hey guys volvo owner wannabe here. i need a new commuter car and i have had bad luck with my VW's so a friend told me to switch to a volvo. basically im just wanting to be talked into why i should go with volvo.

Im looking at 850's or s-70's from the late 90's bc they are readily availible on craigslist in my area and seem to be priced right for just being my commuter car. good mpgs..or as good as they can be is a must as i put alot of mileage on my car. and of course reliabilaty is most important.

ive done a decent amount of work on cars so most repair jobs i can do myself if i have instructions (timing belt, spark plugs, wheel bearings etc.)

the thing im most worried about is the trans and engine. cant afford to replace either after i buy the car. i would like to get manual if possible but if the auto are reliable im fine with that.

any help is MUCH appreciated thanks!!

 

Like any car, the 850 has its quirks, but overall it's a VERY solid car with a lot of features. You are not gonna get outstanding gas mileage out of it, though.

 

The diagnosis of problems can be frustrating, you will need to have lots of patience to figure out a problem with these cars because they run and don't wanna stop. I had only figured out my last one had a blown head gasket and head when a mechanic did a pressure test. Car's are almost entirely steel for the body, a rolling tank.

Even after sitting for a year from being parted, the thing STILL started up. Mind you rats were living in its intake.

Are you in for long hours of work? Do you like ripping a car apart to fix things? Do you have metric tools?

If yes to all the above, go for a turbo. I'm sure you can find a buying guide around this website. You can get a car that someone will say is shot for a steal, because simple maintenance was not performed. For a few $100 the car could triple in value. Yet mechanics will say and charge prices 3 - 17 times the value of replaceable items. Yes, do the work yourself.

 

lets talk you out of it ,you will spend more money on repairs then the cost of the car . and he's no friend at all if he told you to buy a volvo ! go buy a nissan ! you'll see ! i hope your very rich.

 

Parts are expensive, you have to order them online, nobody wants to work on them, the dealer wants $125 per hr w/minimum 1 hour.
No OBD scanner that you can afford to buy will read Volvo trouble codes.
We have a turbo wgn, we average 22 mpg using premium fuel and 90% of its life is shorts trips (5 miles or less).
Seats 7 but the third row is best left unused.
We love it, its safe, runs and runs, 35 mpg on the expressway and the parts guy at my dealer sells used parts out of the back of his car in the parking lot.
It has tons of quirks, but she is quick and loves to cruise over 90 mph and still gets 30 mpg.

 

thank u all for the responses and yes i did say talk me out of it so thanks for that response too. but i wont be buying a nissan LOL

i prefer not to get one with a turbo although it would be nice, its one more thing to go wrong...

the fact that the 850's like to run is good news for sure but if theres an abnormal amount of maintenance involved im a little hesatant. im capable of doing alot of work to the car myself and have most the tools needed for misc. jobs but since it would be my commuter id like to spend as little time on it as possible.

the very reason im not buying a VW again id bc of the jetta that i have now. i have not stopped working on since i bought it. it seems everyweekend im under the hood or somewhere else under the car.

i have a diesel truck which is where i like to spend my time working and upgrading. all i wana do with this commuter if it ends up being a volvo is put gas in it and change the oil once in a while.

thanks again for the help guys!

 

hmmm thats a bit concerning ( the part about the scanner) ordering online is ok thats what i do now anyway and i do most of my own work if i can find the time.

thats good news!! 30-35 highway is good enough for me. and quirks are ok just about evry car i owned had some wired quirk.

any problems with the tranny to speak of? is urs auto or stick?

 

As for the scanner: i dont have one. I use the data port that's under the hood to pull (and reset) codes. No scanner required. That being said, most auto parts stores will pull codes for you for free.

As for maintenance: i wouldn't say that the maintenance is more on these cars than any other car out there. it's possibly more important to DO the maintenance to keep the car running right, but it's not more.

As for parts: I have always found FCP, IPD, and eeuroparts pretty reasonable prices for parts, and a lot of times you get free shipping.

 

didnt kno they had a test port under the hood? how do u pull up the codes? with a scanner like device?

routine and preventative maintenace are fine with me. its when things that i wouldnt normally expect to break start breaking that bothers me. so if this car is comparable to most than thats fine.

what about the tranny though? are the autos reliable (assuming proper care was taken) and what about the manual's? are they any more reliable

 

I beat the crap out of mine and its as strong as ever. I just continue to show it love by changing the fluids constantly. Its an Automagic.

