1995 Volvo 850 Turbo 2.3 Liter turbo-Charged 222HP

Summary:

This car is horrible

Faults:

Got the car 8-20-02

3-6-03 @ 45,000 miles: Check engine light, belt squeal

4-13-04 @ 59,000 miles: burning smell with heat (Volvo had a recall), check engine light continue to run

8-5-05 @73,000 miles: left ball joints, right front sway bar, and bar link, gear shift arrow blinking (won't go out of first gear)

10-20-05 @75000 miles: hard start, needed new battery

2-27-06 @79,126 miles: all new brakes, pads, and rotors, left strut mounts, right ball joints, right lower control arm

6-22-06 @82000 miles: low idle, tail pipe extension, turbo waste gate solenoid

7-10-06 @83000 miles: hard transmission shifting= gear position switch

1-8-07 @ 88,000 miles: coolant leak, milky oil, oil leak.

Now for the little annoying faulty items: transmission shifter light is out, moonroof light is out, gas gauge intermittently works, dash board creaks with the SLIGHTEST bump or dip in the road, the moonroof leaks, back righ door has no spring, hood paint is peeling, check engine light is still on, and there is more, but don't have the patience to list them all.

General Comments:

All of the repairs listed above totalled around $2,300! That is in about 4 years and 52,000 miles! I would never buy this car again! The repairs are too much. The only thing that is OK with this car is possibly the power from the turbo, even though the turbo solenoid blew from very light use. It doesn't handle well in the snow even with FWD, winter mode, and traction control.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th January, 2007

9th Jan 2007, 02:17

Every vehicle is going to need new brakes, a battery & an exhaust system now & then. These really are wear & tear items, as opposed to faulty equipment.

9th Jan 2007, 06:25

Buy a ford and find out what expensive maintenance is. Most of that stuff is just basic maintenance on an older car. $2300 over four years and 50000 miles is just not that bad. Mind you an 850? What style is there?

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1995 Volvo 850 Turbo

Summary:

Worth every repair cost

Faults:

In addition to normal maintenance such as brake pads, shoes, and rotors, here are a few odds and ends:

Mechanical problems:

Inner CV boot cover crack, (150k miles)

Turbo Drain seal leaks and needs replacing every 15-30k depending on usage If not replaced (like in my friend's '96 850 Turbo), will leak oil into turbo fan and ruin turbo fan and possibly more. ($$$$$)

Electrical problems:

Odometer stopped running. Not expensive to fix, but I've never heard of this before on any car.

Rear Brake light switch failed ($30 at 145k)

Antenna shorted (155K)

Plan on replacing a few bulbs here and there as the car gets older.

Went too fast on a country road, got big speeding ticket. (OK, I know this isn't the car's fault, but I'll put it here anyway.)

General Comments:

Despite the frequent and expensive problems, it is a great car to have- great power, handling, and speed.

I love the look and the feel of driving it!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th January, 2006

24th Jan 2006, 14:30

Where did you get your odometer fixed? I need to get mine done as well. Can you please email me at atifshock@hotmail.com?

29th Jan 2006, 13:10

I also need to have the odometer fixed... is this a frequent problem with volvo 850's? should we be concerned?

12th Mar 2006, 14:38

All Volvo 850 models have the most trouble with odometers breaking. It is a very simple cause. There is a tiny soft-plastic gear (about the size of a pencil eraser) behind the speedometer that gets brittle with age, and causes the teeth on the gear to shear off. The gear no longer turns, and therefore your odometer stops turning. Volvo DOES NOT make a replacement gear, so normally you have to replace the entire instrument cluster ($200+ from a Volvo dealer) OR you can order a replacement gear from odometergears.com for $29 including shipping and handling. It completely fixes the problem. The new gear is made of a much harder plastic, so it shouldn't break again. I ordered the gear, installed it myself, and presto it worked!

Unless you know what you're doing, have a mechanic install it. Replacement requires carefully prying out all of the dash vents, unscrewing the top of the dash pad and prying the driver's side half of the dash pad up just enough so you can disconnect and pull out the instrument cluster. Pulling out the cluster works best with 2 sets of hands; one to hold up the dash, and one to disconnect and pull the cluster out. It can be done alone, but is trickier. Then you just have to carefully disassemble the cluster, locate the tiny gear, and replace the gear. Not too bad. Just a pain. I hope this helps you all!

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