how great is the 850 or How I used this site

Post by **kahl** » 20 May 2014, 19:18

With 7 Volvos in the family the oldest one is a 94 850. It's punching through 230K miles with no corrosion. It seems like yesterday we bought it new in May of 94. My wife thinks its nuts to keep it around but it is our daughters daily driver.
thanks to this site every known and unknown issue has brought the car as close as possible to a "0" time car. We have done full suspension with the trailing arm links, PCV, TB, oil pan drop, A/C compresser clutch shim, motor mounts, leather dyeing, alternator...the list goes on. In addition the value of bone yard parts have turned out to be a bargain. little things like dash pad, fender, seat motors, relays have let us replace worn items for pennies.

This 850 is the best car value I have ever bought.

Post by **matthew1** » 20 May 2014, 19:55

kahl, great to hear. It's not nuts to drive a 20-year-old car, especially when you know its full history and know how to work on it.

I have no idea how I'll be emotionally able to move on from my 850, which is the only car I've owned for the last 14 years. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Post by **phils94850** » 20 May 2014, 20:33

Ive owned A LOT of cars in my time and ill say... the Volvo 850 is by far overall the best in every aspect..

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 20 May 2014, 21:09

matthew1 wrote: I have no idea how I'll be emotionally able to move on from my 850, which is the only car I've owned for the last 14 years. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Yea, I don't know how I'm going to deal with that either. There aren't any new cars that I really like as much as the 850 or any other 90's era cars for that matter.

Post by **jblackburn** » 21 May 2014, 09:24

I still miss driving my S70. For its age, it still drives fantastically, and every bit of the powertrain is still original @ 227K. But it's a very unreliable, needy gas hog

Some day, it'll be retired to garage queen duty...and maybe finally get the body back into amazing shape. I'm kinda glad it's off at college with my brother where it's not getting the miles piled on to it anymore...but the Nautic Blue and black interior is starting to show its age.

Post by **cn90** » 21 May 2014, 09:45

We live in a country where people routinely buy new car, then get rid of it once the warranty period (3y/36K) is up. If one makes a lot of money and can afford it, I see nothing wrong with this approach.

In many parts of the world, people drive 20y, 30y old cars all the time. The issue with old car (>20y/200K) is the expensive repair. This is why these old cars are called "mechanic cars" lol...In other words, unless one knows how to fix cars, then don't own an old car. Even though you may be a weekend mechanic, fixing these old machines is time-consuming too. Keeping a very old car is kind of a guy's thing. Women don't want to deal with mechanical issues.

As long as the body has no rust, and the car is mechanically perfect, why not?
It is kind of cute driving an old car b/c you own something that nobody else does lol...

Post by **Ben850** » 21 May 2014, 09:59

I am also surprised at 21 years with no rust on the body panels.

Sure, the mechanicals need to be monitored, but I am having a blast with both my '96 wagon and '93 sedan.
Gas mileage, pretty much has to do with how much foot I put into it. The turbo wagon actually does great on gas, but I don't.

Of course if it was not for this site, I might not own either. There is a wealth of honest advice and information here.

And yes I am a car guy and it is a hobby, not a profession. I did wrench on cars in college for money, but I much rather do it for fun and accomplishment.

Post by **abscate** » 21 May 2014, 10:56

"Women don't want to deal with mechanical issues."

Ouch. I don't either. We have had a number of female mechanic-to-bes come onto the Forum in the last year, and they have my respect for coming here to figure out how to keep the family Volvo going.

Post by **erikv11** » 21 May 2014, 12:00

cn90 wrote:We live in a country where people routinely buy new car, then get rid of it once the warranty period (3y/36K) is up. If one makes a lot of money and can afford it, I see nothing wrong with this approach. ...

I'm getting off topic but this approach, of the disposable economy, is one reason why we are using up the planet so quickly ... I see a lot wrong with it!

Post by **cn90** » 21 May 2014, 12:30

Not really,

Because these "well-to-do" people get rid of their car at 3y/36K, the car is not disposable. It becomes a great car for the money for others.

Example, a brand-new 1998 S70 was $28K back in 1998, after 3y/36K it is about 50%-60% of the original value, so about $16K. Some people can only afford $16K, so they go for gently used cars that will easily last another 10 years.

In a wasteful society like ours, the people in this forum benefit from it because many of these used cars are under-valued!!!