Have a '95 GLT wagon with 42K. Good vehicle overall -- had evap. and engine mount replaced. The '95 does not require a scan tool for reading codes. Also, I believe the ABS issue is not as common with these (96 and above).

THese cars require a lot of maintenance- continous stream of little things break.

My 95 has 75K miles and going on its 2nd AC Evaporator ( $1,200 to $1,600) and the odometer stopped working (minor , yet frustrating).

Look out for rear main oil seals - about $1K to fix.

Have the AC thoroughly checked out by a pro ( evaporators commonly go out- and are expensive to replace).

Timing Belts must be replaced every 70K miles or 5 years. If the car doesn't have records- replace the belt as soon as you can. Broken belt=$5k repair bill.

Mainly these cars have a lot of little things constantly breaking - if you like to fix cars, the 850's are OK.

If the car is for your wife- get her a Toyota.

Me and my 1995 850 Turbo - a love and hate relationship. Love the performance, but the reliability is worse than a Ford Taurus.

My 1995 has been flawless. (125,000 ) 5 speed) and the dealer says that 95s have proved to be good but I don't have any scientific data to back it up..just my own experience. Perhaps Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds has some more quantifiable data.

people usually avoid the first couple of years when a new model comes out, hoping that the bugs and quirks have been taken care of by the third year.
For the 850 series '93 and '94 were the initial years, so that later '95 and newer 850's should be pretty reliable.
The most important question you should ask to see is service records, if the car has been serviced regularly that's a plus and if serviced by a volvo dealer that's even better.
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'88 240, '92 740, '98 v70 GLT John in Tampa Bay