I don't know anything about these cars, but somebody must love them because I saw a bunch of them at Carlisle a couple of years ago. They are nondescript and cheap and a bunch of them have turbos. Are they worth looking at?
I'm on the prowl for a cheap, comfortable, 4-door (or even a wagon) commuter. Oh yeah..it needs to be nimble and somewhat fast. Did I mention cheap? 
The Volvo only caught my eye because it is one of the few cars I have no opinion on, or experience with.
I knew that I had written on this topic before and I went back and found it.
The whole thread:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/volvo-s70-se-deal/1604/page1/
As commented and shown below, the whole car seems to be built around the AC evaporator.
jrw1621 wrote:
I picked up a '95 Volvo 850 wagon w/ 5 speed about two years ago, which is pretty much the same car. I have liked it and found some good online support for the few items that I replaced.
Resources:
http://volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml
http://www.fcpgroton.com/index-exec/
http://www.eeuroparts.com/home.aspx
http://www.volvospeed.com/vs_forum/
http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?showtopic=8739
Here is a fantastic write up on the incredible evaporator replacement. http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf
I have it bookmarked because my AC has needed a recharge each summer here in Ohio. For my climate I seem to be able to get away with a can of 134a in May followed by another can in late August. Other than that, I do not need AC. Two $12 cans is a much better deal than installing an evap.
I have had a love hate relationship with a 1996 5spd 850. I hated the car more than any other object on earth, and it loved to spend money and time in the shop.
To start, the cars are tanks. They will just about never stop running. The problem comes from all the electronic safety/ emissions bs that is on them. I had to replace a $400 accelerometer that had something to do with engine managment and that was the final straw. I tried to love the car many times as it had good power and handled decently, but it always ended up being another problem.
On a related to note, I believe that I am no longer welcome at the Volvo dealership in Albany, NY after a 45 second 2 gear burnout in front of the service department. Also, don't punch the steering wheel in anger, it will break the horn contacts, making the horn stay on, causing even more rage.
To sum this up, buy one and enjoy it if your state doesn't care about check engine lights and emissions otherwise stay away.
(The car has been in the shop for more than a year with an unknown emissions issue and has been given up on.)
GhiaMonster wrote: I have had a love hate relationship with a 1996 5spd 850. I hated the car more than any other object on earth, and it loved to spend money and time in the shop. To start, the cars are tanks. They will just about never stop running. The problem comes from all the electronic safety/ emissions bs that is on them. I had to replace a $400 accelerometer that had something to do with engine managment and that was the final straw. I tried to love the car many times as it had good power and handled decently, but it always ended up being another problem. To sum this up, buy one and enjoy it if your state doesn't care about check engine lights and emissions otherwise stay away. (The car has been in the shop for more than a year with an unknown emissions issue and has been given up on.)
My father bought a 96 Volvo 850 brand new.
I used to tell him that Volvo should just replace the "Check Engine" light with one that reads "$800", because that's what it cost him every time it lit up.
Having owned my '95 Volvo 850 wagon for about 2.5 years from 106K to current 136k, I have yet to see a check engine light.
Sure, now I have gone and cursed myself.
I have no complaints. I bought what appeared to be a well maintained example (though I had no proof.)
Over my time period it has needed:
Rear Shocks
Struts to keep the liftgate open
Thermostat
Rear brakes
Plugs, wires, cap
Sway bar connectors
134a refills
Four new tires
All of that has been super easy with good resources from the VolvoSpeed website. I have no complaints. The car has held together well and does not look or feel nearly as old as it really is. If it dies tommorrow, I feel that I have got my money out of it. The reality is I will likely keep it for a while.
Next on its list is likely:
Timing Belt (interference version)
Front Struts
Who knows how long the clutch will last but still holding well.
My car is non turbo w/ 5 speed. I hear that the turbo versions are quick but let me asure you that the non-turbos are nowhere near quick. It is adequate but not fast. MPG seems to run 20-27. My travels seem to return a constant 24mpg.
I bought it for the functionality of the wagon and it has met all my needs.
it's funny.. just about every used car I have bought over the years was missing it's spare. The saab is one of the few that still had it.
