Hey everyone, long time 240 owner here, I got a phone call from my mother today who found a '96 Volvo 850 "T" she liked a lot, I went and checked it out a bit, they want $5800 for it, 128K miles, 1 owner nice blue color.

I sat in it and I was talking to her on the cell phone when I finally realized it was a turbo. She then said, "Oh im not sure I want it now".

Are there any issues with having a turbo? She obviously doesnt want the car for performance, but I explained to her the turbo doesnt really kick in unless you want it to. She seemed to be okay with the idea of it at that point.


My concerns: The auto tranny, and the Turbo issue. The volvo shop said that he has never seen a turbo go bad in the 850, and has only seen 1 transmission go bad and that was because the woman beat the crap out of it (lost 1st and 2nd gears and drove it that way for 2 years!).

Theres no turbo wheels on this anymore, which I took as a good sign- usually performance people like those turbo 16" wheels- where the woman took them off in favor of the regular issued wheels I would assume that means she didnt "beat" on it or drive it hard. (Maybe im wrong).

The other thing is, it has slotted rotors all around, so maybe it was driven hard, or do the stock rotors simply warp easy hence the need for cross drilled?

Thanks a lot guys kinda just fishing for some thoughts here, looks like a clean car just kinda worried about the tranny and the daily driving of a turbo, thanks a lot.

Heres a pic: