Hi guys! I am currently looking to buy my first car, and I found a very good looking 97 850T5R sedan for $3000 with around 150k miles.
I have a couple of questions though...
Since I am a college student, I don't have a lot of money to maintain a car. What worries me is that this is a 240hp performance vehicle - is it hard/expensive to maintain? If you consider that my total budget for a car is $4000, and the car is $3000, do you think I should get it?

Or should I look for something more sensible and boring for a first car.

 

That would be an awsome car for the price.
Just make sure that the service records look good and If you test drive the car, drive it pretty hard to make sure there is not a potentional problem.
If you do get it, then just keep up with regular maintenance and oil changes, (which shouldnt cost that much). If you leave the extra $1000 off to the side, you should be cover if almost anything happens.

 

Is there anything special I need to know about the T5-R? Special maintainance needed?

The reason I'm asking is because I was looking at a Ford Taurus SHO before that and they need to be serviced every 60k miles - timing belt, valve adjustment, crank position sensors...real nightmare!

Is the T5-R anything like that?

 

I dont remember the maintenance times for the 850s, but it is not like the ford.
The valves have hydraulic lifters (which are self adjusting), I think the timing belts is at 100,000 miles (some can correct this), not sure about the crank. It is a turbo car, so just use fully synthetic oil every 5000-75000 miles. The PCV system might need to be cleaned if it hasent been, but http://www.fcpgroton.com/ has a kit. (Click here for a good write up on how to fix it).

Never race the motor untill it is fully warmed up, and let the car Idle a minute or too after you drive it so the turbo can cool down.

 

I have two of them and they need no special servicing at all. I do not run the synthetic oil. I run Valvoling Synthetic blend and change every 3,000 to 3,500 miles. The timing belt is the most important thing and it is to be changed every 70K. If you don't buy it let me know more about it. Heck I might be interested. That's low mileage compared to mine and I would NOT even consider selling either one of them for less than about $6,000.

Now in 97 they were not T5R's though. They were 850 R's. Look at the VIN and make sure the 6-7 positions are 58. That would make it an 850 R which is basically the same as the T5R which was only made in 95. If it's 57 that is a T5 but not an R and it will have 222 HP not 240. If it's not 57 or 58 you really don't want the car.

 

Sorry. My bad - it's a 850R (58 in the vin). I didn't realize there was a difference between the T5-R and this.

So I shouldn't be afraid of the maintanance costs?
Also, do you think a regular mechanic will be able to service it properly - is there anything fancy with it? The reason I'm asking is because there are no Volvo specialists in my area

And what kind of MPG can I expect from it, in normal driving mode - I hope around 20MPG?

 

HighVoltage, I just got my 850GLT at the end of September. I also had a Honda Accord I sold to get this. I will tell you that general maintenance is on par or maybe a little less that a Honda, IF you get the parts your self or go to a mechanic that works on european cars. If you go to the Stealership, you will pay! But there are general mechanics that work on Volvos or european shops and they will be reasonal. When I got mine I had no Idea on maintenance history so I had to drop about $1,300 for T-belt, eater pump and a bunch of other stuff. I didn;t have to do it, but again I had no Idea of previous maintenance. I guess it was $1,300 for peace of mind. So far I have LOVED this CAR, quicker, more comfortable, quieter than my ACCORD! My accord also got about 26 MPG and this Volvo has averaged me 22MPG. So as TIPSP said, just make sure you check up on the Maintenance History. If it pans out, sounds like a GREAT DEAL! What Color is it? Good luck......

 

It is black. I will probably replace the timing belt and water pump as well. It is at a dealership and they are not very sure of the maintanance history of the car.

 

Hmm......if it's a dealer, they took it in trade. Is it a Volvo dealership?

 

Well check it out for any signs of failure and go from there, test drive it pretty hard. An R for $3000, not bad. Better ****** it before JimKW does

Good luck!

