Hi. I'm a brick owner - '89 and '90 8 and 16 valve models - so I am a little out of my area in trying help a friend. He's looking at a 1994 850 Turbo. Dealer (a repo place, if that means anything) says it has 210K on the body, but only 50K on the engine, and is asking $1450.

Anything we should be particularly concerned about with this model and year? We will be viewing it Tuesday, so we'll see if the dealer is straight about it being clean. He also says it has no oil leaks and he's driven it about 800 miles himself.


The only thing I've been able to advice my friend is that oil changes need to be made rigorously on schedule with turbos, as I understand. He's in a pinch as his truck was wrecked and he's in a rental car now, so i want to help him out but also make sure he doesn't regret buying this car..

Any help will be appreciated! Thanks.

Brian

A broker, not a dealer. I wouldn't trust him to get me a cup of coffee, so rely on your instincts.
The 1994 is OK as far as model year/problems. But, check the timing belt sticker in the engine compartment. You do the math, 70K change intervals. Check the antifreeze color in the bottle, if it looks new it might be because the pump is starting to leak. Check the color of the tranny fluid, if it is bright red ask why it was flushed. If it is almost black, get back in your car and keep looking.

Have you checked Craigslist in your area? If that car was on the list for 3 weeks or more, it could mean that it has a problem.

Definitly have a mechanic check it! That $100 spent on a car that looks good to both of you will not be money wasted. At least you know what will be required to get it up to shape.

Klaus
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Volvoless. Sold the R. There is now a void...

My advise is to not be pennywise and pound foolish, if you have an independent Volvo repair shop near by then spend the hour or so labor and have them look it over. Let's face it, you are only going to get so much car for 1450.00 and I doubt you will be able to grind him down much on an already pretty low price but having it inspected first will give you an idea of what you are looking at and most importantly you should be able to decern if it has an major problems that you would not have seen otherwise, like frame damage, etc and prevent you from spending your hard earned cash on a total lemon.

Mark