Next comparison - 97 850R Wagon or 99 V70R Wagon?

DougM · Post by **DougM** » 05 Apr 2013, 07:01

I didn't end up going after either of the previous contenders.

Next two I'm considering.

1997 850R Wagon - Charcoal Gray with Graphite interior. Around 180k miles, just had the engine rebuilt. asking $4,100

1999 V70R Wagon - Black with Tan interior. Around 219k miles, just had engine rebuilt. AWD. asking $3,000.

Both vehichle look nice. I like that the engines are fresh and the timing belt, etc are new. Not sure about the AWD on the V70R, just seems like that could be one more thing to go wrong. But it is cheaper!

Post by **erikv11** » 05 Apr 2013, 08:04

That's a toughie. The interior on the V70R is nicer, if their conditions are the same. As much as I champion the 850s, I think I might go with the 99 in this case. It would matter a lot to me how well I thought the engine jobs were done. One of the most common ways to ruin a head gasket, is to not put the engine back together correctly. What brand head gasket was used? Did they replace the valve stem seals? What brand of timing parts? If all of the little annoying problems in about the same state on both cars, 3k is a better and more appropriate price.

AWD is indeed something to go wrong and a hassle; in the 99s Volvo didn't have all the bugs out and AWD problems are very common. Without a doubt, I would simply remove it, one of the first things I would do with the car. An AWD conversion to FWD is a seamless changeover.

brad850 · Post by **brad850** » 05 Apr 2013, 08:36

850 wins again, it is a better car at the end of the production years. It is less plastic, tougher, and it just plain looks more interesting. Later cars started to look more and more streamlined and conventional, and blending in with the vast ocean of Mazda, Toyota etc with streamlined fronts for low drags. The 850 was a nice looking car, well built.

DougM · Post by **DougM** » 05 Apr 2013, 09:16

For the 99 V70R - "We just finished a complete engine rebuilt, including new pistons with rings, new valves with all seals, head gasket, water pump, timing belt with all tensioners and pulleys."

For the 97 850R - "It has just had a fresh top engine rebuild which included: New Head gasket, Cylinder Head Rebuild, Timing Belt, Crankcase vent trap, Upgraded 16T turbo and upgraded Volvo S60R manifold."

It's a tough one for me too. I like that the V70R is cheaper. But they are both sharp cars. Oh well, I'll show them both to the Mrs and she if she has a preference.

oldschoolvolvo · Post by **oldschoolvolvo** » 05 Apr 2013, 09:22

does the 850R have the Volan wheels intact?

imo the 850 is the winner. i would not want to deal with the electronics and AWD on the V70R.

Post by **mercuric** » 05 Apr 2013, 09:33

Between wondering why the V70R needed a complete engine overhaul, to what level of perfection it was performed, and the huge amounts of changes introduced for the '99 model year, I'd take the 850R. Plus, it has exactly the upgrades I'd want to do on the exhaust side, spare a 3" turbo-back exhaust.

If you do go with the V70R, make sure you have that motor checked out carefully by an experienced tech. Rebuilding an entire motor then putting the car up for sale makes me real suspicious.

RobTarD · Post by **RobTarD** » 05 Apr 2013, 09:41

Interesting, I just traded in my '96 855R for a '99 V70R. Overall, I like the V70R more. There's some quirkiness about the 850 that I miss but quirkiness is tough in a daily driver. The interior of the V70R is a huge improvement over the brittle plasticky nightmare of the 850. My car sounded like a percussion section.

My V70 has the Dolby Pro-Logic stereo, the better 18T turbocharger (I hate the 15G of the 850R), and the previous owner was kind enough to convert the car to FWD. I took a 20k+ mileage hit when I bought it but I still think it was worth it.

On the other hand, the V70R feels much heavier than the 850R, and it is heavier. I feel like the weight distribution is much more optimal with the AWD drivetrain, though.

Post by **mercuric** » 05 Apr 2013, 13:13

RobTarD wrote:The interior of the V70R is a huge improvement over the brittle plasticky nightmare of the 850. My car sounded like a percussion section.

I will say that's one of my major complaints about my 850... The entire dashboard and everything under it is pretty much brittle as hell. Latest development is the really thin, brittle tabs on the dashboard assembly where the combined instrument cluster clips into snapping. Now the flipping cluster bounces around just enough to annoy the piss out of me -- !@$!@$ -- I'm going to use some rubber to pad it in place, but I only wonder how much more of the dash will crumble when I find the desire to punish myself with removing the dash pad to get at it. The punishment isn't removing it, it's my assumption that at least two more things will self-destruct when I do it.

Post by **erikv11** » 05 Apr 2013, 13:33

Well with the additional information, I'm leaning toward the R now. These engines almost never need new pistons - either the person who did the work didn't know or didn't check, or there was some serious engine mishap. And with a completely rebuilt engine 3k is a lowball price.

On the other hand the R sounds like it was done right, the fact they knew to put in the s60 manifold says they know these cars and wouldn't wast everybody's time with Elring valve stem seals.

RobTarD · Post by **RobTarD** » 05 Apr 2013, 13:46

When I removed the dash pad I found that it wasn't much more difficult to remove the rest of the dash at that point. The four bolts that attach the dash to the firewall are what cause most of the problems. You can get creative with ways to reinforce the dash and dash pad. I tried using some heavy duty foam tape to get rid of the rattles but it's hard to get a good adhesion anywhere under there.