1993 Volvo 850

volodya · Post by **volodya** » 16 Feb 2005, 19:55

I am about to by 1993 Volvo 850 this Saturday. It has All the options, even heated seats are working. But there are 230000mi on it. I need $2000 car with auto transmission and this is the best I could find. Do you think I will be able to put some more miles on this car? Should I by? Test drive it... and engine sounded good. Thank you.

Post by **dosbricks** » 17 Feb 2005, 10:05

The most important question is, has the scheduled maintenance been kept up? Try to obtain the maintenance records, or if it is at a dealer, go through the glove box looking for any receipts that might identify the former owner, then call them.

The timing belt change interval on a '93 is every 50k and is very important to keep up since a broken belt would do more damage than this car is worth.

Check the transmission fluid to see that it is clear red and not dark brown with a burnt smell.

Test drive it under hard acceleration to see if the check engine light comes on indicating a problem. Then turn pull over and turn the A/C up full blast with it set on outside air (not recirculate) to try and determine if it is working. Check the interior switches (windows, lights, etc.) as they tend to be kind of fragile.

Lastly, a CarFax report costs $25 and will tell you the number of owners, the dates of service at the dealer, and if it has ever been in a collision that was reported to the police. Well worth it.

Good luck, and yes, if it was well maintained you should be able to get quite a few more miles out of it.

volodya · Post by **volodya** » 17 Feb 2005, 19:31

Thank you very much for your advice. I'm really appreciate it. Thanks again.