How would you rate them? I mean obviously its no Honda Civic (Which is a good thing :-) ) but would it be stupid to buy one the way gas prices are going up?

As I said in another forum, I am in highschool and just getting my license so I cannot put too much money into gas.

 

My 850 non turbo with a 5 speed gets 30 to 31 MPG on the highway and around 22 in the city and I drive it very hard. My son has an 850 non turbo with an automatic and I have no idea what kind of mileage it gets since he never fills it up - My best guess is around 27 to 29 on the highway. The new turbo platinumwas just picked up and I have not filled it an run it through a tank yet. The computer shows about 4 mpg when I nail it at the stop light and into the 40 MPG range when I am at a steady speed down the highway. Both are off way base but I think they do the high 20 mpg range on average on the highway.

For the performance that they have(N/A or Turbo) the mileage is actually excellent.I put 350 miles on the Suburban today going to a job soall Volvo mileage looks good to me.

...Lee

 

Hey now,

I remember high school .

Your picking a good car, but, with the way repairs can empty your pocket fairly quickly you'd better not beat the crap out of your car or gas would be the least of your worries.

Gas is really not that bad if you drive properly and don't try to beat everyone that you come across and that can be hard to do when you drive one of these cars as you can put your foot into it fairly gently and the next thing you know everything will be zipping by. And if you drive an Estate(sounds better than wagon)you'll have a nice big window to watch them disappear in. Or out of

The Anvil gets around 550 - 600km per tank which I think is fairly good considering.


[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

Our 95 850 Turbo gets about 28 combined city/highway and it is driven "briskly" Not fantastic, but for a large, solid car it is not bad at all.

 

I started looking at these new "Just for Two" cars that have a little 3 cylinder engine in them. They are rated at 40 mpg highway. I'm like saying to myself if I can get 28-30 mpg highway in my Volvo why in the world would I buy some little car like that for only 10-12 mpg better? I saw one on the road and thought it might be like a 70 mpg car in which case I would probably look into one, but 40 mpg, no way.

 

It really depends on your car. You have guys like them getting 28-30ish, and you have me who's getting around 19-20 (80% local). I do have to replace my PCV system though so hopefully my MPG jumps up a couple notches after.

But remember that parts are in general slightly more expensive and labor (at the dealership) is more expensive as well.

From everything I've read, it seems that 22-25ish is pretty average for total mileage. You need to remember that our cars are heavy and the I5 isn't as fuel efficient as an I4, and the turbo certainly does not help either.

Oh, and if you have the Turbo, you also want to think about using premium. If you drive slowly and don't hit the gas a lot, then 87 shouldn't be a problem, but if you like to boost a lot, I would go premium.

 

Hey now,

Young man + Turbo Brick + Premium Fuel + repairs = $$$$$$$$$$

If your worried about gas prices then you may want to consider a different car.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

Nah, I was just wondering. I love Volvos I am willing to work a lot to have one of these babies. You keep talking about repairs. From what ive read, it seems that Volvos will run forever, but little things on them break all the time. Is this true?

I am a pretty good driver (for a 16 year old) and I don't drive wrecklessly. I just want to drive in style and be able to beat out mini van moms for kicks.

 

By gas I'm assuming you mean petrol and not lpg.

I drive a 95 850 T5 Auto and I get about 16->18 mpg in the city and 35mpg on a long motorway run (I tend to cruise at about 80mph) however I find if I put anything lower than 95RON in it runs like a dog. Here we generally only get 95RON (Premium unleaded) and 99RON (Super unleaded) however I did once put 90RON "Unleaded" in and the car was really down on power and did poor MPG.

UK gallons and US gallons are different though iirc.

As for servicing etc - at a non-dealer I've just had my 90k mile service for £90 ($176.14 according to google) including flushing the autobox fluid, My car is in at the moment getting new discs (rotors) and pads all round replaced for £200 ($391.42 - again according to google). Tyres are fairly expensive, although I buy fairly decent ones, at £100 a corner ($195.71) for 205/50R16 "V" Michelins and the 850s tend to chew front tyres although my dad's 2.5 was far better than my T5 as I'm lucky to get 7k miles out of them (heavy right foot).

There are a few big pluses with driving a Volvo over something like a BMW however especially if you are young (I'm 23). The insurance is dirt cheap for the performance of the car, it only costs me £500/year for fully comp and I'm had two fault claims and been driving only 3 years (Think close to £2000 for a BMW etc with similar performance). The "Q" or "Sleeper" factor - nobody expects a "grandad" car to be able to shift like the right Volvo, why do you think the police over here loved them? Finally, and probably because of the "Q" car-ness you hardly ever get pulled over by the police (over here anyway) a mate of mine replaced a BMW 330i Sport with a V70R AWD and never gets pulled over anymore.

