Just curious. The 850/V70 are very nice cars and DIY.
--
Did you do your Random Act of Kindness today?

A tech at Volvo of Nashville has over 400,000 miles on his 850. I think he's rebuilt the tranny, but not the engine. Like most of us, he was unconvenced when Volvo went FWD/5 cyl, but he thinks the 850 is right there longevity-wise with the RWDs. And he owns a 240 and a 940 as well.

hi, bought 2x850s-94 in 97, drove the sportswagon up to 300kkm and sold it year ago at about 300kkm as we added v70d5awd to the family. we still keep the sedan, today at 230kkm, for some more years. really reliable pieces, just remind to flush the automatic and you are fine for a long time at low costs.
br tapsa

Disappearance of 240s? haha. I hear ya, but I still see tons of those cars running strong in the streets of CT! Anyway this happened to me as well, I had 240 and an 850 fell into my lap. 1996 850 Turbo Sedan with 88k miles on it for $2,500 - I couldn't believe it. I agree with all of the previous posts - it is a more complicated car but not insanely hard to work on. Tonight I just replaced the drivers side CV driveshaft/axle (CV Boot ripped open and grease was all over, i figured replacing the whole axle was easier than repacking the boots with grease). Not that bad (I recommend just dropping the 2 A Arm bolts and don't deal with the ball joint - first time I did it, it was a 2 hour endevaour. Previous comments on the ball joints are true, its annoying). Ok so here are a few surprises I have fixed: the drivers side door catch wears out and then can affect the frame. Apparently this is a quirk of the 850's. Don't neglect it or it will start to crack the frame. If you hear it clicking, replace right away to save yourself aggravation. I had to get a friend to weld a piece of metal in to save the mount so I could replace the door catch part. The drivers side window guide, that part fails too. There is a metal slot covered with felt that guides the window glass down into the door when you lower the window, there is a tab of metal that attaches it inside the door assembly and this tab breaks off eventually. If you go to a Volvo dealer, they sell the part and it is only like $25 and it is an upgraded design so it is worth getting the Volvo part (the tab part is beefed up from original tab design). I did the entire PVC system that Klaus was talking about...took me about 6 hours but not that hard. I did 02 sensors, not that bad. The engine bay is much tighter than a 240 but doable. The tranny fluid flushes are super simple. First job I ever did on the car was timing belt and all tensioners, I thought it would be impossible but it wasn't - just take your time. Again a tight engine bay but manageable. I put the OBX stainless steel turbo back exhaust on mine, it is an amazing improvement (the car pulls so much better from a dead stop with that turbo back exhaust). Oh another part that failed was the turbo oil cooling lines. Kind of a pain in the ass but if you do that job (I think you said yours is non turbo but this is just general knowledge I suppose at this point) be ultra careful with the tiny little green o rings at the thermostat housing. I learned this the hard way with oil spilling out after not seating them correctly (twice). Ended up buying an all new Oil Thermostat Housing from Volvo dealer after this, made the job much much easier. Now it doesn't leak a drop of oil. Other than those items I have had no problems. With 222HP the turbo model was exactly double the HP from my 240DL = fun in the sport mode. Solid car, no major problems at all just basic up keep and maintenance. I am only 3 years into owning an 850 but I am loving it. OH I ALMOST FORGOT. Another 850 quirk will be your ignition switch. When I first had this problem I was 400 miles away from home and real worried. When you start the car the ABS and TRACS lights will stay lit, and your headlights won't work and you can't shift the car out of park. This is the ignition switch, they go after a while. All you have to do is gently jiggle the key after starting the car, and it is fine. Mine is in this state currently and I know the ignition will go on me eventually but jiggling works for now. Guy at Volvo dealership that owns an 850 told me this.

I love my 850, it is such an upgrade from the 240 its insane. Roomy, comfortable, and I lucked out with low mileage and every single option on the car (even the electronic passenger seat and all). I drove 5 people through a snow storm to see our buddy's band up in NH and it took 7 hours in a blizzard and the car never hiccuped, slid on the road (driving on pure snow) and the heat was amazing. Such a solid car! Sorry for the rambling, im done now.
--
1989 240DL B230F w/ 223k miles. Stock, except for some Virgo's and my stereo.

You mention that this is a "GLT Sports Wagon."

Can you confirm that?

I thought that, in the US market, only the N/A 850s, which were the very bottom end of the line, came with manual transmissions.

Does your car have a sunroof? Does it have electric, leather seats? Does it have the electronic climate controls (temperature markings in degrees rather than just differentiating marks)? Does it have a turbocharger?

On the tailgate, does it say Sports Wagon, or just 850?

Agree with previous comments. If you have service records it will be good. I have driven an 850 from new and now have 155,000 miles. It is a great car and feels like new. It's a very comfortable car and solid. 2k sounds good.

Depending on the local traffic, the clutch is usually good for 200K. Check the play in the pedal, if it is almost up to the top it will need a clutch soon. Around here a new clutch is $1200-1400 and you might as well put in a new RMS.

When you drive it home, the PCV is next to the throttle body. Open it up and throw away the plastic screen, current Volvo procedure.

That will be a good car for your wife's garden and long trips. BUT, it needs 87octane gasoline to keep the valves clean and to get good mileage.

Klaus

I agree it is about middle age. I have a 98 V70 w/ 5-speed that we purchased new. It has 323k and the engine and tranny are running as they did new. Just replaced the clutch for the first time at 320k -- definitely a job I'd rather do in one of our 240s, but doable and I learned a lot. As long as the car has had regular maintenance it should be fine.

I'd also say that's about middle age.

One of the biggest problems with older 850/x70s is the auto trans has not had fluid maintenance - but yours has a manual which is generally thought to be tough as nails.

I'm pretty sure the non-T5 manuals were all Naturally Aspirated, so you should get pretty good gas mileage too.

The modern modular 'whiteblock' engines have shown themselves to be as durable and long-lived as the red blocks and maybe more so depending on which years you compare to. They're much more complicated and harder to work on (have a look around the internet for walkthroughs on the head gasket job) but they are well designed and well built from materials on up to assembly. They were designed in cooperation with Porsche and the design is sort of a blend of the benefits of the red block and Porsche's famous straight six to make something nearly as good as the Porsche engine (IMHO) but with much lower cost.

The 850/x70 chassis/body will outlast any 240. The suspension is likely as tough though one thing that's a bit tough to swallow is the integrated ball joints which can't be changed independently from the lower control arm - it's all one unit. Great for packaging, not so great for your wallet if you drive on crappy roads like I do.

It's a much more refined car in nearly every way, but also much more complicated. It's essentially the same technology though, just pushed ahead 30 years with all the benefits of new materials and processes.

Sounds like you found yourself a winner so enjoy!
--
1998 V70 AWD->FWD->AWD Turbo 220k+