Hi, folks. I don't actually own a Volvo. I'm looking around for my first one, but I probably won't buy one until later in the spring unless a ridiculous deal comes along. I mentioned on my blog that I need four reliable doors and wouldn't mind a wagon, but I want to pay cash, and someone suggested mid-90's Volvo wagons. The more I look at 850's, the more I like them, and I drove a '95 turbo sedan I really liked, but didn't pull the trigger. I'm just trying to find out as much as I can before I commit.

See, until I got married, I had a series of charming, rustic vehicles. My first car was a 1977 Bronco with a 302 V8, three-speed on the column, Dana 44 front and Ford 9-inch rear axles. It was bashed to hell, painted rattle-can orange, and the body pan was so rusted that I didn't dare take the top off, but it would go anywhere and I loved it. When it became clear that it was simply unsafe at any speed (the door posts, seat brackets and seat belt points were all bolted into rust and not much else) I put that 302 into a 1982 Mustang with some GT parts on it. Drove that one for years, too. Eventually, when the electrical gremlins got that one, I got an Escort GT that mysteriously lost oil pressure and assumed room temperature on the way to the BLADE show in Atlanta. After that, I got a really excellent '89 Cadillac Sedan Deville that showed me what a joy 4 doors and a big trunk can be. I drove the wheels off that one.

When I got married, my wife had never gotten to pick her own car, and she was desperate for a red Camaro with t-tops. I got it in writing that I would not be required to grow a mullet, and we went out and got her Camaro. I hated that thing--it was just like a Camaro, only slow, with a 3.4 V6. That's a 160-horsepower V6 in a car that already weighs twice what it should, and the ratio of the tiny interior to the huge exterior is truly a marvel of ***-backwards engineering.
So guess who drives that car now? Well, we adopted twins, and that was hard enough, but now we have another boy acquired the old-fashioned way. This got my wife out of the Camaro mood in a hurry, and we got her a beautiful almost-new Ford mini-van. She loves it, which is great. But at the moment, it leaves me driving that POS Camaro. Of course, we can't afford another beautiful set of payments, so that leaves me to find something reliable and safe (but not boring if I can help it) with four doors and room for two kids and a baby seat in a pinch. I like the idea of the wagon if only to have lots of room for guns, fishing poles, anvils and floor sanders.

I'm hoping I can put together a list of things to check out, problems to beware and good signs to look for in used Volvos, especially the 850 series.

 

Hello,

I would advise you to look on ebay also. I have seen pretty nice once on their and some even with extreamly low miles like in the 30-40K mile range. Also the S70 is a good car also. Its just like a more mordernize version of the 850 they were made from 98-00. Also I would do a nationwide search on cars.com and autotrader. Because if you find a really nice car with low miles then it would be worth to travel out of state to buy it, I heard lots of people do that. Gook luck

 

I think you are on the right track looking at the 850's. Just make sure that you have it looked at by a trusted mechanic and see if you can get the service records for it. Timing belts are a must to be changed about every 70K. Good luck in your search.

 

So far the S70's and the like have been out of my price range. I want to show up with a check in hand and own the car; no payments!

I wouldn't be averse to travel, but I just don't have a lot of time for that. I live about halfway between St. Louis and Chicago, so I can go to either of those areas pretty easily, but I can't take a lot of time away right now. I'm a school teacher, so during the summer I might be able to do something like that.
Thanks.