I understand the BMW.. it is PITA to get in and out as it is under the car, but the rest is just laziness
I bought a 98 V70 turbo a few months ago. It's to replace the old and tired 89 740 turbo. I did a lot of hand wringing, but all in all, I'm quite pleased with the car, and my wife absolutely loves it.
Maintenance wise, the V70 is a dream compared to the older 740. I never understood the Volvo engineering logic on the 740, so I broke fasteners and such constantly, lost tools into the transmission tunnel from hell and other such things. The V70 makes sense, has room, and is actually engineered for repairs and maintenance. A breath of fresh air.
A nimble car I would not call it. But then I come from a Honda CRX, Triumph Spitfire, Fiat Spider background. If one comes from a Buick Regal, Chevy Tahoe background, the car would be quite light on its feet.
It's quick in the turbo form. There are several turbo forms, to ensure confusion. The GLE is frequently the smaller lower pressure turbo (unless you have a non-turbo GLE). This one kicks in faster at low speed, giving you more performance for normalish driving. The T-5 and the R models (which sometimes are the same) have larger higher pressure turbos. More top end performance, more turbo lag, and they get passed by GLE turbo models when racing from one red light to the next.
Cheap is not a word I normally associate with Volvo's. Especially if you are paying others to do the repairs. But on the 850/V70, parts aren't particularly expensive, maintenance isn't hard, so doing it myself keeps it cheap. I clear my check engine light when it comes on (every few weeks), admire the new code (never the same twice), and keep on driving.
There are normal maintenance/repair items for each model and era. The 99 and later have terrible failures with the air mass meter (not cheap). ABS brake modules fail and need rebuilds (cheap). 850's would lose a/c evaporators if the air filter wasn't installed. 98 v70's have an irresetable service engine light (remove). PcV system is remarkably convoluted and prone to a 100k mile overhaul (who on earth has to overhaul a PCV system?).
Sometimes the check engine light can come on for no reason (i.e. no codes are there if you check) due to some bad ignition-related connections (factory flaw, no real fix). This happened to our '97 850. Since there was no code thrown and the light would just come back on later if reset, it threatened to cause problems with emissions testing here in TX. To pass, your car has to show no codes when they hook up to the OBD2 port, and the check engine light has to light up upon startup and go off shortly thereafter. My fix was to pull the gauge cluster and jumper the check engine light to the ABS light, which follows the exact same pattern if your ABS is functioning properly. Problem solved!
Damn, my 855 must be defective. In seven years of ownership, the CEL has never come on.
I have a '97 850 GLT wagon and I love it for its functionality. Nice, big, wide tailgate door, opening to a nice square storage area. In 200k miles, I only had the cel come on once. But man, maintenaince is much more frequent than a Toyota or Honda. Goes through rear brakes every 40k, fronts every 50k, among other little things.
That said, I think the car is ripe for a decent drivetrain transplant, converting it to rwd. LSx comes to mind and I recall a youtube video on such a conversion but can't find it. I'd keep the body and ditch most everything else.
The 1st volvo I ever bought was a 1996 Volvo 850R. That car was sick! I drove over 800 miles round trip to buy that rare car from CA 2 Portland. The DMV fees were hell but that was 10 years ago and well worth it. Till my recent purchase and upgrade of my 98 V70 the R was the best car I had ever owned.
I have bought nothing but volvo 850's/V70 ever since. Besides the usual yearly car mat. costs they have never left me stranded or wondering if I would make it to my destination.
I am not sure how true this is I do recall something about those models so good and safe that for a while Volvo had a program/insurance saying that if an owner was killed in an accident while in a Volvo they would pay $250,000 to the remaining family.
Volvo did go down hill with the "S" series for FORD bought them sometime in the late 90's early 2000's and tried to put their crappy transmissions in them which is why you see that particular car really cheap on craigslist.
But when it comes to the 850's/V70's it can cost as little as $2000-$3000 to turn your soccer mama station wagon into a mustang eater. Unless you live in CA then your stuck with figuring out how to get around the SMOG crap.
