that is the question.. i see alot of fairly cheap.. aka under 2grand sedans and wagons for sale.. some turbo some not... any thoughts? thinkin fun car, rally cross or maybe 2011 challenge?

I really want a turbo wagon for a company car. Soon come, Mon.

Fun, fast, fit a lot of stuff. Hard to find parts for locally... "we don't stock parts for German cars..." Selling one soon - want it?

I greatly enjoyed my '95 Volvo 850 wagon non turbo w/ 5 speed manual. I bought in 2006 with 106k miles. It had been dealer service all its life and was a good deal and rare find at $4k. Over the following 3.5 years it was my DD and salesman car up till just beyond 160k miles. I got paid about $0.50 per mile to drive it. Needless to say, it was a money maker!
It was easy to work on, cheap on parts and respectable to be seen in. Mixed mpg was always between 22-25 mpg. The 2.4L 5 cyl engine seemed true to what it was and driving it felt like a large 4 cyl or a small 6cyl.

A few things to note:

)This fwd body style was offered from '93 to '98. Originally all were known as 850's in the later years the Sedan became known as the S70 and the Vagon known as the V70.

)The awd drive versions have a bad reputation of eating transfer cases which is an expensive repair. In my opinion, anything called a Cross Country or XC should be avoided.

)Though mine was a manual transmission, it was not a turbo. If I remember correctly, the factory only offered the manual and turbo option in the US for one year; '98. Otherwise, all turbos are automatics.

)The AC evaporator is a weak point. They are known for leaking. Though the actual repair is simple the difficult part is getting to the part which requires a full dashboard removal. Paying to have this done goes well beyond $1k. Full 23 page DIY guide: http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf

If the one you are shopping needs AC work either avoid or price accordingly.

)For this body style and years of production it is my opinion that the Volvo tan leather interiors are inferior to the black leather (officially called charcoal.) The tan seems to be thinker and more prone to ripping. The difficult part is that tan seems to have been more popular than black. Some years offered gray as well which is also better than tan.

Good - better - best ... tan - gray - black.

I now have a 2010 Ford Escape as a provided company car. I miss this Volvo every day which had a sportier and more comfortable ride. Most of all, I miss the very supportive seats. Quite honestly, I think the wagon provided more or as much usable space.

The models before the Volvo 850 were known as the 240, 740 and 940. These are all rwd 4cyl in turbo or not. These are considered to be very good cars. There was also a 960 which had a 6cyl but its engine reputation is not as good as the 4 cyls.

I loved my 940 Turbo wagon. A wonderful car.

i miss my '86 and '89 740/760 turbo wagons :(... i'd love to find a clean one... awesome cars

had to post it up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi6qf2S4aJQ&feature=related

jrw1621 wrote: #)The AC evaporator is a weak point. They are known for leaking. Though the actual repair is simple the difficult part is getting to the part which requires a full dashboard removal. Paying to have this done goes well beyond $1k. Full 23 page DIY guide: http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf If the one you are shopping needs AC work either avoid or price accordingly.

Lol One of the places i used to work were scared to take an XC90 in because of this, granted i ended up doing this and let me tell you there is a lot to do (it also does not help that the blower motor was almost $800) Other than that i've never had any major issues with volvos other than (most) owners.