Hey Everyone,

I have a 1997 850 that has been a huge headache. I've spent over $2,100.00 in repairs in the year that I've owned it. This is my second Volvo, and it kinda shook my faith in Volvo's a little bit.

I'm now looking at a 93 850 with 43,000 original miles on it. Can anyone think of anything common problems I should look for before buying this car?

What seem to be most common compliants - transmission, A/C, brakes. Take a close look at those. You can also read the codes from the onboard computer to see what codes it has stored. And the '93 has some parts that are different then 94 & up that might cause confusion when getting parts - 4 lugs wheels, 6 inch 1 bulb headlights, 50k timming belt to name a few.

I have a 93 and just had the tranny go after 287k miles. (Although in fairness this was 2 weeks after tranny line blew and my son, who was driving the car, might not have shutdown the car soon enough). My A/C still works. And my biggest problem is sticking brake calipers. Seems like once a year have to deal with those.

Also I suggest - Run a carfax report to verify miles are really that low and no accidents in the cars past to explain less the 4000 miles per year.

While miles maybe low you need to think in terms of time. If the timing belt hasn't been changed in the last 4 years, change it and I would also say simple fluid changes would also be in order - oil, coolant, brake, tranny etc.

Good luck - and if you don't want it post the details of where it is, some of the rest of us might be interested.

What repairs were done? Were they self-limiting or likely to recur? Did you have the car from new and need repairs despite good maintenance, or did you have to take care of things the old owner neglected or abused?

Seems worth thinking about these things before deciding whether to switch to a different car (especially an earlier one with some bugs that were worked out in later years).

How much?

gearbox failure if its an auto