 

If it's a Volvo store they might hold on to 3k. If it's not then they might not know necessarily know what it is (meaning true value of an R). If you feel Ballsy enough and it's a regular dealer and not a Volvo place, go in with a check or if you can $2,500.00 and see what they do. I would almost bet they own that car for like $1,500-$1,800 wholesale. Again only if u are able to. I bet they would take it.

 

BTW, I used to work at a dealer, so I know!...Good Luck!

 

I paid 4K for my Yellow one and it was in bad shape when I got it.

 

Listen we only have eight Volvo's in the family right now and we are looking to make it 10. So and 850 R for $3,000 looks pretty good to me. But I don't want black so you are safe. haha.

I would be leary of a car from a dealership for $3,000 though. I would find a independent mechanic that knows at least a little about Volvo's and have an inspection. I was assuming it was a private owner for that price. I paid close to $6,000 for my yellow one about a 1.5 years ago and thought it was a great deal. The yellow T5R only imported 185 into the USA though, so they are pretty hard to find.

As far as gas mileage: On a trip I get very close to 30 mpg in the white one, about 26 in the yellow one and about 27 in the V70. The white one averages about 25 combined city/highway, the yellow about 23 and the V70 about 24. My white is a 97 which is the year you are looking at.

 

It is at a dealership and I looked at their other offers - they have a lot of cheap cars. They have a couple of GLTs for $3000 as well. It is a fairly big dealership and my bet is that they just don't know the real value of the car if they are asking only $3k for it. I'm going to go and see it in a couple of days and I'm almost sure that I'll get it.

The other cool thing is that I plan to get insurance from Progressive and for some odd reason they don't know what a 850R is either, given the VIN number they just quoted me for a regular 850 4-door sedan.

 

A volvo is a volvo. A bmw is a bmw. Dosent really matter what the model of the car unless it is a convertible or a coupe (higher risk and stuff).

Good luck with the car. Hope it is a good car for you!

 

God Luck with the purchase!

 

Well...I went to see the car and it was a beater! Really awful. I guess not bad for the price, and a good project car, but I simply don't have the time,energy and money to make it a good runner. The dealer actually wanted $2500 for it.
Here is what was wrong:
-first off - no alloys, it had imitation plastic caps to make it look like alloys. I gotta say, from a distance you really can't tell.
- front spoiler had cracks, fog lights were missing
- power steering pump was leaking badly! An amateur could tell there was something wrong, there was fluid all over the nearby parts, and after letting the car sit for a minute - on the pavement under it.
- engine - nasty little ticking noise, the dealer said it was the normal "Volvo tick" because it was a five cylinder. Well, I've heard many Volvo engines on Youtube and none of them sounded like that. I bet it was a valve gone bad.
- interior was in good shape, but probably that was the only good thing on the car.
- when I started it, the dash lit up like a christmass tree - the Check engine light, Service light, ABS light (!!!) and Traction Control light(!!!) were all on! After a few minutes of driving, I noticed the Oil light started to flicker for a couple of seconds.
- the Turbo gauge on the dash was not working. Was the Turbo itself working...I couldn't tell. I know it is supposed to do 0-60 in around 8 seconds, but it didn't feel like that. It didn't spin the tires at all.
- wheel bearing issue from the right - knocking noise.

Needless to say I didn't buy it. I made the right decission, right?

But I have to say - I loved the way it feels, I'm definetely going to keep looking for a 850!

 

Sounds like a POS! There are plenty of fish in the sea.... It took me 3 years to find my 97 850 that I bought in September 08... I had seen a ton others that were classified as "Clean" or my fav. "Like new" and then you get there and its just a SLED! Take your time searching. You will know when u see her sitting there if it's the right Volvo! Good Luck in the search!

 

Techs was in pretty bad shape but his looks awsome now.
I will say that all the volvos I have seen and heard have some sort of valve tapping, which is what sounds like your describing.
If you dont feel it is a good buy, then dont jump into something that makes you feel uncomfertable.