Well I have been driving volvos since a 67 144 up to 93 850 series. I tend to hang on to my volvos. The wife drives the 850. Now this car is no 240 series type what so ever. The 850 is a far superior car in comfort and performance. Remeber you are considering a front wheel drive car. I prefer the 240 cause as said before it is a snap to take care of and I like the visibilty better. The 850 is not as mechanic user friendly.I don"t like doing a simple oil change on the 850. My 740 gle is more comfotable than the 240 series and still a user friendly mechanics car. Again the 850 will outperform the 740 as well. The 850 glt( 3400000) I have does suffer from a/c woes and instead of dropping bucks into it I simply recharge the system every other month.8$ vs. repair big $ and beyond my patience to do myself. The trim has peeled on the roof rails and the power seat incline cable has popped out. I changed out the timing belt. The car is a sporty ride and you think the dash will drop out of it when you hit bumps.
Water pump was done and a big time consuming ordeal. Yearly I change out the auto trans fluid due to the preventive mainteance I instill on it cause this car has got a lot of miles on it and all the bad press on it. Also I use a additive by Lucas for the auto tranny.
My wife loves the car and I am glad she is happy with it.
Someone suggested a 940 type model and I too would lean that way over a 850 if you are trying to upgrade in size and ride not performance. PS I dont own turbos so all I said is normally aspirated power plants. My two cents. Mike