hi KC

The other posters are right about transmission and evap being big probs on some 850s. Just to state the obvious though, I would watch out for weird tranny behaviour after a good hard test drive rather than simply relying on visual ATF fluid quality, as a problem transmission could have had it's fluid changed & still retain the probs on closer inspection. Pre-purchase inspection might also be useful specifically so as to determine whether the aircon system is leaking or not, as I think that a leaking evap can be just recharged and not display problems, from what I can gather from prior postings (I have never had the prob. myself so this is 'hearsay' from me.)

If you purchase the car and the ATF is dirty, just flush it straight away as a wise preventative measure. (Go to volvospeed/bay 13 & my site for instructions.) Numerous things go wrong with 850s, as with all cars. As my auto tech friend says, "they're all pieces of sh@$ !!". Such pessimism would not get you into any car, though, besides maybe a 1987 corolla. So check out my site as it is starting to accumulate a bit of useful information, and particularly check out the link to Kino's 850 probs / survey website, as that will outline for you plenty of the typical problems to look out for.

Don't be frightened off, the 850 is -I'm sure you agree- an awesome car. I think that with the amount of support & info available online you could be frightened, but many, many cars have similar, or much greater problems. As cars increase in complexity so too does both the driving payoff (OK if its engineered well) AND the possibility of problems. I could go on and start a philosophical thread as this issue leads on to millions more, but you just want a few tips -& I hope my site helps you find them. there's some philosophy there too :^)

good luck.