Finally found an 850 turbo wagon in decent shape without a tan interior and for a reasonable price (seems like every 850 for sale in Nor. California has a tan interior). For sale at a dealer and has only 52k miles on it, but it has two problems that are sort of troubling.
-Valve Tap: When I started it up for a test drive, it had a noticable loud valve tap that didn't go away while it idled cold, but went away after I drove it and it warmed up. After the test drive while idling and warm, there was no tap. My wife's 850 has a similar intermittant valve tap that I'm about to use one of those "mystery oil" type products on. Anyway, has anybody had a tap like this that never went away and ended up requiring a valve job?

-Bad Upper Motor Mount: The upper motor mount was shot. It was completely loose, and none of the flexible "spoke" portions of the mount were left. So, it looks like this mount was bad for quite a while. Could anything else have been damaged when a bad mount like this is left unfixed for quite a while? What does it say about a car that has something like this left unfixed for such a long time?

It's got the noticable amount of cosmetic paint scratches, especially on the front spoiler, which is expected since it was a San Francisco car. But it drove well, the suspension and steering seemed nice and tight, and the engine pulled real well. And if I decide to buy it, I'll have it inspected by an independent Volvo mechanic.

Need to make a decision as to whether I should continue to pursue it, so any advice would be appreciated.

Steve T, 90 740 wagon, 94 850