1996 850 GLT Split Front Seat Covers, OPTIONS.

[Tinwood]

Thanks to everyone for their prompt replies. To scot850, the car was originally bought in Florida and shipped to Canada about ten years ago. No need for seat heaters in Florida I guess. (Except maybe this year. Chuckle, chuckle.)

[Tinwood]

Just joined so here goes. I have a 96 850 GLT with leather seats. The fronts are terribly split. Rest of the interior is spotless. What seats (or can I get replacement covers for reasonable price) can I use as replacements? Also, the front seats are not heated. If the replacement seats (i.e. from an auto salvage) have seat heaters what do I need to hook this up? Gets cold in Canada some days. Thanks

Tinwood

In response to your two questions:

(1) Front seats from any 94-97 850, sedan or wagon. These are plentiful in junkyards but it can be difficult to find them in good condition.

(2) You would need the switch for the seat heaters (center console, pic of seat on them, switches pop straight up and out then disconnect) and a fat metal circuit breaker for each heated seat, pull these from the underhood fuse box positions 38 and 40 (the two are identical breakers - look like oversize silver fuses). Everything else should already be in the car.

Also no guarantee the heated seats are still working at this age, but most of them are ...

So, the only thing I need are the switches for the console (two) and the circuit breakers? The wiring harnesses should be in place and nothing further is required even though the car originally came from Florida without them?

[erikv11]

Yes, the plug to the heaters should be there as part of the harness, but just take a look under the seat to be sure the wiring wasn't hacked or something in your car, it's the large white connector with one Yellow/Red wire and a few Black wires, bottom left of this pic:



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I've not heard of a P80 car that wasn't already pre-wired for heated front seats. Heated rear seats is another matter.

[Tinwood]

So that includes the wiring for the console area as well? My princess likes her tush to be warm in the winter. Right now we have some aftermarket seat cushions with built in heaters that are keeping her smiling in the cold weather. Thanks a bunch for the info.

Tinwood

[erikv11]

Yes, for sure there will be little connectors in the console, right under the blanks currently in the car.

[Eddystone]

On the subject of there being lots of P80s in junk yards, that is definitely not the case everywhere. I live outside of Philadelphia in the USA which is a large metropolitan area with LOTS of junk yards, and older Volvos are not allowed to sit around and take up space. They get crushed pretty quickly. If a traditional yard does have one of these cars, you typically won't be allowed to go back and take a look at the seats before they get pulled since they are still in the car.

There are several Pick N Pull type yards in my area. One typically has P80s which have been pretty well picked over. This same company has two much larger lots at a distance that have no P80s at all on hand. It must be up to what the local manager thinks it is worth having on hand.

I still have my 1993 940 wagon, but gave up on finding a replacement for its terrible interior. Junkyards in my area don't keep 940s or 960s on the lot long before crushing them because they have a lot of steel in them and not much demand for used parts. This was perhaps my main reason for getting into the later S70 and V70: They are five or six years newer. (Note: At first I didn't like the P80s at all, but now they have grown on me and I love them. More complicated than a 940, though.)

[Eddystone]

Here's a suggestion short of full OEM replacement skins. All three of my Volvos have these seat protectors in them: "Sojoy Universal Four Seasons Full Set of Car Seat Cover and Cushions" If you look around the web and also around Amazon, you may find other colors as they change from time to time.

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These have several things in their favor. 1) They are $65 for both front and back 2) They go in or out in seconds 3) They are comfortable and don't slip even though there are no hooks the corner may roll up if you slide too much getting in under the steering wheel, but you just flip it back 4) They are machine washable (use your head on settings) 5) They cover the bolster, not just the seating areas. 6) The seat heaters won't bother them.

My S70 and V70 actually have decent leather, and I use these as much as a protector as anything. Once in a while someone will flip up the cover on the driver's seat (no hooks or anything) and say, "Hey, your leather's in good shape!" The 940 wagon's interior has always been in terrible shape both front and back from a previous owner's German Shepard, and these covers actually hide all of the faults. No, it's not an OEM interior, but it is presentable. In the P80s they just look like seat protectors, and they do protect the seats from my dog, for one thing.

The "cream" color looks great on the usual Oak interior in my S70 and V70, though that color is hard to find. I also have a set in "brown" that look good.

[abscate]

I got a great deal n a new seat cover it’s a screwdriver hole in it by slipping said screwdriver into my Buddy Mikes pocket when he drove his wife’s car.....

[RickHaleParker]

Hum ... Somebody has learned how to play the SWMBOs. Even the ones that are not theirs.

[Tinwood]

Great info, thanks to all.