Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with the car. It runs perfect.

General Comments:

The car is very quick off the line, but it struggles when it gets around 95-100. Awsome car. I'm sold on volvo's for life. Interior is good, engine runs strong. I blows the 1989 740 GLE 16 valve away with no problem. It even beat a 1972 164 E.

Can't say enough good things about the car. My best buy ever.

Faults:

Lambda warning light lit when bought, traced to a dirty contact on the throttle position sensor.

General Comments:

The 850 estate appears physically large due to the slab-sided styling. The rear boot drop-off however aids reversing as you can see exactly where the rear of the car is. A few days into driving the 850 and you will be squeezing through gaps that smaller cars baulk at!

Performance depends on which one of the many engine variations you get... I got the 2.5l 10v petrol which is a good torquey workhorse without high insurance costs. Acceleration is good, with lots of torque right up to motorway speeds and beyond. The ride is comfortable, stable, and safe.

Fuel consumption varies from 30mpg (UK) on a motorway run, to 23mpg around town on short runs.

The quality of the vehicle means further costs for me are limited just to servicing.

There have been problems for the range though. The ABS sensor ECU may fail, the air con evaporators seem to be of variable longevity, and brake rotors may warp. If you get a good one, you get an excellent car, so check the history thoroughly.

Now replaced by the V70 with softer styling, the 850 can be had for bargain prices.

Faults:

ABS lamp comes on intermittently, dealer charges me for a half hour's labour to read out the fault codes (took 3 minutes), and proudly tells me that the ABS control unit is shot, and that it's a common problem with these cars. For R4000 (about $400) I can buy the unit and fit it myself.

SRS (Airbag) warning lamp comes on intermittently, haven't had it diagnosed yet.

Drivers door brake broke (another known problem with these quality cars).

The ventilation fan has an imbalance, and whines to the point that you cannot use it.

The leather on the steering wheel and seats has worn badly - Volvo should buy their leather from BMW!

Thermostat failed, coolant bottle cracked.

Tailgate inner trim panel broke loose.

Can't remember the other stuff - my therapist says its better to forget...

General Comments:

This car is a lump of crud - it is under-powered, handles like a fat chick on roller skates, and is no better quality than a Dacia. The only tool one should use when working on this car is a blow-torch!

Faults:

Driver door stay has needed welding.

Air conditioning has a leak.

Minor oil leak on the turbo, but this was cheap to fix.

Front wheel bearing failed at 55000.

Anti-lock brakes control unit has failed.

New gearbox fitted before I bought the car.

New inter-cooler fitter before I bought the car.

General Comments:

This car is very quick, quiet, a joy to drive (when it is all working), has a good ride and carries everything in the huge boot.

We drove 2800 miles to Italy and back this year and it was out-handling and out-performing more modern cars over the Swiss Alps and averaged 29 miles to gallon!