Volvo buying guides - 850 or v70
Discussion
Looking at buying a volvo station wagon for as little money as possible, most important thing for me is its ability to take some serious miles.
What do i need to look for on an 850, and what on a v70?
What are the servicing requirements for both of these cars? When is the major service, timing belts etc?
Are there any known weaknesses in the 850.
I'm a brit in the US, and my job involves occasionally driving from New York to both Florida, and Phoenix (about 2500 miles!), so i'd like to get a car that can stand up to it. I'd prefer an automatic, mostly because it'll be so much easier to find one.
I'm thinking of a car like this one:
[url] http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volvo- [/url]
What should i be asking the seller?
Thank you, and excuse my total ignorance!
What do i need to look for on an 850, and what on a v70?
What are the servicing requirements for both of these cars? When is the major service, timing belts etc?
Are there any known weaknesses in the 850.
I'm a brit in the US, and my job involves occasionally driving from New York to both Florida, and Phoenix (about 2500 miles!), so i'd like to get a car that can stand up to it. I'd prefer an automatic, mostly because it'll be so much easier to find one.
I'm thinking of a car like this one:
[url] http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volvo- [/url]
What should i be asking the seller?
Thank you, and excuse my total ignorance!
Hello.
Car looks to good.
The Engine with regular serviceing will go for 250,000
The auto trans fluid should be a cherry red colour.
Check front suspension link arms (veryical rod)
This car is fond of front tyres 15,000 miles good (drive like a granny) or 8,000 miles if you hoon about.
Would be good sense to get the cam belt (70,000miles iirc)done and the accessory drive belt done too, is water pump good? If this seizes it has been known to mince up the other belts inc cambelt!
Be prepared to replce the vacuum hoses (these can cause the lambda light to come on) as engine control and monitoring is done by vacuum) it's a diy job.
check air is icy cold and with most modern cars that all electrics work.
gas mileage... no better than about 25mpg and a lot worse if you have fun
hahahahahahahahaha......
Cruise on an auto box is good and given your journeys I reckon essential.
Auto box has torque converter lock up to save a bit of fuel.
It works on 2nd 3rd and 4th.... 7 speed gbox.. wahey!
Check reverse lights work and that gear shifter is not stiff and that gears engage at correct indication on selector. This part when fails costs £90 to buy and a couple of hours labour.
Good luck
Lee
Car looks to good.
The Engine with regular serviceing will go for 250,000
The auto trans fluid should be a cherry red colour.
Check front suspension link arms (veryical rod)
This car is fond of front tyres 15,000 miles good (drive like a granny) or 8,000 miles if you hoon about.
Would be good sense to get the cam belt (70,000miles iirc)done and the accessory drive belt done too, is water pump good? If this seizes it has been known to mince up the other belts inc cambelt!
Be prepared to replce the vacuum hoses (these can cause the lambda light to come on) as engine control and monitoring is done by vacuum) it's a diy job.
check air is icy cold and with most modern cars that all electrics work.
gas mileage... no better than about 25mpg and a lot worse if you have fun
hahahahahahahahaha......
Cruise on an auto box is good and given your journeys I reckon essential.
Auto box has torque converter lock up to save a bit of fuel.
It works on 2nd 3rd and 4th.... 7 speed gbox.. wahey!
Check reverse lights work and that gear shifter is not stiff and that gears engage at correct indication on selector. This part when fails costs £90 to buy and a couple of hours labour.
Good luck
Lee
There are two well established US based Volvo interest sites that are well worth visiting...
www.volvospeed.com and www.swedespeed.com
Regards, Don.Norchi.
www.kalmar-union.com
www.volvospeed.com and www.swedespeed.com
Regards, Don.Norchi.
www.kalmar-union.com
madleee said:
Hello.
Car looks to good.
The Engine with regular serviceing will go for 250,000
The auto trans fluid should be a cherry red colour.
Check front suspension link arms (veryical rod)
This car is fond of front tyres 15,000 miles good (drive like a granny) or 8,000 miles if you hoon about.
Would be good sense to get the cam belt (70,000miles iirc)done and the accessory drive belt done too, is water pump good? If this seizes it has been known to mince up the other belts inc cambelt!
