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I got it with 123k, and limited service records. It was bright red with a tan leather interior. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, it was also a turd. It needed a rear main seal right away. I made the seller pay for that. It also needed PCV valve work (intake must be removed to clean some parts). At 125k, the electrical portion of the ignition failed, the seats didn't recline due to bad cables, and the SRS system developed an expensive problem. The blower motor also went. The A/C evaporator leaked and required r134 every two months or a 20 hour evaporator job. Aside from that stuff, the radio sucked, the dash lights were flakey, and the performance of the 2.4 liter I5 pales in comparison to that of my 2.5l V6 900 or my 2.5 liter BWW 525.
I will say the fit and finish of the car was very nice, and the leather seats seemed to hold up better than the SAAB ones. The hood also has a feature where you can open it so its straight up! Its cool, especially since you'll be under it alot! The timing belt was about 5x easier to replace than the timing belt in my 95 900 v6. I did the volvo's when I got it since I didn't know when it was last done.
I sold my volvo at a loss about 4 months after I bought it. Unlike the guy who sold it to me, I was honest with the buyer about its problems. In fact, he brings it by every so often and pays me to fix stuff on it. Its been no better to him than it was to me :) I'd never buy another volvo. But if I were looking at an 850, I'd check:
For leaky RMS. They all go bad.
For smoke coming out dipstick tube when car is idleing. Most likely due to pulgged up PCV bits. Requires a few hours to clean all the parts out. Intake has to come off to get to some of them.
A/C operation.
Dash lights. Its hard to replace them
HEadlight wipers. I bet they are messed up.
posted by 68.83.5...
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