Hi there. I'm trying to sell my 96 Cadilac STS and am looking at buying either a 93-97 Volvo 850 wagon or a Honda accord Wagon of the same year. I love the power and handleing of the STS but we need more room and to use less gas (300 miles on 20 gallons of premium). Well I read all about the 850 wagon and how it handels which is something of importance to me, and am sold on the 850 but I need to know what to look for. What was a good year for these cars? What was a bad year? I am mechanically inclined and do almost all my own work so I'm not afraid of that part as I know all cars need some TLC at some point. I've never owned a Turbo. How long do they last? Is it worth it? I need to get an automatic unfortunatly due to a ... well lets call it a marital thing (stuborn wife eh).
If anyone has a link or wants to get hold of me to answer any of these ???'s please don't hesitate to e-mail me at ancorr@charter.net
Thankyou in advance. Sincerely, Andre

 

Personally I would not have anything but a Turbo 850. They are reliable cars and have quite a bit of acceleration. The 94 850 Turbo was rated at 152 mph in Motor Trend when it was introduced. They have problems with the Evaporator and some oil leaks. The rest are fairly normal wear and tear type problems. The 98 V70 is also pretty much the same as the 850 wagon and was the last year for Volvo before Ford bought the company. Stay away from 99-01 Volvo's.

I once raced a Cadilac STS going up the mountains out of Colorado Springs with my 94 850 Turbo. We got going pretty fast, and I think I would have beat him, but I had my wife and three kids in the car, and the wife was not very happy about it. So I had to shut down.

The bottom line is that they are great cars. They did not make the Turbo in 93 the first year for the 850 in USA. The Turbo's first year was 94 and the T5R was made in 95. It's a sportier version of the Turbo with 240 hp vs. 222. The T5R became just the 850 R in 96 and 97. In 98 they made a V70R which was the top of the line Volvo made that year. I think it only comes in AWD though which I stay away from. Try and find an 850 R wagon. They will be few and far between. In 94-95 the Turbo was called the 850 Turbo and in 96-97 it was called the T5. The Turbo on the 850 has '57' as the 5th and 6th positions of the VIN and the R/T5R had '58' in those positons.