I'd rate our 850 and 760t as equally reliable. Bought them both used with good maintenance records, which is important. Compared to other recent cars I've had the Volvos have been as reliable as an Accord and a Toyota pickup; never had any reliability-related issues with any of them. The 850 (and the Accord) = difficult to work on. 760t and pickup = easy to work on.

Both of our Volvos are much more enjoyable to drive than the others I listed. Just wish Volvo made a really good diesel; I sometimes wish I still had my 83 Mercedes 240 diesel!


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87 745T, 97 855

I've had my 97 850 GLT for a couple years now (88,000 miles on the ODO) and I've give the reliability a "B" grade overall. Like many others, I've had to replace the ABS module which was pretty pricy (400 to 500 if I recall). My evaporator is still intact, so that has helped. I've put in an average of about 800 bucks a year so far for repairs, which includes frequent oil changes, regular maintenance, etc. Not bad, in my opinion, for a car that's got a great upside in terms of comfort, style, and performance.

I'd recommend that you read about the potential big repair items--anticipate them and budget for them. I also got my car checked out by 2 mechanics prior to buying. Overall, I have no regrets in moving from my beloved 240 of 13 years to the 850. Good luck.

This is a tough question. My experience with our '96 850 is that the cost of repairing the things which have gone wrong seems to be much too high.

New ABS module - $500, and you can almost count on these things failing.

Leaking hose at top of gas tank ... $580 to fix.

Front A-arms worn out by 70,000 miles. $125 each for the parts and I did the labor myself.

Heater core leaked. $250 part, labor myself.

HVAC fan noisy again. First time I fixed it with lube. This time ????

Driver's door window channel failed and cracked. $70 part plus my time.

Rear speakers gave up the ghost when the magnets came unglued and fell off. Replaced them with aftermarket speakers which took a bunch of monkey work and $80.

Interior light switch, which was rarely used, failed and cost $70 for the new part.

Driver side outside mirror failed. Silvering delaminated. No good reason for this other than a poor design/manufacturing problem.

Cup holder has self destructed three times.

All of the needed parts where always in stock at my Volvo dealer, which tells you that these are all common failure items.

I could continue on, but the point is that when Volvo parts are needed, they are expensive, and things fail which I do not believe should be failing at the time they are dying. This car has been very well cared for since new and is more trouble prone and much more expensive to repair than was the Ford Taurus it replaced. If you measure Volvo reliability and repair costs against other European cars it stacks up as comparable, but compared to the best of the Japanese and even some of the US vehicles the Volvo 850 compares badly.

John

I don't know about the 850R - I have 2 regular 850s and a 240. All I consider reliable and I personally think the turbos are more trouble with worse MPG - my 94 850 manual wagon gets about 30 MPG which is important to me as we put about 30,000 a year on it.

The 240 is MUCH easier to work on in the driveway and the parts are plentiful and cheap. I would rate the 850 as needing a bit more maintenance then the 240 but both need looking after - but then they are old & older cars.

we bought an 850 glt a year ago october with 128,000 on it. no real problems for that year. it comes up on 138,000 and i dont know if timing bwlt had been changed at 70k like it ws suppoed to but i dodnt weant to run it over 140k without a new one. we get the timing belt, water pump changed, $400 bucks. while its in the shop....they call and say radiator is bad...do we want to replace...so i say yea...another $350. so this is the only repairs ive done in a year and this is more like schulded maintanance anyway. drivin from biloxi the other day..dumb wife wants to reset trip meter...WHILE THE CAR IS ROLLIN AT 50 M.P.H now the odometer and trip meter dont work.....every volvo ive owned....from the 164E's and 240, this is a no no......and she did it...now we got to fix that...volvo problems persist from older models into newer ones....WHY IS THIS?

x

I've owned two 850's, one N/A, and one turbo. They have been more reliable than my old 240, if reliability is defined as a) things breaking while you're on a long trip, and b) how much do you have to fiddle with it to keep it running right. Neither of 850's ever left me stranded as my 240 did, twice. Yeah, 850 is more difficult to work on, and more expensive, but I have to do it less. Plus, the 850's are more comfortable, quieter, and to my mind are more attractive designs.

Not to say I didn't like my 240, I did. It was my first Volvo, and I look back on it with fondness.

Mike

I've owned my 1995 850 turbo sedan since new . I have 89K original miles.

Fun car and solid.

Not a Toyota - this is an expensive car to properly maintain. AC evaporators are common replacement items at between $1,200 and $1,600 USD to replace.

Lots of other little things break. Get a manual and good set of tools and do it yourself to save money.

Find a really good, honest, and reasonable independant Volvo specialist. He will become like the family doctor. Send him Christmas cards and praise him constantly.

I would not recommend the 850 for someone not comfortable in performing the normal maintenance stuff. Get a Toyota.

That said- I will probably keep mine a few more years.

Love our '96 T5, it has been well maintained and as for things like the PNP switch, broken shift detent, oil hose leaks, it is not a big deal to self repair. Everything is tighter than in a 240 (access). Make sure you get an updated evaporator, the ABS warning light is not on and the tranny shifts well. Especially the evaporator. Dealers have pretty good records on the cars they service.

Sure, if they're well maintained. Poorly maintained they can be a complete nightmare.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5M, 153k mi, front IPD stabilizer bar, rear factory HD bar, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes, V-1, Mobil-1 since new

The 850 is a much more complex beast than the 240 but, by in large, they're reliable. They're great fun to drive and the extra cylinder, even on a non turbo, has considerably more wallop than the anemic NA 240. THere are lists on the BB of the 850's well documented (some VERY expensive) quirks.

bl