LMAO this IS the truth !

 

just wondering what ur thoughts were on this 850. its a 1994 wagon doesnt state that it has a turbo but i cant tell from the pic of the engine bay. ~165k on it with auto trans.

its a dealer asking 2495$. if im able to trade in my jetta to them this might work out. timing belt is said to have been done at 148k. heres the link.http://doublezcars.com/component/rda...850-wagon.html

i have found better deals from private sellers but they have been far away from me and i dont have the time to take a 2 hr drive just to test drive the car. i think i could talk the dealer down a little....

 

its an N/A Automatic, i must say thats boring. But it does look clean.. i hate US cars, there so clean compared to our stupid winterized cars..

 

haha yea its definitely looks clean...doesnt necessarily mean that inside the engine is clean LOL but at least it looks like it was cared for. The auto is boring for sure but remember this will primarily be my commuter to work so thats not too big of an issue. was kinda getting my hopes up for a turbo though might stop by and test drive this one anyway....

 

oh one more thing, for drivetrain the add says "2 wheel drive back". i thought these were either front wheel drive or all wheel drive?

 

i dont know what that means but dont worry its FWD.

 

Having been a former VW enthusiast for a number of years (about 14 years), and continually being broke from those damned cars, I would say make the move to the Volvo. Yes, they have their quirks (most of the quirks have fix threads on this forum, and are quite honeslty EASY to fix anyway), parts are very reasonably priced compared to VW. When I was into VWs, I would have to keep at least two VWs in my fleet at all times because one of them was ALWAYS breaking. Now, all of my VWs are gone and I have ONE Volvo...'96 850R wagon. LOVE it. It's fast, fun, cheap and easy to fix. Also, it's not common. Go for the Volvo. You won't regret it.

 

yea ive owned 3 vw's so far. one had a warped head when i bought it a bunch of other problems that i already knew about so no complaints there. but the other two let me down. quirks dont matter to me as long as they dont leave me stranded. lookin foward to makin the switch to volvos

 

been a while..

i was planning on buying my volvo in the spring but the ol' jetta let me down. leaking radiator and leaking tranny fluid (alot of tranny fluid) within the same weak. think im gona fix these issues and get away from this car

that being said what are ur thoughts on this 850 i found on craigslist..seems almost too cheap to me. think somethins wrong with it??

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ctd/2194416327.html

its close enough that i may be able to look at it tomorrow when i go to pick up parts for the VW

 

thats not a bad deal....ive seen cheaper, but if it's in good shape i say go for it. Make sure that the odometer works though ( a common problem on these cars) and if it doesnt use it as a negotiating point.

Print this off and take it along with you:

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850-16/buyers-guide-looking-buy-volvo-850-s70-look-thread-13678/

 

good link thanks. yea gona have to check that odometer

called them up today they said it would be fine if i stopped by tomorrow. ill let you guys kno how it gos...

 

Link is dead -- "Page not found"

 

sry it worked for me before dont kno what happened...EDIT actually its still working for me dont kno why its not workin on ur end

 

link worked fine for me too.

 

page not found for me either. odd

 

do not get a s70 have a lot of problems but the 850 is badass!!
that just sums it up
and that vw you been getting is a P.O.S!

 

The link is dead for me as well - maybe because we're not in the Jersey area? I did a search at that Craigslist site for "volvo 850" and got 56 hits...

If you don't mind retyping the info, which one are you looking at?

In case you hadn't come across this bit; the '97 GLT was the first GLT that had a LPT in it; all previous GLT's were N/A engines. I mention this because I noticed the red '97 GLT wagon with the tan interior (same as mine except I have the charcol interior) for $1,500. It has almost every option including the 3rd row seat (but missing the trip computer). I'm sure it's not a coincidence that they don't have a pic of the engine bay - if I had that car in good condition and the only thing wrong was that dent in the rear door, it'd go for more $$.

If that's the car you're looking at, you'll need to bring an ODBII reader; it doesn't have the ODBI reader built-in.

Two repairs I don't think I saw mentioned before (but may have missed) was the SAS (do a search on SAS delete and rip it out of there) and the blower motor & resistor (or power stage if you're looking at a car with the ECC).

A bit of history on mine; financially I wasn't able to maintain it for most of the last 5 years and it still ticks along. This past summer I dropped about 2 grand worth of parts into it and did all the work myself - and I learned it all from this site and MVS. Before this, I had only changed brakes & rotors, so most of the work had a learning curve for me, but I loved every minute. It's got over 200K miles on it and I love the thing!

 

1996 Volvo 850 Wagon with 110,000 miles. In great condition with new battery. Leather seats, sunroof. Please respond to this topping or call me at *********. Need to sell ASAP so we will accept best offer. asking 1750$

^ thats the info...not much there just wondering about the price. thers pics too but i cant copy them off of the CL page.

never heard of SAS ill have to look it up

 

I see the CL post now.

1- 110k is very low for 1996, but like Ibified said, the odometer most likely does not work. If you see three Zeros at the trip-meter, you don't have to drive the car to see that odometer does not work. Unlike 1994/1995, you cannot read the actual mileage with the flashing Diagnostic Module.

If the odometer does not work, seller cannot claim 110k mileage. Use that against him. It could have 210k miles, who knows?

2- CL Post also states that AC does not work, and they have not even diagnosed it. It could be nothing, it could be something.

3- If it ain't turbo, you have to be double careful with engine operation -- check overheating signs, smoking dipstick, color of oil, head gasket signs, etc. It is counter-intuitive, but turbo engines are actually very durable and have much better lubrication than NA.

Like Ibified pointed out, print out the checklist and go with it.

There are plenty of 850s between $ 1500-2000 in Jersey. For something very comparable, you can get them for $ 500- $ 1000 cheaper in CT, Rhode Island, and MA. If you can't travel to CT/MA, be prepared to pay $ 500 - $ 1,000 more as you would have otherwise.

I don't know why that is. I bought both Volvos in the last 8-months and being in the middle between NJ and CT, I have seen many in both areas.

In terms of years, I hear that 1998 V70 are the best way to go. This year, this model is the final year of 850 setup. 1999 V70 are electronic throttle and somehow Volvo's quality start to worsen after 1998. AWD V70 also have the bevel gear. Almost all 1998 AWD V70 have the rear shaft disconnected and running as FWD. You may impress the neighbors with the "AWD" decal, but AWD isn't working. You also need to spend north of $ 2,200 - 2,500 to get a decent V70 and not in the last breath of life.

For a $ 1,500- $ 1,700 budget, I would advise go with a 1995 850 Turbo. Get it for about $ 1200 - $ 1500, and spend some $$$ to get it buttoned up.

 

SAS is Secondary Air System. It is an electrical Air Pump that pumps air into the exhaust manifold to burn pollutants better, i.e. help the Catalytic Converter. The pump only works when the car is cold for a minute or two.

The problem is that there is a Check Valve between the pump and the Exhaust. With time, this Valve starts to stick and it lets condensation to get from the exhaust back into the pump. The pump gets filled with water and stops working.

You can get rid of this system, or fix it. Volvo owners actually (ironically) use a VW air pump ($ 45 on eBay) and make it work with some minor modifications. The cause -- the Check Valve -- if you can't repair it, a new one costs about $ 85, or of course take-a-chance junkyard for $ 10.

My V90 has the pump, my 850 does not.