I have easily found a remote for cheap on ebay and proceded to program it with the 5 key flicks. But my Dash light doesn't flash after the 5th flick and my remote doesn't respond. I have tried a new battery and it still won't work. My light works, it goes on and flashes when I lock the door with the key and the alarm works as well. So what could be wrong? The person I bought it from said it didn't have a remote, but I really don't believe him. But if the car didn't have one, does that mean that it needs more than a remote for the system to work keylessly?

The remote on my 95 854t no longer works, the transceiver is the problem - not the key fob. Fortunately, the key locks the car and sets the alarm.
I had thought about buying another transceiver, but the key fob was too much to fit in my pocket. Besides, all it did was lock/unlock the doors. No trunk unlock, etc. So why bother with the expense?
Depending on the year, all 850s did not come with remote locking, it was an option. And the fobs were different every year, still are.

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

VT--I don't know if all the Volvo 850's imported to the US had remote keyless entries as standard equipment. I own two 97 wagons and have had my share of difficulties with them regarding the remotes. For one, double check that the remote you bought for your 850 is the one for that year. The 97 remote is slender, with "Lock" at the top and "Unlock" beneath it. On the 96's, the remote was wider with both controls side by side, as I recall. They are NOT interchangeable, and probably 96 is not interchangeable with earlier years, even though they look similar. One of the remotes on the 850 I had shipped to my wife in Norway quit working. So I went down to my friendly Volvo dealer in Arendal and picked up another one identical in outward appearance at no small expense. I took it out to the car and tried programming it by turning the key five times, etc. No way in hell was a European Volvo remote going to work in an exported version I belatedly learned after doing some checking. Live and learn.

You raise a good question that I can't answer, and that is if your locks are all electric and lock with the twist of the key, does it also have a remote hidden somewhere under the dash? Hopefully a Volvo mechanic will respond to that one and let you know. If indeed the car came without a remote, you might want to grab a Volvo manual, see what you're looking at, and haunt some wrecking yards. As an added thought, the Volvo's with the remotes also came with an alarm system that you could only turn off with the remote. The horn for the alarm system is not either one of the two in front of the radiator. It is separate, located on the firewall under the hood. Raise the hood, see if there's a little black looking horn around the top of the firewall. If so, then you have an alarm system and the chances are good that the car also has a remote locking system. If it does not, then there should be something in the operator's manual telling you how to turn off the alarm system without using the remote. Dick