Volvo 850 Buying Experiences
[By Ozark Lee, taken from this Volvo Forum thread]
I bought a ‘96 a few months ago in Chicago for $550.00 with the doc fees off of eBay, I rented a trailer from Uhaul for $125.00 and then spent another $200.00 or so in gasoline to drag it home. 134 k miles on the clock and it had a loose battery cable – the control arms are shot but otherwise it is a dang decent car for my son – control arms are on the way.
My first 850 I also bought off of eBay and it was $1,300 in Indianapolis. The flight to pick it up from Kansas City was around $70.00. The cab ride to the stealership was closer to $80.00.
The ‘94 had all of the Volvo 850 issues, the odometer had quit, the glove box latch had broken, the sunroof shade was drooping, the rear suspension was clacking.
That was the best $1,300 I ever spent in my life.
Driving the car back from Indianapolis to my cabin at the Lake of the Ozarks, and its twisty roads, was the most fun I have had since I had my Porsche 914 in high school. My Porsche had a few warts as well but it had a soul – that is exactly how I feel about the 850’s. As a side note, the heater works a lot better on the 850 than it did on the 914 so the soul is warmer.
I am a decent shade tree mechanic. These cars will eat you alive if you take them to the dealership for repairs. They are also quite intuitive to repair and if you have decent mechanical abilities they are not hard to fix or maintain.
I have seen the other posts that suggest Hondas or Toyotas and other cars that have no soul. If pure reliability without minor issues along the way is your objective that is where you should go.
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Well Im on my first Volvo . All I can say is wow its one hell of a car . I’ve driven numerous cars over the years and nothing gets close to the 850 for quality of the drive . My wifes quite worried as I keep obsessively polishing it lol .
I have bought my first Volvo 95 850 Turbo. I really didn’t know what I had I just new I was able to buy me a car for $700.00 that ran well. I got some neg feed back from friends and family like wow thats going to be expensive to get worked on. anyway as I have done some research on my car i have found many helpful tips . I haven’t driven my car much. I bought a new battery and replacing vacuum hoses. I think I still have a vacuum leak but I am very optimistic about my car. I will be back to this site. Tammy
Hey Lee,
That’s such an awesome story. I wish I knew more about these cars back when I was looking. I probably would have taken the chances you have with your cars but I was ignorant and too chicken, so I’m sure I paid way too much for mine, but hey, I’ve never regretted owning and driving it for one minute!
In terms of a soul, you are spot on about these cars!
Volvo for Life!
MIJ
This story rocks. It inspires me to add another Volvo to the family! Perhaps I can use Lee for my next purchase as it seems that he has found some killer deals! I’m assuming that the 850’s he bought were non-turbos? An 850 Turbo in good shape will easily fetch $3500-$5000 around here (Denver).
got a 97 turbo 850, with a wrecking title in 2005.chenged timing belt and serpent belt and water pump my self in just under 2 1/2 hr when I checked with mechanics one Portland Oregon shop wanted $960.00 the lowest bid was $490.00 it cost me less then a hundred dollars. after that we drove it from north Wa state to Calif. it was snowing in the mountains but we could maintain speed limit and a little more. we put synthetic oil and platinum plugs in her and got 29.8 miles /gallon
got a perfect 93 glt no frills just perfect…had a 67 122s a long time ago..what a car. volvo for life!