Hi there, I am thinking about buying a used 850 turbo. The one I am looking at is a 1996, but it has 151 K. I was wondering if that is acceptable for a 6 year old car. The ad says 90% of the miles are freeway, but I thought I would get some advice from people who know more than I do.
thanks for the input,
KT

we get our 1.5 years ago with 115,000 on it 1994 850 turbo loaded original owner car... for $7500 great buy great investment we ever done.. love the car...

stick with turbo where the power and all the fun is.....


with support from this board you can learn to do all the work by yourself...


850 is great car only I don't like and hate is the suppension ride over the bump it hard ride strairt line great car great ride.. over any pump you feel it in your bone...........



and there not much to can do about the ride... let said like a buggie ride when you hit the bump .....

The average estimate of 15k miles per year puts a '96 model at 105,000. The car you're looking at is 46k over average. The asking price should reflect this.

I recently bought a 95 855 turbo and like it very much. As suggested here on brickboard regarding these cars (and perhaps the 960s), don't buy without seeing a verifiable service history. These cars are reliable (and FUN) but must be maintained. The two most costly repairs seem to be A/C evaporator replacement if neccessary and engine rear oil seal replacement.

If you're mechanically inclined, this board, Volvospeed.com and the Ozbrick sites cover just about everything you'll need and most of it is pretty easy.

Be aware also, if you plan on doing your own maintenance and diagnosing, beginning with the 96 model, you'll need a OBDII scanner to pull codes when you get the check engine light and for the service light, a reset tool. The 95 (and 94?) models have the diagnostic ports in a module under the hood and it can be done from there.

Final advice. Buy an hour or two of either the dealer's service department or an independent Volvo shop's time and have the car gone through. Including a compression test. Carfax is a good idea but not all accidents show up on their reports. My wife's minivan accident hasn't two years later.
--
Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t

The 850 Turbos are great cars. I've had mine for a couple months now and I absolutely love it. Acceleration is an exhilirating rush in Sport mode and it handles great. Mine is a '95 with only 39,600 miles. I got really lucky, and got one with low miles.


--
'95 Volvo 854 Turbo: Gold Edition
K&N Air Filter, Leather, 6 disc CD-changer, Rear Spoiler
13% tinted windows

We bot at 96 850 turbo with 59,000 miles in 1999...now has 85,000 on it. Wife's car. She looks great driving it, it looks great-spoiler, low profile tires, red, drives great. We like it, but it is much more maintenance prone on some issues. If you want it, tell the seller you are concerned about these items--he/she may come down in price...

1. Does the A/C work/blow cold air? Be forwarned that the evaporators leak on these 850s. If not now, it will. It's easy to self recharge (look on this site for instructions). The evaoprator costs $1,600 to replace so be forwarned.

2. Testd-rive it and see if you can move the gearshift from PARK to Reverse without hitting the shiftlock button on the gear shift. Most 850s have this little bug/problem and it's easy to fix...but beware.

3. Ours is the black leather interior and gets VERY HOT in the summer. (See number 1 concern) We're going to get the windows tinted to help the problem which will be another $160

4. Ask to see the maintenance records. Most volvo owners keep theirs.

If you can see the records, feel the cold air from the AC on a hot day, shift into reverse and are willing to put up with some "anomalies", you'll have a fun time with the volvo. This site is awesome for info.

(How much is the person asking?)

I have a '95 850 turbo sedan with 180k and it runs like new. All maintenance was done by the dealer, except for a couple of suspension items done at a local franchise. Anything engine related was always done at the dealer. Probably 75% of the miles are highway (I guess another way of knowing that would be the number of brake jobs) and the car runs like new, burns no oil and no leaks. It runs great and we're keeping it until it dies and that won't be soon. I say if they can prove the maintenance (I have all receipts) and a mechanic says it checks out, then go for it.

Presuming it's maintained by the book, with complete records - it should be 10,000 miles into it's THIRD timing belt at this point, AND presuming that the price reflects the SUBSTANTIAL mileage penalty in kbb.com or edmunds.com (maybe $3000 cheaper) AND presuming a clean bill of health from an independant Volvo technician, (including the AC and transmission) I would actually prefer a higher mileage car. Except for the stone chips, highway driving is much easier on a car than local driving. The 850s seem to do better and collect less crud in their engines if they're highway driven than lugged around town at low RPMS. My '98 runs fine at 95,000 miles and uses absolutely no oil between changes.

If any of the caveats I stated don't hold all bets are off. The cars seem much more maintainance-critical than mileage critical, I would RUN away from one that wasn't maintained "by the book" or didn't have service records (there should be a stamped service logbook), regardless of the mileage.

-Punxsutawney Phil

I'm shopping for a 96 97 turbo and the average milage I've found is about 70000. Even though milage isn't the most important factor in a good car, over a hundred thousand seems a bit much. A check by a trusted (neutral) mechanic may give you some advice.

Good luck.
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The 96 is number 8.

For reference while you are shopping, Volvo's value's seem to slide downhill quickly after 100k miles. I've been looking at trading in my 95 GLT wagon with 109K niles for a F-150 King Ranch ($35k) and the best a dealer has offered me is $3K and its in good condition.