I own a 1997 850 GLT Turbo (last model year for 850) I bought the car used last year with about 55K miles on it. Since i have owned the car I have had only minor problems (the usual one- a vacume leak that caused the check engine light to come on) the fix is less than 5.00 but is one of those things that takes about a hour to get to, so i have not fixed it yet.

as far a gas mileage goes i get atleast 20-22 mpg always. on the highway i get more.

The car is very comfortable and has tons of power and always gets looks at the red light.

I like the 850 better than the S70, it is more boxy and since i previously also owned a 1983 244 Turbo i am partial to the Boxy look. And keeping with the tradiional Volvo Brick i chose th 850.

They are basically the same car with minor cosmetic differences. I have the 2.5 liter turbo GLT not the 2.3 liter R turbo. insurance is only about 200.00 more a year than my wifes 98 ford contour and like i said the MGP is very economical for a turbo car.

I also like the 850's racing heritage in the BTCC during the 90's when the 850 dominated the field.

the early 850's had problems but the 96-97 models had most of teh bugs worked out from the earlier models. The S70 was only made for a few years so i do not know what bugs they had or fixes volvo made to them. but a 850 has been well tested and designed over the years. there are a lot of aftermarket performave parts available for the 850 also.

hope this helps.

Dan