A guy is selling his yellow 95' T5-R with IPD ECU, exhaust, front tower strut bar, eibach springs and a couple of other mods.
says it has 50k or so and in very good condition.
I think he is asking a bit much for a 7 1/2 year old car.

Is it worth it to go for it?
The T5R has a lot better performance than my car, but it is four years older.
I'm comtemplating if it is really worth it to go for an older but faster and a few more features like a moonroof and larger rims.

Any comments on the realiability and any upcoming problems that one could expect?

Thanks for the help.
It's a big decision for me, especially selling a few year old car (with about 6 months of warranty left) for a seven year old car.

I have a 95 854T (not R) with 89k on it. I've only had the car since 80k (previous car was a 95 944 that I took from 70-114k, and it would have gone to 500k I'm convinced if not for some unfortunate circumstances)....anyway, I have the service records for my car from the beginning. Since I have owned it I have had no major problems with it....It drives very well, is very quick, handles tightly...the suspension is a litte rough, but I think that's mostly to give it a sportier effect. The tramission shifts pefectly. The only thing I'd really had to do to it is clean out the fuel system (maily throttle body), replace the thermostat and replace the fuel filter. When you get up around 90k you expect to have to do a couple of things like that...all together that cost me about $60 (do the work myself). I see in the histroy there havn't really been any problems with it, the previous owner had complained of the car idling unevenly and stalling when cold (dealer solution was to replace spark plugs, wires, transmission switch, and distributor) but the problem acutally seems to have been solved by the fuel system cleaner used since I purchased it.

I threw in some Denso Iridum plugs and a K+N filter...not needed, but in my opinion a very nice improvement.

Overall I think it's a great car, and it's very very reliable. I have never been stranded with the 850T, it always goes where I want it to. I'll agree it's a bit more picky than any of the traditional Volvo 4 cylinders, but I think it's still much better than most cars! And a good price.

Also, keep in mind that aside from the difference that your engine is NA, the s70 and the 850 are generally very similar.

Brandon
95 854T 89k

Oh, I forgot....otherwise hold out for an s60R...check this out from Sweedspeed.
http://www.swedespeed.com/news/07_02/07_04_02/index.shtml
300hp factory!!!

http://www.skipbarber.com/drivingschool/index.htm

Septuagenarian Paul Newman beat a Porsche Boxster around the Lime Rock track driving a Volvo station wagon. There's more to it than HP.

-Punxsutawney Phil

So you've got to go back a ways to keep up with the Newmans.
--
(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting) (92 940GLE)

I have owned a 1995 850 Turbo since new and have 71K miles on it.

Here's my 2 cents:

As someone else once posted, a Volvo is somewhere between a Ford (found on road dead) and a Fiat (fix it again tony) as far a reliability.

The A/C systems are notorious for failing evaporators which run about $1,200 to $1,600 to replace. Mine was replaced once under warranty at 12,000 miles and is about to need replacing again( slow leak).

My transmission has been OK - however, problem have been noted and it is a known weakness ( fairly expensive to replace).

I have performed many many repairs on my 850 and have saved big money by doing it myself. However, if you aren't mechanically inclined break out the check book.

The suspension on the 850 just plain sucks. Check this site for prior posts on this- there's no real solution as the designed is apparently flawed.


Now the positives: The turbo is a fast car that is fun to drive. The car is solid and I belive crashworthy.

If you want the car get a good manual and set of tools- you'll need them.

First off make certain the timing belt has been changed regardless of mileage at 7 years of age. The belt's about $35 but if it fails it'll cost you $3,500 to fix the engine.

It's a fun car - but ain't no Toyota when it come to reliability.

Good Luck with your decision ( I like the R myself).

Im probably just going to wait a few more years and hopefully have enough for an M3, or see how the S60 R is coming along.

I too own a 95 850 turbo, I got is like 2 years ago with 72K miles on it. Right now it has 116K miles on it. i love the car, its a beast, moves like the wind and keeps up with just anybody on the road. I wll have to agree about the tranny. When I first got it, I had tranny problems like crazy but finally after like 3 rebuilds and finally a full swap they fixed it just right, and thank God everything has been cool up till now.

As far as working on it for maintenance, you better buy a manual and start a tool colection cause the dealer is anything but cheap. I do the work myself and take pride in it. Oh by the way the 95 T-5R is a one year only limited edition special that was made in order to compete with the BMW M3. So if you want a good fast car, you can't go wrong with this one and if you look up the price on all those mods, that price he is charging you might not be so bad.

think about it

Sadude

95T5R=96T5R=97R=samecar=all were limited edition @ approx. 1500 units built per year.

Double check your source cause every website I have read and everybody who has a
T-5R says it is a one year thing. In 96 it was the 96R and the 97R.

Sadude