Faults:

An assortment of problems over the 10 years of ownership.

General Comments:

To be honest with you, this car has had its share of problems. My wife and I live in Connecticut and we see our family down in both New Jersey and in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and the wagon has rarely let us down since we got it back in 1996. It's very comfortable, very safe, and very reliable.

So if you are in the market for a safe family wagon with plenty of room inside, but do not mind the upkeep on these wagons, go out and buy one.

Trust us, you will have it forever, as these Volvo's will last forever with the proper upkeeping of them.

Faults:

Exhaust pipe, suspension, nothing serious.

General Comments:

Excellent car that still runs like a clock in spite of the high mileage. In the winter it's a monster. The car stands outdoors all through the year, and since I live in rural Norway, the weather conditions can be extreme. The car never fails.

Faults:

I bought this car with high miles 178000. OK the miles were high, but after reading all the reviews I trusted this motor with perfect service record. After 4000 miles I noticed I was losing oil so I took it into the shop to find it was burning oil and needed some major work. £1200 later I was driving a car that felt like new. 2 months later the oil looked like mayonnaise and I was told the car was not breathing correctly so another 100 for the cleaning out job needed to help it breath. The next problem was the seal on the steering rack and loss of transmission fluid I discovered the cost of replacing and decided to replace the fluid every 2 months instead. The car is great looking and drives fine, but I would recommend going for the younger model with less miles.

Faults:

OSF steering support arm.

Turbo return seals replaced at 120K miles.

Retractable load cover broke.

Low pressure switch in Air-con system blew.

Think I'll need a gearbox rebuild in next 10k est'd cost £1,500.

General Comments:

For a large estate, the car is very quick and handles excellently. Just as fast as my wife's Audi TT (225). Will see off all boy racers from the traffic lights. Surprisingly for a front wheel drive car it gets the power down very well.

Suspension can be a bit hard, but that's the trade off for excellent handling.

Usual Volvo reliability, this car is good for another 100K.

Interior is a beautiful place to be, the Alcantara interior has hardly worn. Long journey are a joy, with the exception of the (numerous) fuel stops.

Plenty of space for our 2 Labradors and the car has an integrated dog guard. The downside to this is it's very difficult to park, so we've bought a Peugeot 206 diesel as a town car.

Externally the car still has fantastic lines and the 17" alloys still look the part today. Beware these are easily kerbed due to the low profile tyres.

Front tyres will last at best 10K, and Pirelli P-zero's will cost you about £120 a corner.

Fuel consumption in economy mode 22 mpg (combined). Bizarrely though in sport mode I'll get 26 mpg (combined). I'm not alone here, a friend with a V70 T5 finds the same. Those Swedes must just design them to be driven fast.

Warning, if you've got a heavy right foot don't be surprised to see 12 mpg around town.

These cars look great even by today's standards. People of a certain age (30+) know what the badge means and it has a certain cult status. Fortunately most youths don't know what this car is capable of and wouldn't even think about stealing it.

Volvo always make strong cars, the engine on mine should be good for another 10 years. A good example of an 850R can now be bought for about £5K so they can't depreciate much further. All in all a good investment if you can live with the fuel cost.

My tip is to get one of these for weekends and/or long runs, and a small diesel for running around town.