Juan

Good question. Yes, I very much like my 1997 850 awd wagon. And yes, it shares many of the "POS driveline components" (as so eloquently described in another post) as other 1998-2002 Volvo awd wagons and sedans. The notable exception is the my wagon is equipped with a manual transmission.

The early 1998 v70 awd/XC wagons had driveline vibration problems. Other than that, the single biggest problem with Volvo's awd is that the owner must be cautious about tire size and rating. In my case, when I had one tire wear prematurely due to a bad valve, I replaced all four tires rather than risk damaging the bevel gear.

My wagon has travelled 155k km (slightly less than 100,000 miles). So far, any significant repairs have been to components that are common to all Volvos; air pump, abs module, O2 sensor, etc.

Neil
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1997 850 awd, m58 5 speed manual, 1989 740 GL, m47 5 speed