I bought our '95 850 last year and after a month or so, noticed the finish blistering and peeling off of the rear bumper. The dealer (of course) declined to fix this. Our local body shop said that the bumper had been dented in a minor bump-up and then cosmetically fixed with bondo and paint, which was now popping off.

Is replacing this something that can be done at home. The part is very expensive acc. to local guy (~$400), but if I can do the work myself, I should be able to save some money. Any help would be appreciated.

850 bumpers are hard to refinish and have the paint stick. Which is why volvo introduced a prepainted bumper program a few years ago. They come from volvo prepainted the volvo way in the factory paint code. A rear cover is a lot easier to do than a front. I wished I could remember how to replace the rear cover, but its been a while.

I actaully bought a shell from a junk dealer in Oregon for about $250 including shipping to CT. Haven't put mine on yet though due to cold weather. There are basically two large bolts that hold it on and that's it. They're right about center with the edges of the trunk opening under the grey plastic lip. You can look from underneath as well. Once the bumper is removed, it slides back. There are two mounting brackets on the rear quarter panels that the bumper slides into to hold the sides against the body. It's real easy as long as you have a socket set and a wrench. If you're not in a rush, I may consider selling the shell to you as I am looking to unload my 850 due to far too many mechanical problems. It's a dark green one and would need to be sprayed.