The car is rugged and very crash safe. Built pretty good, lots of extras and can be upgraded for more fun. My car hauls booty and I love it. I agree, if your going to get one get a turbo.

 

you don't even need a scanner if you get the right year that has the diagnostic unit under the hood. All you do is plug in the test lead and hit a button in the right sequence (which is in the haynes manual) and it will read out codes for you. You can also use this to get actual mileage off the car if the odometer is broken.

 

awesome! thanks for the info

trust me, i would love a turbo if i knew it was not going to add any unnecessary headaches if a deal comes along and it already has a turbo then who knows.....

also thaks for the info on the "automagic" haha

 

I bought mine 6 months ago. Had a lot of small to medium issues. Took care of many myself, a few have popped up. I did research at the potential issues with engines and transmissions. I did not find them to be particularly troublesome.

This car reminds me of a Mercedes I had, great cars in their youth, but not easy to keep up with the bs /small things. Volvo parts are much cheaper though. I do the work myself too, just like I did on the Mercedes and others.

When I bought this 850, the transmission was jerky. I have changed the fluid twice in the last 6 months and transmission is working better. I hear that the cure to transmission problem is not re-building, but buying another "box" pre-owned for $ 300 and putting it in yourself if you can.

This is the 2nd Volvo I have owned, and it's just like my first (240 sedan): gives you plenty of notice if things are going wrong.

If you want to just throw gas and a few oil changes, look for one that is exceptionally taken care of, but I just don't think a 15-year old car (850) will be problem-free.

MPG is about 22-25 mpg depending on where.

A friend of mine has the XC90 and hates it. He says Volvo quality has gone down from the 80s to the 90s to the new millennium.

 

id have to agree that car quality in general has gone down quite a bit

when u say "box" what do u mean? buy a whole used tranny for cheap and swap it in?

i guess stupid stuff breaking comes with the territory of buying a car that has 115k to 150k on it (what im lookin at) but as i stated earlier i just dont wana deal with another car like this jetta... i got a stack of parts reciepts bigger than any of my prior vehicles.

like said above im planning on buying a volvo be it 850 or another model that has 115K-150K on it. if timing belt hasnt been done recently, i kno im in for that but what else can i expect? or does it vary between each car (the same model though)

 

We have a autobox, they come with 3 modes, normal, sport and winter. Sport mode holds shifts longer for max power in each gear.
Winter mode "slips" the clutches and starts you off in 2nd gear from a dead stop to prevent wheel spin on slippery roads.
No troubles with it, I change the fluid once a year.
Upto '95 are both OBDI and OBDII compliant. In the US OBDII became standard in all cars.
OBDI means there is a diagnostic box under the hood, there is a probe with a wire and you stick it into a hole and a LED flashes and you count the flashes and then compare those to your trouble code book.
Example-3 long and 4 short flashes mean X.
2 short and 5 long with 1 short mean Z.
You can use a generic OBDII scanner (I have one) and it will read trouble codes but it will just give you generic codes, which is not a bad thing, it just takes alittle more of your knowledge to figure out what may be wrong.

The odometer will stop working at some point, you must tear the whole dash out to repair a $3 gear that turns the OD numbers.

They have a oil change light that tells you when to change the oil, if you get one with the trip computer you can reset the light yourself, if you dont then you cant.
The trip computer has 6 functions, you will know if it has it by the **** on the side of the dash, turn the **** and different functions will light up in the LCD display.
Miles til empty, average MPG, outside temp, trip OD, instant MPG and average speed.

I dont know about the sedan, but the wgn has a access panel in the floor of the cargo area to replace the fuel pump.
Took me 2 hours and thats because I had to remove the third seat and CD changer.

 

+1 on that.

 

I gotta agree. Really, you dont have a setup that is that much more complicated on a turbo. Just the turbo itself, some intake piping, 2 oil lines, and 2 coolant lines. It's not a lot of complexity, but it is a LOT more fun. Plus, you can turn it into a nasty little beastie if you want to. Go over to volvospeed and see some of the monsters that a lot of guys there have built. Nothing like taking a box with wheels and adding a turbo off a dump truck to make it stupid fast.

 

Turbo really kicks it nice, especially since I replaced the fuel pump.

 

it depends what you want to do with it... if you buy an N/A manual, theres nothing to go wrong, the engines never break, i find that mostly electronics break, stupid motors.. Turboed ones are good too, just they need a little more love, if you buy one thats been well taken care of it probably wont cost you much at all. Then all you need is a drop + pegs. haha
a picture is worth 1000 words.. this is why you should buy one..

 

Hey matt01 what springs are you using?