I bought the little lady a 98 S70 last October with 80k original miles on it. This was to replace the 97-850 that I had bought her in May of last year to replace the 90 740 that she had with 178k miles on it. I got a pretty good deal on the S70 so I went ahead and bought it and took the 850 to replace my 92-940 with 233k miles on it. My older brother bought the 740 and my younger brother bought the 940 from me. Both cars I had meticulously maintained myself. Now on to your question.

I have not had any major problems with the 850 other than the normal maintenance when I first bought it a year ago. I changed the timing belt, serpetine belt,plugs, dist. cap, rotor, wires, filters, flushed the tranny and did put it on synthetic oil. I change the oil every 10k miles but I do change the filter every 5k. Oh, by the way, the 850 had 76k original miles on it. I did replace the tires and brake pads but other than an air injection pump it has been just routine maintenance. I've put 16k on it and it gets great mileage and is really peppy compared to the 740 and 940 with the little 4-banger. I just got back from a 1600 mile trip with it about 1 month ago and got 30mpg at around 73mph. I had a little problem with the front right window (it was the switch which I just cleaned) but not a big deal and it's fixed. All in all, it's really a pretty solid car. I kept the 940 about 9 years and I plan to keep this one about the same length of time. Now about the S70.

The S70 was originally for me to replace my 940. When the wife saw it and drove it (one time!!) she immediately took it over (I did offer it to her though, since that was the only way I could buy 2 cars within 5 months)even though when I went down to San Antonio to pick it up it was going to be mine. Of all the Volvos I've owned this is ABSOLUTELY the BEST ONE, BAR NONE!! When I got the S70 last October it had 80k and had been dealer maintained. Incidentally, both the 850 and S70 were one owner cars, just like all the others I've owned. I manage to buy them with all the records which really makes a HUGE difference in what kind of problems you ultimately have with them. I have looked at some real nice Volvos in my time but when I get to looking for records and there are very few or none I have made it my habit to just walk away. This policy has worked very, very well for me in all the used cars I've ever bought. My philosophy is: no records, no buy!! Back to the S70. When I got it all it needed was tires. The dealer had just done the 70k service on it and I did not touch the car until it hit 85k. Then I went in and put in Pennzoil synthetic and a new oil filter, flushed the tranny, plugs, rotor, cap and oil and gas filter. I did replace the serpentine belt since it looked a little frayed and I believe the dealer might have missed that on the big service. I did pop the cover off and checked the t-belt and it did look almost brand new. I did have one slightly split outer boot but I replaced that (real easy to do yourself)and at that time noticed the pads had about 20% left on them and I put in ceramic pads. Other than that it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL automobile. That one also gets around 30mpg on the highway and around town it gets around 26-27. Fantastic car and I would strongly recommend it for your wife. I know my wife loves it I've offered her an S80 and is not even in the slightest bit interested.

Hope I didn't bore you to death and good luck in your car hunting!!

Henry

97-850/92k, 98-S70/88k. Before: 82-260gle, 84-240gl, 85-740gle, 90-740, 92-940gl(my favorite until I got into the 850 and S70).