No, I'm not trying to flame and I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that those that are unhappy complain more and a satified owner will say nothing. This is simply the way of the world.

Unfortuntaley, for me, my 850 was the biggest lemon I ever owned. I bought the car specifically due to Volvo's reputation for longevity and safety. After having known folks with 2 series and 7 series that were bulletproof, I thought I was making a wise investment. In fact I bought the car at a Nissan/Volvo dealer and was looking at Maxima's. The salesman asked if I'd be interested in the Volvo and I initially said no. He asked me to drive it and then make up my mind. It felt solid, I liked the 5 speed and it was a beautiful black on black fully loaded GLT with a 5 speed.

I was very happy with my 850 (at first), loved the way it drove and thought the seats were very comfortable. I told everybody initially that it was the best car I had ever owned. Within a month after owning it I had brake problems and air pump problems. Nothing major, but annoying. It ran great for a year after that and then the problems started and continued mounting.

In my opinion, the frequency of ABS, AC and Rear Main Seals is attrocious on the cars. I consider the ABS a serious safety problem and the rear main somehwat since oil makes its way to the exhaust. Volvo refused to stand behind the product whatsoever. My dealer and independent mechanic sees these problems all to frequently and both agreed that Volvo was screwing its customers by not even providing partial repair assistance.

The relaibility of mine was abysmal for a $30,000 car. What it simply boiled down to was economics. It was no longer feasible to spend thousands of dollars on annual repairs and worry every time I left the state if the car would make it. It was a huge disappointment.

I am not on this board to flame, just share the facts as they pertain to my experience. If you read through the posts, I have provided advice to many on common repairs and where to find parts. I feel I am well versed in the repair arena because I replaced every part on my 850 that are knwon to commonly fail. I replaced my own Rear Main because I refused to swallow a $1,200 bill. Thank god I did, because my syncros went on second gear, my starter and my cooling fan. All within 6 weeks of having the rear main replaced.

This car was meticulously maintained.
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96 850 GLT 5-Speed- Sold due to astronomical repair costs.