Faults:

Clutch Slave Cyclinder.

Front Shock Absorbers.

New Tyres.

New Discs and Pads.

General Comments:

I bought this car after having an 2.0 litre 20V 850. The difference in performance was very impressive! It's a solid car, well built and comfortable.

This car has a lot of power, 225bhp, but it can often be hard to put this power down, it should have better traction control, its cuts out at 22mph and is ineffective until then anyway. However once past this the performance from 2nd gear onwards is very impressive. In 5th gear on the motorway it will happily do anything between 50mph and 130mph.

The cars handling takes a while to get used to, however once accustomed to it, it generally handles like most big FWD saloon cars. Although it does under-steer on occasion. The handling in the wet can be a lot less confidence inspiring!

It is a very comfortable car for long journeys and in CD form is well equipped with Leather and Air-con.

The fuel economy is a joke! 21 mpg whether driven fast or slow. Parts as for any Volvo are expensive.

Overall this is a lot of car for the money. Reliability, comfort and performance for less than £4000.

Faults:

Recall on heated seats. (fixed free of charge)

The top engine mount has started to split.

There is persistent water leak in the boot well.

General Comments:

A lot of people think I am mad buying a Volvo at the age of 21. I bought the car because I was recommended to buy a friend. The GLT model I have bought is very well equipped and also has the alloy wheels and spoiler from the high performance T-5 model which make it look fab. The car has proved reliable and there haven't been any nasty surprises yet.

The performance is excellent, despite it only being a 10 valve. It doesn't matter what engine you go for they are all responsive, flexible, reliable, economic (reasonably) and sound great.

Don't let the size put you off, it is very light and easy to drive, and don't let the size make you believe it doesn't handle well. The handling is very good thanks to the passive rear steering (on the later models) and the only problem I find, is that it likes to break traction even with the traction control on.

The dealers are good with good after sales service. I find specialists cheaper, but the dealers prices are reasonable for most things. The only part I found expensive were a new set of keys which were well over £100 a set, so make sure the car you buy comes with 2 sets of keys.

Overall the 850 makes a comfortable, enjoyable and different rival to a BMW or Audi with added safety and practicality. Don't let the image put you off, you would be surprised how much respect people give it. Try one, you'll love it! In fact the hardest bit of the ownership experience is when you have to sell it, you won't want to get rid of it!