I'm going to look at an 850 tomorrow. The seller says he bought it one year ago under the pretense it was a 1995 model year. The build date on the car's sticker shows 12/94. He didn't pay attention to the title that was issued to him until he thought about selling it. The title indicates 1994 as the model year. I guess it really doesn't matter that much, since I'm looking at a $1200 (hopefully $1000) car. But if I pick it up, I'd like to rectify the mistake if our DMV got the year wrong. Any thoughts on what the true model year is for a December manufacture date? Thanks!

 

What is the VIN number? That will settle it.

...Lee

 

There should also be an "emissions" sticker under the hood that tells that the car meets that years emissions.
Could also be on the sticker with the tire inflation data inside the gas door but the VIN would tell you for sure.

 

I thought that any build date after July would be the next year model. They are already selling 2013 model cars. A dealer Monday told me that the following year models were built after June, so any July dates would indicate the following year car.

The tale sign for all 850's is that they have both OBD-I and OBD-II systems. Some '94's have both but I believe all of the '95's do.

Here is the VIN decoder. The last letter before the last set of numbers set the year model: P = 1993, R = 1994, S = 1995, T = 1996, V = 1997 (now don't forget this, there will be a test later).

http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/...C/vin1995.html

 

I hate how they have a build date and a model year.

Insurance companies here dont care about model year. They insure off the build date, so people who buy cars in jan feb and march of 2012 get insured as a 2011 model and there car is instantly worth less than they paid for it.

And car yards don't help the cause either, because they advertise as a 2012 model, and then the customer gets screwed later when they find out there car is actually a 2011.

 

The month they release a newer model will change so there isn't a hard and fast rule on the build date relating to the model year. For parts it's always best to go by the model year and build date secondly if needed at all.

 

VIN # YV1LS5517S1203142, checks as a 95. It has side airbags, which also proves 95 I believe. I think I'm passing on it due to huge problems with the front end and the probability of oil burn, but it could be a leak. A/C issues too. Oil is not touching the dipstick. More than I want to deal with, but probably worth the price. (asking $1200, implied on the phone he'd take $1000, got the feeling $800 on the spot would have taken it). Just not sure I want to worry about both front end work and the possibility of oil burn. It got me enthused about 850s though - cool car overall.