1994 850 Turbo Wagon - Is it worth buying/bothering with ?

[zforray]

Well, this story gets stranger/more complicated.

From the various responses here, I decided to do some of the work myself and see what happens. I replace the plugs and wires myself. Also replace a vacuum line nipple that had dry-rotted/was chewed through (did I mention I found lots of shells of nuts/acorns/etc on top of the engine? - obviously some creatures have been living in there!) and now the vehicle runs great.

Now two new problems cropped up. I noticed the A/C was dead, again. Also notice that oil was low, after it had been sitting for a week and the oil had been changed 2-weeks ago (also already added 1-quart). Don't see any spots/leaking since I had it parked on grass.

I had my mechanic look at it and found 2-issues. The evaporator is busted (I see lots of discussions here about this) and oil is going somewhere....they think into the turbo since they can't see any leaking, either.

So, with me looking at another $900 for the evaporator install (not something I would want to try myself - even with the pictures I found here) plus not sure about the oil issue, I am looking to abandon this project.

However, I had already made an offer of $1,500 for the vehicle.

At $1,500 for the vehicle + $500 I already spent (battery, inspection, original A/C fix, plugs/wires) + $400-$500 for tires (3-are dry-rotted/bald and while the 4th is a lot newer, I don't know about mixing 2-tread styles/designs/brands) + $900 for the evaporator, this is quickly running into $3,500+ for this vehicle.

Does anyone here think this is still worth it ?

[MadeInJapan]

No matter what you pay for an 850, I've always read that you should expect to be out about 5 grand before it is running and "riding" (struts, etc.) up to par. I think this is just the way it goes with these over 10 year old cars. Take it or leave it- depends on how much you like the car. I will say that once it's got its problems worked out, the car is incredibly fun to drive and safe, as well as dependable- to boot, it's a car that you can work on yourself and get parts for at decent savings if you know where to go and look. We're on our 3rd Volvo now and wouldn't buy any other car.

[wallie]

I bought a 94 855T two and a half years ago as a second vehicle\daily driver to replace a long kept going 240 wagon w\365K miles and a life in New England. I needed a replacement so I don't have to drive my 97 854R every day or unless I want to. The wagon had 169k miles on it when I got it and it's just now coming up on 185K. It hadn't had the timing belt changed for the second time when I got it but that helped me get the price down substantially. I ended up paying $2300 and did the belt myself for the price of parts. It was the original owner, a mom with three kids but her husband I have to say took good care of the car for the most part.

I did the plugs, wires and dist cap, rotor, new pads and rotors, shocks, struts and mounts, tires. I did all this before the first winter, just enough to make it a little more dependable and waited until I got through the first winter to decide if I

[zforray]

FYI, FWIW, I abandoned this vehicle. Gave it back to the owner and let her know what problems there were. She is going to reimburse me for some of my expenses it just getting it running.

She was able to sell it to someone who was in desperate need of a vehicle and was in bankruptcy (meaning they can't have a vehicle worth more than $1,500).

So, I guess, all in all, a mostly happy ending, even if I lost $400 of my own money on a vehicle I got to use for 5-days.

Thanks to everyone on their help, suggestions, insight and experiences.