I'm looking to buy a 97 Volvo 850 TR5 over the weekend with 150,000 miles. I've owned a Volvo 850 GLT for a while, so I know they're great cars. What type of stuff should I inspect before buying this car? I'm not very familiar with turbo cars, however I've wanted one for a while.

 

There's not much difference between the turbo and non-turbo in terms of problem areas but first thing is to see if you can get maintenance records. I'd check for cold starting (ie tune up, vacuum leaks) and warm starting (emissions and fuel system issues), suspension clunks, oil leaks (particularly the turbo line feed seal) etc . I've owned my 95 850T wagon since new and the most annoying issues have been 1) AC evaporator (part inside the dash). If this leaks, its a $1000+ repair to get your ac going 2) AC compressor - the clutches can go leading to the ac working for about 15 minutes, then overheat and shuts off 3) ABS bits - wheel sensors can cause odd ABS warning lights 4) rear main seals - 850s do bleed so check what oil/frequency for maintenance 5) PNP switches - ask if they've experienced getting stuck in park or a low gear 6) front suspension - strut mounts, end links and control arm bushings are wear items. BTW, the OEM Sachs/Boge shocks are very good fit for the car. If you want to upgrade the handling, get IPD's heavy duty sway bars with the matching HD end links. 7) thermostat/temp sensors. consider replacing when you get the car as a tune up item...

 

Doesn't the GLT have a turbo?..

 

In 93-95 GLTs had the naturally aspirated 5 cylinder (~168 HP in US trim) - In 96-97, Volvo gave the GLT trim the LPT (light pressure turbo ~ 190 HP) design and left the natural in the base trim 850. LPT uses a smaller turbo to spin up more quickly and emphasize low RPM torque over high RPM horsepower. LPTs can accept an ECU "flash" to up the boost to add 30-40 HP - but the upside is limited by the turbo size. Still puts a GLT in the T5 HP range...

 

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification

 

Make sure the major services have been done, the PCV system and timing belt, and that the maintenance items such as tires belts hoses and whatnot are new or have a lot of life left in them. These cars are not worth very much money and you don't want to put money into them that isn't absolutely necessary. You always want to try to find one it needs as little as possible.