12 replies to this topic

[zon]

I am considering buying a used Volvo for my daugter as her first car. The only Volvo I have owned was a 1982 240DL which was a rock solid car. I have been told that newer Volvo's are maintenance hogs requireing a lot of time, attention, and money to keep running. Is this true? I dont want to get a car that I have to wrench on every weekend or have to worry about breaking down on my daughter. I found a 1997 Volvo 850 Sedan 4D with only 65K on it that is in excellent condition that I am considering buying. Is this model and year considered reliable?

[the underlørd]

97's are good.. that' super low miles. sounds like you got a nice deal there..

is it a GLT or T5?


if it's a 1997 GLT it's what we refer to as a LPT or "light pressure turbo" - 190 BHP
it's it's a 1997 T5 it's what we call a T5 or "high pressure turbo" - 222 BHP

[maiku]

they are high maintenance if you let problems get the best of you
volvo's need preventative maintenance, and regular scheduling
these aint your typical accords or civics
they actually need oil changes

a lot of the work you can do yourself
i haven't brought my car to a mechanic for anything yet *knock on wood*

Edited by anitanium, 22 March 2006 - 05:27 PM.

[ToxicLemonade]

I bought a 95 t5-r with 50k miles and havent had to do any huge maintanice work except replace some hoses and vacuum lines. there are guys on here with 200k mile 850's still running strong.

[anarchyx34]

I've got almost 150k on mine and I'm actually surprised at how reliable it's been. No major headaches yet (aside from the RMS letting go at 129k, but that was expected).

[shaun]

I am considering buying a used Volvo for my daugter as her first car. The only Volvo I have owned was a 1982 240DL which was a rock solid car. I have been told that newer Volvo's are maintenance hogs requireing a lot of time, attention, and money to keep running. Is this true? I dont want to get a car that I have to wrench on every weekend or have to worry about breaking down on my daughter. I found a 1997 Volvo 850 Sedan 4D with only 65K on it that is in excellent condition that I am considering buying. Is this model and year considered reliable?

i ran a subaru for 150k on plugs oil and filters.. 850 volvos will not do that, they need more maintanace as they have more systems, but they are designed to be maintained and will go for a very long time still feeling good into the 200k+ range. from my experiance I would say 850's are "reliable", but they do require maintanace.

[TM850R]

First thing that car will need is a timing belt if im correct here. Regular maitinence is key. There are a few known problems that these cars run into but they can always be prevented.

[Mogatu'r]

Well my 2nd Volvo was an 850 in '98. And I put 198k on it before I sold it, never, never, never left me stranded! Go For it !

[Oreo931]

im curious what model volvo it is also...base? glt? t5?

[TheMan5952]

I have a '93 850 with 140K on it. I run the hell out of it at the track and through corners on backroads. I keep up with regular oil changes, and standard preventitive maintenance, the only thing i've 'had' to change was a O2 sensor and Cam posistion sensor. I'm actually looking into buying another one later this year.

[bill d cat]

They can last well over 200,000 miles, but like every Eurocar they are "maintenance intensive".

I don't think the reliability degrades much more after they reach 100,000 miles. The same components fail again and again like clockwork until about 250,000 miles. At that point, even on a well-maintained car, major components like engines and transmission will begin to wear out.

I would suggest a pre-purchase inspection by a shop that knows Volvos. A $5000 850 that has no problems and has all the maintenance up to date can look, sound, feel, drive and smell identical to one that needs $6000 in immediate work.

[kenhoeve]

with that low of miles, i'd go for it. as long as you stay up on mainenance you should be good for some time. there can be some gremlins, but I wouldn't expect any to pop up until after 100k, at least.

[peacexisxfree]

i think your answer might be a little biased based on the website you're on

I would suggest a pre-purchase inspection by a shop that knows Volvos. A $5000 850 that has no problems and has all the maintenance up to date can look, sound, feel, drive and smell identical to one that needs $6000 in immediate work.

i would suggest the same. right before i picked up my 850 T5 wagon, the indy mechanic checking it out said he just had a guy come in with a newer volvo. the guy selling wanted 6k. by the time the mechanic was done, he had discovered it needed 6k in labor and parts.

Edited by peacexisxfree, 24 March 2006 - 07:04 AM.