Anyway, I am going to give the entire sob story of my 850 Volvo. It is a 1995 Volvo 850 GLT four-door sedan. I bought it in
Nov 2007 for $2400. It had 184K miles on it when purchased (probably a warning sign right there but I ignored it!). I immediately spent another $1400... I always take just purchased cars to a shop. Steering work was done- control arms, ball joints, etc.
In May 2008 it experienced the classic odometer fail at 186,177 miles, where it has been ever since.
In July 09 I had the timing belt replaced at a cost of $1,045, after reading online somewhere that it is imperative to replace the timing belt after a certain number of miles or you risk destroying the engine.
Now here's the main problem: At some point in time, I'm not sure when exactly, it went into "limp-in mode". This was shortly after I bought it I guess. I now suspect that this is why it was sold to me in the first place- it might have always had this problem, ever since I bought it. It's intermittent (or was- I'm never sure about this problem). The flashing red "up" arrow lights up on the dashboard, and shortly thereafter it goes into "limp-in" mode where it stays in the same gear (first?) & acceleration becomes very slow and laborious from a full stop. Usually the limp-in mode goes away as mysteriously as it appears. Sometimes all I have to do is pull over and stop the car, and restart it. But not today!
The problem with this problem is how mysteriously it comes and goes. I've taken it to many places- usually by the time they look at it, the problem is gone. Finally Nov 2009 one place I took it to suggested that I change the transmission fluid. It went away, and I thought for good- until today! It didn't manifest for an entire year- 2010. Today it comes back with a vengeance. The place I took it to in Nov 2009 said then that the entire vehicle might have reached the point of diminishing returns.
At this point, I fear it may need a new transmission. There are so many little things that can go wrong with a Volvo- the odometer (now I understand that this is a classic fail)... the antenna has never worked ever since I bought it. The antenna problem sums up the wacky design philosophy behind this car. Who ever thought of an antenna that ALWAYS goes up when you turn on the radio, and ALWAYS goes down when you turn it off? And then when it breaks, costs hundreds of dollars to fix? Huh? What is with that? Excuse me, but I'm venting. But let's move on. Here's another pet peeve: The controls for the windows AND the external mirrors are RIGHT BELOW THE CUP HOLDERS! The right mirror adjuster, on the passenger side, goes left, right, down, but NOT UP! It had one too many cups of coffee splashed into the switch from the cup holder that is located RIGHT ABOVE THE SWITCH! AARG!
OK but lets forget all that minor stuff and back to the main issue: The limp in mode thing. Any ideas? Is it time to walk away? Is it fixable? Is it worth sinking any more money into this? I am sure there are many other problems with this vehicle at this point. Every now and then I have to add some pre-mix radiator fluid to the over spill tank, but this is no big deal. The little windshield wiper fluid hoses were gone when I bought the vehicle, but I don't miss them.
Oh well I could rant all night. Thanks for listening!