I've been looking at converting the car to LPG (hence my comment about gas v petrol) however I don't think it's worth it. Sure petrol is £1.10 -> £1.15 / litre here and LPG is a lot cheaper but it's about £2000 for the conversion.

 

The little things seem to break all the time, and it does add up. They will run forever IF you maintain your car very well. They need a lot of attention and it's not like your other cars where you can neglect it and still get it to work alright.

As far as fuel efficiency is concerned, imo it's not that fuel efficient, or as efficient as it could be because of the gearing. It seems as though these transmissions aren't as good for fuel economy as your other v6s and such.

 

Compaired to what I used to drive these things are good on gas.
Before I got these I used to drive my Mustang but that doesn't really count for bad milage. When I parked it I was still getting 25-27. 2.63 gears really helped on that.
But the other V-8's werent as good.
On our trip to SC both of the Volvo's 29-30 on the highway at all times.
Around town I get between 22 and 25 depending on my mood. Boost is your friend!!! LOL
But I am really happy with the milage on both of ours.

 

Im in the same boat you are since i am in highschool and am interested in a 850 used car. I recommend you go for it since the benefits the 850 offers out weight its negatives.
First, Ive heard this car getsany where from 18-22 MPG city which isnt great, but its not like its going to destroy your wallet anymore than othernon hybrid carsare. Its a decent MPG.
Second, you can get a quality 850, meaning that itwould last a while, for as little as 2500-3500 dollars. At this price the money your are saving in choosing this car easily overcomes a year or two ofMPG shavings.
Lastly, the 850 is a unique car in a world dominated bypeople driving civics and audi's. With some aestic upgrades itcan look sick.
Therefore I think you should buy the 850, since its MPG problems are not that big of a deal compared with its advantages. If you buy the car however, put a good amount of time into checking its performance before you sign the check, since mechanical problems with the carpose thebiggest threat.

 

Hey now,

I totally agree with CarandAuto5.

When I bought my 850, almost three years ago, the safety for it was agrand as the tail light wouldn't pass. Fogged up too badly. And I had to replace the front right headlight as it couldn't be leveled.

If your really going to buy this car make sure it has an owners manual, if not http://www.analogstereo.com/volvo_850_owners_manual.htmand read through it twice before you buy the car so that you know everything about what the car has and how to check it.

Take at least two test drives, one during the day and one when it's dark for at least a half hour. And NO stereo playing. Your not buying a stereo, your buying a car. And you car always replace the factory head unit like I did after you get the car.

The reason for this is that things are obviously different at night and you'll want to be able to see how the lights look, how the car really sounds and feels. Things are always different when it's dark out and you don't want to find one light looking down in front of the car and another looking for snipers in the trees on the side of the road [sm=smiley36.gif].

Really though. Make sure that the engine is cold to the touch so that the current owner can't have the car warmed up as this is a really good way to hide things that may not sound right as the car warmsup.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

24 MPG 70% highway @ 55 mph for me, I've got an 850 NA wagon.

It did get 27 MPG with 95% being on the highway, I was ecstatic.

I had a Honda Prelude as a highschool student, I'd get another Honda in a heartbeat. Good on gas, low mx, cheap to repair, etc. Just get something > mid 90's, otherwise they are rust buckets.

If you want max MPG, I'd look into a diesel Jetta, although they are expensive nowadays.

 

i have an 850 GLT on a full tank (70 litres or so) got me to 650km+ highway (could've gone to 700km+ if i drove her dry but i really didn't want to run out of gas on the highway) and then around 480km+ city.

 

Hey now,

I'm almost the exact same with my milage and I think that it's pretty darn good.

I have had many other cars and never gotten this good a milage count with the others so I'm .

The way the price of gas keeps climbing I may look into some of those "milage improvers??" I keep seeing on Speed Channel, my favorite channel by the way .

I wish there was a show dedicated to Volvo's as there are so many Brick lovers out there and I, for one, would love it.

So many shows for V8's, trucks large and small, mostly with V8's and horsepower shows. Again all with V8's. It's like we don't exsist which sucks.

I wonder how hard it would be to set up a web cam, or two or three, and show how I go about fixing my ride? All the good, the bad and the banged knuckles . Something to think about I guess.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

^Most of the mileage improvers are shams.

The best way to improve mileage is to change your driving habits and to make sur eall maintenance is up to date (air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, etc). There is no magic product that will give you tons more MPG without you changing driving habits.

 

does using premium really give you a little extra boost in the turbo? because if it does, i might have to put a different kind of gas in my car

 

Yep. Premium will give you extra power. When you use a low grade, the car will pull timing. When this next tank is low (1/4 to 1/3), I'd fill with a tank of premium just to see the difference. It should feel different and I'd also keep an eye on your MPG to see if that improves as well.

 

sweet. i'll have to try that, maybe sometime when i have a thousand dollars to fill my tank. not really, but i'm definately gonna do that.