I purchased a volvo that was profiled here for a while in September of 06 (here is the link to the original forum http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/Fs-1995-850...rea-t41950.html ).

I'm an utter newbie to this site and have seen the frustration that newbies cause to the regular people posting so figured i would start this blog and see if any interest comes from it cause i'd hate to post without searching!!

here is the description & the mod's listed on the previous link from the guy i purchased the car from:

"Black leather/alcantera interior on Black paint

Interior is in excellent/clean condition. No rips/cracks or stains

Car is rust-free

6-disc trunk changer

3rd row seat

Dash has one small (fixed) blemish

Front spoiler has some chipped paint

Car was keyed on the passenger side fender (touched-up)

Hood has some small paint defects around the water knozzles

All wheels have some curb rash

No dents, and maybe a few small dings

A/C blows VERY cold

H&R / Bilstein HD suspension on both front and rear

IPD/TME full exhaust system

Pod-mounted analog boost gauge

Stainless brake lines and slotted rotors up front

New/upgraded high-pressure turbo (unknown make)

Upgraded ECU/chip (unknown make)

Aftermarket downpipe (unknown make)

Cone intake filter (no heat shield)

Aftermarket keyless/alarm system

Dark window tint all-around

After purchasing the car, I had a top to bottom inspection done on the car at Rawbear Performance in NJ, a Volvo-only specialist. I wanted the car to be extremely reliable and "set up" properly, if required. The check came back very positive, with exception to the following repairs that I had performed:

Inspection of timing belt (checked, recently replaced prior to purchase)

Transmission fluid flushed and replaced

Passenger side control arm replaced

Motor mount replaced

Coolant flushed and replaced

Rear caliper seized (replaced, along with rotors and pads)

Synthetic oil change

Instrument panel / speedo gear replaced"

The car is great & we love it - but unfortunately i'm a total newbie to this site and to pretty much all these performance upgrades so i am predicting that this blog will be filled with some frustration until i find someone in the area (brooklyn ny) who can help me take care of a car like this beauty.

Now for the list of what i have done with this baby since i've had it:

i bought the car @ 098696 miles on 9/6/06.

a couple of little things had to be taken care of right away, and i took it to my body guy to do this work:

replace driving lights (replaced w/ angel eyes -- need to be pointed and are a little too large to really aim them well - but love the blue ring)

re-glue gasket around driver side passenger door

overall inspection

change oil

replace/fix cargo light

check brakes

inspect alarm & quote replacement

replace 5th door wagon struts

after this work was done i took it to a poor excuse for a mechanic in brooklyn "mitchell's auto" i found this guy on Cartalk's website ( love the guys and used to work for them ) because the service light was on and i wanted someone who worked with volvo's and could get it off. . . taking it to this guy was a BAD IDEA . . . so let me give you some background to justify:

I work here in NYC @ a company that does digital retouching for advertising agencies and we do tons of car retouchign ( Jaguar, Saab, Kia, VOLVO, VW, Toyota, BMW, etc). About as far removed from grease and break cleaner as you get. My wife is a fashion designer and we have no driveway, no garage and little time to tinker. This volvo is going to get a work out: hauling K's of LB's of clothing and some aggressive NY driving. Though i am far from slow on the uptake i want to make sure this car lasts and is taken care of - so i'll go into a little story that will explain what the newbie suffers through and get back into my record or repairs:

For thanksgiving we were heading down to NC & VA. I had planned to take the car on the Blue Ridge Parkway so definitely wanted to take the car to a mechanic after i had my Body Guy take and the only one i trust here in nYC take a look at it. Ended up changing the front struts. Well the guy never properly torqed the lower bolts and in Roanoke, VA the bolt on the driver's side fell out. Long story short, i ended up getting the recommendation from the x-new jersey manager to change the intercooler hose as it had a ripped. In richmond i popped by Mooers Volvo & picked up a new hose ( part number 9161093 ) to discover that i really needed one from 1994 ( part number 6842774 ). My guess from looking around the site is that i've got the mod to reverse it - whatever that means. Doesn't mean i love the car any less.

Back to the repairs:

replaced back shocks ( detials to follow )

replace the front struts

welded sway bar

replaced muffler mount

pointed headlights

cargo light

all done by the guy that can't screw in bolts

replaced the rear tires, balanced, alignment

all done by sears in brooklyn ( a saga unto itself -- 5 hours and a mess )

so need to deal with the intercooler hose - tried epoxy and that didn't hold much at all, thought the boost is better with some duct tape added.

well - that's it for now - wife is home!!! more later