New member from Northern VA!

m4a1mustang · Post by **m4a1mustang** » 24 Jun 2010, 22:59

Hey everyone,

My name is Steve and I've been searching through the board pretty heavily over the past week or so. I don't even own a Volvo yet and find this place very helpful!

Currently I drive a 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring/Sport 6-speed (pic below). It's modded and, well, it's not quite ideal for my Northern VA commute or every day use in general. I am racking up too many miles on the car (and driving it every day is driving me crazy) and want to reserve it for weekend/track/fun use. So, here I am! I'm currently on the lookout for an 850 Turbo... sedan or wagon... I don't really have a preference. I'm just waiting for a clean car to come around at the right price.

Also, having a second car will make it a lot easier (and less stressful) to do the supercharger install on the Z! I could take my sweet time... always good!

I realize that these machines can be labor intensive, but I'm up for the challenge. I have the tools/skill to do pretty much anything not requiring pulling the engine out of the car, and I'm willing to buy a car that needs a bit of work to get it back up to "Stage 0" spec.

I may be rambling (it's 1am!), but I'm really looking forward to finding the "right" 850. I definitely want the turbo as I need to keep things interesting. I thought about doing the "smart" thing and buying some little Japanese economy model but that'd be far too boring.

OK... off to bed now. Look forward to spending some more time on the boards learning more about the cars. Hopefully I can share my Volvo experiences soon!

Post by **jblackburn** » 25 Jun 2010, 08:16

Welcome to the site! I understand the NOVA commute, I spend a good amount of time up there, and even on the weekends it's bad. 7 is pretty terrible, but whoever invented 495 should be shot in the face with a tank.

Definitely keep your eye out for a good one...I looked at about 15 cars, and 5 Volvo's before I finally happened across my S70. I'm sure if you've been reading, you've stumbled across most things I could tell you to look for, but let us know if you've got any more questions

m4a1mustang · Post by **m4a1mustang** » 25 Jun 2010, 08:44

Thanks for the welcome! I see you're down in Blacksburg... I really miss living in the NRV! I lived over at the River Course in Radford while I was going to school (RU) and my sister has an apartment in Bburg so I still head down that way every now and then. Things sure are more laid back down there.

Post by **matthew1** » 25 Jun 2010, 10:12

Steve, you might want to go (way) out of your way and find a turbo/stick. After a nice car like your 370, I think the automatics combined with the turbo lag of the (high pressure) turbos will drive you insane.

Since you've been reading, I'm sure you've found mentions of turbo lag, and let me tell you it's not just picky complaints, it's real. Of course the flipside to that is that there's a nice heady rush when you hit 3500 RPM. But my warning: if you want to squirt out of a corner, you need to apply gas a little after you apply brakes(!), in my 850 anyway.

A high pressure Volvo turbo with an auto trans is just about the opposite of your Nissan, I'd imagine. Even my wife's new-to-us 2004 V70 R is a floor-it-wait-and-warp car. I know you've got the Nissan for sports car fun, but just saying.

m4a1mustang · Post by **m4a1mustang** » 25 Jun 2010, 11:03

Matt,

Thanks for the advice. The main reason with me going with the auto over the manual is that I don't want to have to go through the gears and work the clutch in traffic. I'll gladly give up performance for the convenience/ease of the auto.

Anyways, I just found a pretty nice '96 850R Sedan in NC listed at $4995. It has 148k on it and the pictures reveal a very clean car. I don't think I'd pay anywhere near that much for the car so I'll probably keep looking. Unfortunately the nicest cars showing up are the farthest away from me. Portland, OR to DC is a 2800 mile journey. I'm sure it'd be a blast but I don't think I'd want to do it in a car I don't really know!

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 25 Jun 2010, 15:44

It seems like you have really done your research about the 850/s/v70's and that you know a lot about mainting cars in general so I think you'll be a good fit here at MVS and perfect for owning an older Volvo. Good to have you here.

m4a1mustang · Post by **m4a1mustang** » 26 Jun 2010, 12:20

Just looked at a '96 T5 sedan today. Listed at 2999 on a used car lot. 141k miles. It was that pewter gray and was in fairly good shape except for some paint/trim chipage and a ding or two here and there. The interior was in decent shape... the usual cracking but no tears, although the vinyl on the rear left door panel was coming up. Everything else worked fine.

The engine wasn't very clean, though, and there was a fairly decent sized oil leak. Lots of pooled oil around the filler cap. The salesman said the reaar main seal and timing belt/tensioner have been replaced but there were no records to substantiate this. There were some oil change receipts, and odometer repair receipt, and about 800 in front suspension work fairly recently. He also said it needed a ac recharge, and offered to do it for me.

I did not drive the car. I probably should have. Seems like there are too many unknowns with this one. It was my first look at an 859 so I think I'll pass and keep looking.

I have a few pics I snapped, but I'm posting from my phone now so I'll try to upload them later.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 26 Jun 2010, 14:51

854 not 859.

That Oil around the filler cap is due to the PCV being clogged and forcing it out through the seal on the cap.

Post by **jblackburn** » 26 Jun 2010, 15:39

OK here's my typical list of things to look for on an 850/70 series.

-PCV system. get the motor good & warmed up & then pull out the oil dipstick at idle & look for smoke puffing out of the opening. the oil blown around everywhere is a good indication of that as well. there is a write_up pinned at the top of the 850 forum for cleaning the system, nearly all of the cars i have looked at need it.
-make sure the ac works. this is maybe the biggest turnoff on one for me as its either a very expensive or very time consuming repair but something nearly all of us have had to deal with
-stomp the brakes. i have seen dealers pull the bulb for faulty ABS modules.
-pull out the transmission dipstick & check the color of the fluid. if its brown or burnt smelling it needs to be changed.
-strange tire pattern wear could be indcative of an underlying suspension problem.
-check for oil/coolant leaks. if the RMS between the transmission an engine is leaking i would run away
-definitely run a CARFAX

im sure ill think of more later but i too am replying on my phone & waiting on people.

oh, and the river course? HAH! I work at the building right as you turn on to that street. i graduated from vt last year...seems like a lot longer than that. small world eh?

m4a1mustang · Post by **m4a1mustang** » 26 Jun 2010, 21:58

Some pics.

For 141k miles the driver's seat is in pretty good condition, I'd say.

The car really needs a good cleaning. It's obvious the interior had not been detailed as there was a lot of debris in every nook and cranny of the car. I had a friend with me and she said she wouldn't sit in the car until it was cleaned.

This is the oil leakage. Looks like maybe it's a bad filler cap more than anything else?

I think I might go back and take it for a test drive and definitely do the PCV check. I probably should come up with a checklist of things to inspect so I don't miss anything. The only things I don't like about the car are the oil leak (though it might be something simple like the filler cap), the lack of service records for the timing belt change and rear main seal change, and the possible A/C issues. I suppose these would be good bargaining points, though, if I were to negotiate a price.

Thanks for the tips, jablackburn. Maybe you guys can look these pics over and offer some more insight. I'll run the Carfax to see what turns up.

Congrats on your graduation, too. My sister was going to VT while I was going to Radford. She just finished up her masters. We sold our River Course house back in the summer of '08, but if you worked there anywhere between 2004-2008 the blue '03 Mustang GT, gray '02 Mustang V6, and gray '06 Honda Civic Sedan were ours. I left A LOT of rubber on Viscoe road making the right turn out of the neighborhood across from MCS in the GT. In fact I think I almost hit the MCS sign once. Those were my younger days, though.