I picked up our red 850 GLT (non-turbo) 5 speed three years ago. After a year of my long highway commute, I handed it to my wife so I could drive a gas sipper. Now, our local Volvo dealership (Village Volvo, Bel Air, MD) just closed up. Since I prefer to let the dealership do work on this car, we're seriously thinking of selling it sometime soon and getting another car.

Honestly, I don't even know if it's worth the trouble to prepare and sell the car privately versus just trading it in somewhere. I sought out this car because it was a 5spd, so I'm sure there are others that would like the relatively rare option. I'm thinking a dealer wouldn't care about that and just give bottom dollar regardless. What would you guys think:

95 854 GLT
223K miles, non-turbo engine
5 speed
grey leather interior
Alpine stereo with 6-disc changer in trunk
Regular maintenance done by shop, recently replaced control arms, fuel pump, emergency brake cable, brembo rotors, etc.

Cons:
Black trim paint on roof flaking off
Power driver's seat recline mechanism won't work. It was fixed at dealership 3 years ago, looks like plastic gearing stripped again
Power antenna won't retract, which caused top part to break off in local car wash.
Interior 12v doesn't work? I think a quarter fell down in there
Shocks for trunk wore out; bought new ones, but too much labor for me to fix myself



More:
http://www.thebaskins.com/pics/Volvo?page=2
http://www.thebaskins.com/pics/Volvo?page=1

Love the car, but my labor goes into my truck, so my other two cars go to dealerships for work. Losing our Volvo dealership put a kink into that.

My apologies if posts like this aren't allowed in this particular subforum. It's really not for sale, just a technical discussion if it's worth holding out for the right buyer to sell privately or trading in.

 

Hey now Rurik,

1. Black trim paint on roof flaking off - http://volvospeed.com/Repair/850_roof_trim.html

2. Power driver's seat recline mechanism won't work. It was fixed at dealership 3 years ago, looks like plastic gearing stripped again - http://volvospeed.com/Repair/seatcable1.php

3. Interior 12v doesn't work? I think a quarter fell down in there - There are two screws in the change area at the front of the console. Remove them with a small torx, can't remember which one but it is a small one. Pop out the ashtray and carefully remove the connector to the socket and dump what ever is in - out - and reverse the process. And then replace the 20amp fuse.

4. Shocks for trunk wore out; bought new ones, but too much labor for me to fix myself - It really takes no more than an hour if you have the jack stands and wrenches and after seeing it done, to The Anvil, I'm definatly doing the job myself next time.

The car looks to be in great shape, better than what I started with but it's not an Estate,[sm=smiley36.gif], and looks to be worth keeping.[sm=smiley20.gif]

If it were my car, but an Estateand it's paid for, then a couple of extra bucks is better than a CAR PAYMENT[:@].


[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

That is a sweet looking car I would keep it and use the info here to keep it up.

The 5-speed is very rare.
If I could afford it I would buy it from you but I can't.

 

I was hoping it was in worse shape so one of us could buy it as a donor car for the five speed, but it looks too good for that. I agree with the others that you should keep it. It's probably worth about $1500 with those kind of miles on it, but you can't get a better car than that for 1500.

 

Thanks for the comments!

The list of fixes is excellent, so I can see how much I can fix myself. I looked at the Haynes book for the trunk shocks, and it involved removing the rear seats [X(]
Of course, one guide I have also mentions that cutting along the trim of the seat back, so that really put me off that job.

However, we don't believe in car payments, either Our four cars are paid off, and this one has always been the most expensive to maintain, and our regular mechanics won't touch it, thus why we always take it to the dealership. The wife is thinking of selling it and buying another relatively inexpensive car for her (under $5k). (She's also tired of the 5 speed, as am I with a 40-mile heavy traffic commute)

But, summer's here, and being that I'm considering putting it on the market, it won't hurt to dive in and see what I can do myself to fix these issues.

The flaking trim article is spot on... but how does this trim become removed from the car? I assume it can be popped off somehow, painted, and then reinstalled?

 

I would get a rear spoiler for the car.

No, you do not need to remove the rear seats to replace the trunk-lid holding pistons; you only need to remove the shoulder section of the seat (the long padding) to get the access to the claw-end of the piston. Do not try to attach the claw-end from the trunk side, as you would have to exert much force and this can break the claw-end.

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/trunk_struts.php


JPN

 

You guys are awesome. I went and picked up some aftermarket struts and, against advice, did replace them from the trunk. One strut was dead, for which the symptom on the page was understating. The trunk wasn't just heavy, it would never stay up and sounded like a gunshot when dropped. The new strut was a bit off, of course. The hook was slightly larger than the OEM one, so it went on with little effort. Total time was about 15 minutes, and half of that was just orienting myself with the problem.

One job down, looked up and found more details on the roof trim, though the seat issue will go into the shop. Regardless of selling or keeping, that has to be fixed. Who knows, I may fix it all up to sell and decide to keep it. I love driving it, but hate maintaining it.

 

Hey now,

I feel ya []on that one.

I've got too much invested(cash and [sm=loveeyes.gif])in The Anvil to consider selling, and after doing the bumpers which looks great but now I need to do the mud guards, handles and the ring around the mirrors, but if I was looking a V70 vould be my choice. In black, grey or a very dark blue. And a Wing.

The Paint Job.
http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/l...view=slideshow

When I figure out what the "text type" was that I used in paint for my signature I'll change the photo to show the completed trim paint job, guards,handles and all.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

I think once you use the knowledge resources of the great members on this forum, both you and your wife will realize that you can fix most anything on these cars, and with proper care, they will last a long time. Additionally, I think you would be hard pressed to find a more comfortable, safe, and reliable vehicle for the money. I too would consider buying it if I had the cash.