we have had 144, 164E's(5)84 242(which we sold last week),mercedes 280c.....since 1982.
wife was lookin at a 190E mercedes and it was sold to someone else so the volvo dealer called her said he had a 95 VOLVO 850 she might like. i was against it as iam not a fan of front drivers.
she bought this one in oct will be 4 yrs ago, so i think we got some time and experiance with it. car had 124,000 on it and was in perfect condition inside and out. as soon as we got it i didnt find any record of it havein a timming belt change so i took it to a shop i know and they did that and i figured since they was in there they could also change the water pump. this was about 128k and they said the radiator was cracked on the endcap so they replaced it.
$800.00 repair but worth it. so we had no problem for a while till the left front axle started clickin..changed left shaft....and we had a right side tie rod end replaced. i also replaced front pads, myself. new tires bout 6-8 months ago.
these are the only mechanical problems we have had in 4 yrs of owning it.
as for being a replacement for a 240...FRICKIN AYE YOU WONT BE SORRY...its a lot like a 240 in feel......but a lot more mercedes in driving. and owning a mercedes i can say this is true.
i live in pensacola fl and had to drive to biloxi miss VA hospital. I-10 200 miles each way.....and its such a pleasure to take this high milage(now 168,000
car on the highway its wonderful. you will not be disappointed unless you get one that somebody didnt do proper maintence on its early life.
we was lucky got a good one. only bad things....VOLVO LEATHER SUCKS.. driver seat is comin apart and the rest of the seats are hard as a rock.....cloth interior is far superior.
now i can tell you how well these cars are in accidents also!!!!!!! wife never had an accident TILL SHE GOT THIS CAR!!!!! its been nailed in the rear 3 TIMES IN 4 YEARS!!!!! the 1st one was right in front of the house.....she stopped to turn in driveway....BAM...trunk lid, r.tail light. kid was some relitive to wife....so let him pay for repair. got a trunk lid and light from a salvage yard he worked at....his uncle did body work(nice work too)so it got fixed.
#2 was sittin in the parkin lot at work....guy pullin a trailer caught l. tail light and bumper cover(it was damged in the 1st one but just had it patched)so his insurance covered new bumper cover and light.....1 hour at the body shop!!!
#3 was serious. she stopped at a light, the guy behind her didnt!!!!!! was still drivable but had to cover with plastic to keep water outa trunk.
we went to body shop, insurance guy looked at it said he was gona total it. we had the car for 35 months at this time ONE PAYMENT LEFT!!!!! for this they would pay us $5500.
WE looked for a replacement but nothing was without more payments. i got to tell you we bought the car for $5000.00 to start with. so gettin $5500 was tempting. well long short of it we got a settlement from insurance for $4200 and kept the car. took it to a small body shop right near our house, gut took $3000 and made it look like it was never hit!!!!!!!!!! car still drives and runs great. oh another part of this you will love.
while the car was in the body shop the other guys insurance paid for a rental.
and the rental was a 2007 FORD TAURUS, with 700 miles on it!!!!!! i feel bad for people who bought these cars......comparing this to a 160k mile 11 yr old volvo.......WASNT EVEN CLOSE.......couldnt wait to get our 95 850 back!!!!!!!!!
iam really lovin the new S60.......wish i could afford one....convertable maybe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.