Hi,

I'm considering buying a 97 Volvo 850 for $1,000. It's in fair to good condition. The paint job is faded on the roof and there is one spot where it is started to peel off of the chrome behind a window.

There's a dent behind the driver's side rear wheel. It doesn't seem to have affected the structure but I'm no pro. The bumper is scraped up and I can't figure out how or why.

Mileage is 186,000. The timing belt was last changed at 132,000.

The PCV system does seem like it's in trouble. I drove for 15 minutes or so and did the dipstick test. I saw smoke. I'm all thumbs so I'd have to pay a mechanic for that.

There are a few things I didn't check. I didn't see any oil on the engine, but I didn't get far enough under the car to see if any oil was dripping there.

I drive about 3-5,000 miles per year, mostly in-town. My question is, is it worth picking this car up for $1,000?

When I drove it it seemed great. Power was good, most of the electric stuff worked. Heater only worked on the passenger side, the seat heaters didn't work, and I was unable to use the key to get into the trunk.

Thanks for any feedback you might have!

Best,

Troy

 

Hi and welcome to the site.

My general rule of thumb is to advise people against buying one of these cars if they don't do their own maintenance. Not sure how that would apply to someone that will drive so little. I'd say these cars are worth $4,000 minus any needed repairs or maintenance.

Here is my new and improved per purchase video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4g-w4OXeBw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

I agree with Robert. I think it would be okay to buy it for $1000, and use it for transportation, but not really pay any more to take care of it. It may last a year, and that may be worth it to you. You could buy a brand new honda civic for $20,000, and that would last 20 years easily. It's okay either way. Not brilliant, but okay. Whatever you do, don't buy it for $1000 and then get talked into a series of $500 repairs (remember a series starts with the first one).

 

if you're all thumbs the PCV and timing belt job will cost about 1,200 put together. Then I'm sure there's going to be a host of other things to attend to such as tires and alignment, heater core, some dashboard lights, and maybe an oil leak or two. Oh yeah, and maybe some shocks and struts, and some springs while you're in there. And how about those vacuum leaks? Better get them fixed too.

At the end of the day, you'll have about 7,500 into a 2,500 car. So, in a word, no.

 

Thanks for the good advice. I passed on the car.

Best,

Troy