Be prepared to replce the vacuum hoses (these can cause the lambda light to come on) as engine control and monitoring is done by vacuum) it's a diy job.
check air is icy cold and with most modern cars that all electrics work.
gas mileage... no better than about 25mpg and a lot worse if you have fun
hahahahahahahahaha......
Cruise on an auto box is good and given your journeys I reckon essential.
Auto box has torque converter lock up to save a bit of fuel.
It works on 2nd 3rd and 4th.... 7 speed gbox.. wahey!
Check reverse lights work and that gear shifter is not stiff and that gears engage at correct indication on selector. This part when fails costs £90 to buy and a couple of hours labour.
Good luck
Lee
Car looks to good.
The Engine with regular serviceing will go for 250,000
The auto trans fluid should be a cherry red colour.
Check front suspension link arms (veryical rod)
This car is fond of front tyres 15,000 miles good (drive like a granny) or 8,000 miles if you hoon about.
Would be good sense to get the cam belt (70,000miles iirc)done and the accessory drive belt done too, is water pump good? If this seizes it has been known to mince up the other belts inc cambelt!
Be prepared to replce the vacuum hoses (these can cause the lambda light to come on) as engine control and monitoring is done by vacuum) it's a diy job.
check air is icy cold and with most modern cars that all electrics work.
gas mileage... no better than about 25mpg and a lot worse if you have fun
hahahahahahahahaha......
Cruise on an auto box is good and given your journeys I reckon essential.
Auto box has torque converter lock up to save a bit of fuel.
It works on 2nd 3rd and 4th.... 7 speed gbox.. wahey!
Check reverse lights work and that gear shifter is not stiff and that gears engage at correct indication on selector. This part when fails costs £90 to buy and a couple of hours labour.
Good luck
Lee
as above...happy hunting
I had an engine gone at 140k miles, and heard of several similar instances at similar miles, seemingly a production fault in some of the turbo engines 
Apart from that check the colour and smell of the autobox oil. It might need changing, depending on mileage. Can only confirm the advice for checking that the shifter engages correctly. Mine stopped doing so (at around 170k miles) and there was some chip / sensor or other that needed to be replaced (IIRC). Air conditioning is likely to be a problem on all 850s by now in case it hasn't been fixed. It seems to be a bit of a weak spot, needed to get pretty much all components of it replaced when it was about 6-8 years old. Some are harder to detect than others, one particuarly evil one was that the clutch that engages the cooling compressor (is it called that in english?) overheated and disengaged just when the car needed cooling the most
Obviously this is worse in a black one with black interior
Generally I would recommend the 850 highly, perhaps more than the V70. I personally prefer the look of the plastics and interior more generally, and it came before the first real wave of cost cutting at Volvo. On the other hand it is older and some spares you can no longer get from Volvo individually but only as completely assembled components. I was unable to get a replacement for some rods of the electric seat adjustment (would need to get everything including motor, which is still working), on the rear spoiler on one side the clip holding it to the boot rusted through, the only official remedy was a completely new spoiler... I suppose the V70 is still better in that respect.
Apart from that check the colour and smell of the autobox oil. It might need changing, depending on mileage. Can only confirm the advice for checking that the shifter engages correctly. Mine stopped doing so (at around 170k miles) and there was some chip / sensor or other that needed to be replaced (IIRC). Air conditioning is likely to be a problem on all 850s by now in case it hasn't been fixed. It seems to be a bit of a weak spot, needed to get pretty much all components of it replaced when it was about 6-8 years old. Some are harder to detect than others, one particuarly evil one was that the clutch that engages the cooling compressor (is it called that in english?) overheated and disengaged just when the car needed cooling the most
Obviously this is worse in a black one with black interior
Generally I would recommend the 850 highly, perhaps more than the V70. I personally prefer the look of the plastics and interior more generally, and it came before the first real wave of cost cutting at Volvo. On the other hand it is older and some spares you can no longer get from Volvo individually but only as completely assembled components. I was unable to get a replacement for some rods of the electric seat adjustment (would need to get everything including motor, which is still working), on the rear spoiler on one side the clip holding it to the boot rusted through, the only official remedy was a completely new spoiler... I suppose the V70 is still better in that respect.
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