Old post? Yes.
But a local car club has a crazy kid with a volvo v70 wagon that has been put through much torture and survived relatively unscathed. It autocrosses fully loaded with people and plows through snow banks.
But this is also someone in the club, so I had to post.
I would never call my old V70 T5 nimble. Freeway fun car, sweet long distance commuter, definitly. I sold it because it was very un-nimble.
What more do you need to know?
I have a 5-speed S70 T5 and I love it! This is actually my third fwd Volvo (I also have a 745 turbo 4spd). Sure it isn't CRX-nimble, but it is E36 nimble. Tires + sways == fun!
I have the previous generation, the 940 turbo, and it's a hoot, but it does have the Euro parts-availability issues. "We don't stock parts for german cars here".
It's for sale, by the way, PM me if you want it.
tuna55 wrote: It's for sale, by the way, PM me if you want it.
Oh, now that's interesting. My wife crashed her 850, and hates driving my Roadmaster, and wants a turbo wagon.
I owned an early 850 wagon for about 3 days. That's how long it took me to figure out it had a rod knock. Dealer gave me credit toward an Outback wagon, which was as much fun as a kick in the nuts. Suffered for a while, then got rid of the Subie and found and fell in love with a 940 Turbo wagon.
I don't think the 5-cylinder Volvo engines are quite as stout as the 4-bangers, but the 850 was a satisfying drive.
Glad to find this old thread that was resurrected recently. I'll make a new post with pics in a few days, but I just put a cash deposit on a '96 Volvo 850 GLT Sportwagon. Picking it up tomorrow. I debated long and hard about what to do.
My '94 Geo Prizm is in need of some attention. I don't have time or skills to do the work on the car myself. I figured it'd cost me $700 or so to fix it so I can get through inspection.
Found this Volvo cheap. It's got 109k on it, looks real clean. Can't prove it's maintenance history, but seems to have been cared for. It's got emissions and safety inspection through June 2012, so I don't have to worry about a CEL for 14 months (doesn't have one on now). I figured that if I sell the Geo for $500, my net cash spent on the Volvo is only a few hundred more than if I had fixed the Geo.
After reading these posts, not sure what to think. Some seem to say it's a money hog, others say it's great. Guess I'll find out myself....hope I didn't make a mistake...
Klayfish-
Check to see if there is a timing belt sticker on the belt cover or hood. If there isn't, do one ASAP as these are notorious valve crunchers. Wouldn't want to see a nice new toy turn into a boat anchor for a lack of maint history.
Other than that and the eventual AC issues, they are a great highway car
Tyler H wrote: I don't know anything about these cars, but somebody must love them because I saw a bunch of them at Carlisle a couple of years ago.
just for fun.. the SAAB guys and Volvo people try to see who can bring more cars to Carlisle. One year the saab guys put out an engine block in place of a car to be counted/
I've been steadily improving my free Volvo 850 turbo wagon (I swear, pics to come). I just got my IPD sways yesterday but it's got a miss now - I need to get a tuneup done and see if anything else needs done. I'll probably replace the rear bushings while I have it apart.
Amazing how expensive a free car gets once you decide you like it. I'm getting out of an LS400 so the parts seem really, really cheap to me. Since there's almost nothing in the way of aftermarket for the LS, I might be going a little overboard. That's what money is for, right? And I haven't spent any money other than maintenance on a daily driver in years upon years.
The car's nimble enough for a family truckster. Feels like a Miata compared to the LS! (But the LS is one hell of a lot faster, acceleration wise.) I put Bilsteins on it, once the sways are on I'll post more driving impressions.
dculberson wrote: ...but it's got a miss now - I need to get a tuneup done and see if anything else needs done.
My Volvo 850 non turbo seemed to best like true Volvo brand spark plugs. I would get them through ww.fcpgroton.com and they were not even a dollar more per unit - cheap by my view.
When I replaced wires I also went with the real Volvo units from them.
I just noticed that fcpgroton sent a email that announces $25 off and free shipping of $199 purchase or more. Code: 25OFF199
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