valve engine because it is not a non-interference engine. Likewise the six cylinders are to be avoided for that and other reasons. The B230 is amongst the most reliable engine ever built. It's very conservative engineering will last and last and last.

The epitome of expression of these is one of the 900 series, which have some pretty fantastic ergonomics and styling. If you want performance, get a turbo, but look for apparent wear and leaks before you buy.

Good source is autotrader.com where you'll find plenty of 700's/900's to look at. That's how I snagged mine.