Hi folks, I haven't been around for a while since selling my Custom Cruiser and dealing with some illness. A neighbor parked his Volvo WAGON at the curb with a For Sale sign and I jumped on it. Anyway, it's a foreigner with wrong wheel drive but a has a long roof and the potential to displace the gas sucking conversion van we've been using around here to cart our pack of wild Italian Greyhounds, pic-nic "stuff" and the occassional car engine when the wife ain't looking. It's a '94 850 in good shape with documented by the book service. I'll be refreshing the suspension as it rides a bit like a lumber wagon right now. A mid sixties domestic or BMW E34, 5 series wagon would have been my first choice but both are getting very hard to find in good condition, the former at a reasonable price and the later were a bit scarce to begin with. This was literally across the street so the Swede will do for now. FIVE cylinders has messed up my "cylinder count" to an odd number, 63. Of MANY cars owned this my first Volvo, any wisdom here?
Hi ross, back. Glad to hear your feeling better and back in a wagon. Please let me be the first to say...
Should be pretty reliable, since they've been making that 5-cylinder forever it seems. Quite a few still around, so parts should be easy to find. If you're not inclined to do repairs yourself, look up an independent Volvo mechanic. There seems to be at least one in each middle-sized city, at least here on the left coast. If you're buying suspension pieces, look up IPD. http://www.ipdusa.com/ They're here in Portland, Oregon Marshall (And welcome back, Ross!)
Wrong wheel drive is about it! To me, the last of the really good Volvo wagons was the 9 series, either the 940 or 960. The 850 is pretty good, though. Just don't use it like a one ton truck! It won't take quite the weight of the older boxes. One rock solid piece of advice, though. If ANYTHING electrical goes, get the original Volvo part, not even the generic Bosch part. There were small differences between what was used on a Volvo, Saab, BMW, Mercedes, etc., and with the multiplexed electrical system, the wrong feed back can cause other things to malfunction or blow up. Ask my Mom. She has the repair bills from Arthur to prove it. Other than that, nice deal on the car. Just make sure to stick to the book for the maintenance. These cars do not like to be let go at all.
850s are great cars, congratulations! Their biggest (livable) problem area is the evap core for the AC unit. if it goes, and they do go, it's a pretty expensive repair. As long as you don't mind the lack of A/C it's not a big deal. Check the top motor mount. They usually go bad and people forget to replace it. It's a easy fix and will quell any odd vibration issues. These cars have interference engines, make sure the timing belt has been done. IIRC, the interval on the `94s is 60k or 7 years. iPdusa and FCPgrotons are two great websites for parts.
Thanks for the greetings boys! Good to see that window way back there, even if in a beater. I've put a few miles on and discovered a nasty shake over 40 mph, probably a tire. The a/c is inop but I knew this. Its of little consequence in January, we'll see about fixing if it's a keeper. T-belt appears to have been done a couple of times. I need to try to read the service stickers to see when last. I was about to look up if it were interference or not so thanks to hoop. Thanks also for the parts house tip from Krash. Electric problems don't scare me. With a schematic I always prevail. If I manage to make it a bit more presentable looking I'll post pictures. Oddly, I drove it today for the first time for an errand and was approached in the store parking lot by a fellow wanting to know all about it, go figure. The wife isn't very warm to it so far.
No Volvo wagon for me. The wife's car needed service Monday so she drove the Volvo and HATES it. This combined with wrong wheel drive caused it to be sold on. Anyone having personal knowledge of a GOOD BMW 5 series wagon, '89-'95 or MB W124 300te for sale and cares to pass it on may be my saving grace. Meanwhile back to the conversion van, bordello styled interior, 10 mpg and all.
You might consider looking for the BMW wagon in Southern California. A fairly good amount of them, and you can be pretty sure that the bodies are not rusty. It would make for a good fly in, drive home vacation.
