We bought a '94 Volvo 850 Wagon today. For a fourteen year old car the drivetrain and body are in great condition. I couldn't believe how strong this wagon pulls.

What should I be looking for on our new Wagon in terms of common known issues? That is what are the typical issues with this car?

What type of plugs are people running and at what gap? What brands of wires do you guys like. Has anyone had any success with higher end (lower ohm) wires? If so what were the benefits (hp increase, mpg increase, or seat of the pants meter data)?

I've had good luck with Bosch Platinum 4 plugs in the past. With the price of gas, I've had good luck with premium plugs/wires and Mobil 1 fluids. I thought I'd go the same route with the Wagon.

Is anyone using the new Bosch IR Fusion plugs (non-gappable)? Any improvement over the +4s or other Bosch plugs?

What oil filters are people using? The Mobil 1 filters are pricy, and I was thinking of using the Bosch filters at near half the price. Any data on the various filter brands for Volvo?

Already learning alot from the forums:

With suspension components buy OEM
OBD I codes accessible w/o code reader

We purchased this car for the safety aspect. Our first child is due in February and my soft top '97 Jeep Wrangler, while great for wheelin' in the San Juans in Colorado, just isn't something I trust my emerging family in.

We got a good deal on the 850. It only has a couple of non-cosmetic issues. For starters the speedo works but the Odomoter and Tripometer seem to be completely disconnected. I haven't gotten behind the dash yet, but in other cars I've worked on there is only one cable for both. Kind of curious...

The Window in the Drivers side door is also a problem. How hard is it to replace the window regulator? On our test drive we tried to lower the window. Its either off its track or, more likely, the window regulator is toast. Any links to a walk through or step by step on this swap?

Also the Drivers seat is kind of toast. Any ideas what a boneyard leather replacement seat is going to cost us? Is this a relatively simple seat swap?

Is the '94 a good 850 or does it have problems as far as 850s go?

Any advice on where to get keys cut for a reasonable price? Our local hardware store couldn't do 'em.

It seems that we can get a new keyless entry remote and it can be reprogrammed relatively easy. Any particular place to look for a new remote or should we hit eBay? If eBay will any Volvo keyless remote work, if not which ones should we try to buy? We were only giving one key. We were quite suprised when the car alarm went off when we tried to get into the Volvo later the night we bought it.

We didn't even know it had an alarm...

A great forum. Looking forward to learning a lot from you guys.

We bought the car for the safety, but I'm astounded by how sporty the car is. Then again, I've been driving a four cylinder Jeep on 31" tires.

850Waggy
1994 Volvo 850 Wagon (Maroon)