Hi, I own a 1990 740 and never come over to the 850 forum, but have friends who are interested in purchasing a 1995 Volvo 850 sedan with 157k. I don't know anything about the 850 series but wanted to give my friends some advice before they bought the car. What are the pros and cons (strengths and weaknesses) of a 1995 850 sedan with 157k? The previous owner said she had it maintained on a regular basis at the dealership. Thanks, any information you might have will be more than I know.
Keith
--
1990 740GL Wagon 230k AW70L B230F 8 Valve Non-Turbo Rex/Regina Non-EGR R-12 A/C

You're probably looking at getting near a suspension replacment. Struts, shocks, strut tower bearings, spring mounts, CV joints, ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends, steering boots. Prettly much all the "comsumables" in the suspension may have to be replaced soon.

Jason S
'94 850 turbo wagon 205k

1993 & 1994 years had most of the problems with tranny & AC. The 95 & 96 model years are probably the best years for the 850. However, even with dealer care any car with 157k is likely to provide many learning experiences.

Make sure timing belt was done within last 70k mile (or 5 years). Themostats last about 100k and I've seen many posts about o2 sensors and such. 850 like new plugs (and flame traps on non-turbos) every 30k miles.

I've got 268k miles on my 93 and beyond normal maint in the last 100k replaced the radiator, wheel bearings, and brakes. Probably struts will need replacing soon - they have about 125k on them. Really nothing to unexpected for an older car with that many miles.

So check over the 95 and if everything looks good it can be a good car.

IF you can get the service receipts, or the printout from the dealer, or the stamped logbook, it's probably OK to consider it with the caveats about the AC and the AT. Do have it checked out. WHY is the owner selling, now?

-BTC

Well, there are the usual 850 sore spots. With 157K, see if the trans fluid has ever been changed. Volvo stipulated the trans fluid was good for life when the cars were new, which is a crock of s**t, and if the owner had it serviced at a dealership chances are it's never been changed. If thats the case your friends could be looking at an expensive trans swap sometime in the near future.

Other areas they should look at, A/C evap core. Can't remember if the 1995 had the pollen filter from the factory, if so chances are the core will be in better shape than if not. Thats an expensive fix, the whole dash needs to come out to get to the core. Oil leaks, if the oil and flame trap have not been kept clean they can cause early failure of the rear main engine seal, which is another expensive fix (dealerships near me want $1000 for that job). ABS module, if there's an ABS light on in the dash chances are it's toast and thats about $800 I think for a new one, but you could do the swap yourself in a few minutes.

Various other smaller weak spots, transmission PNP switch, look for the up arrow light on in the dash. Sometimes the contacts can be cleaned by ratcheting the shifter back and forth and it will go away, if not the switch might be bad. Front sway bar end links, upper engine torque mount. Here's a pretty minor one but could ruin your day trying to fix, they are prone to the glove box latch mechanism breaking, after which you can't get the damn thing open. You then have to pry the door open enough to get a hack saw blade in there and cut the catch. Seat back adjustment cable is another common failure. There are many more I'm sure I've forgotten, but I still love the car!

I can't tell you how much this looks like a history of my 97 850. It's at least good to know that we're all in the same boat.