1996 Volvo 850 850R from UK and Ireland - Comments

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.

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.

These cars are surprisingly fragile, not like volvos of old, proof being you think you need a gearbox rebuild soon.

"Usual Volvo reliability, this car is good for another 100K." It's always good to have the spirit of an optimist, but the proof's in the pudding. You won't make it unless you refrain from "seeing off the boy racers from the stoplights." Tell us about it when it actually hits 250,000 miles.

There are some of these cars with more than 300 000 miles on their engines and they still keep on going, all they need is proper care and maintenance.

And about the gearbox, it is an automatic one and these do not last very long on turbo cars, they cannot cope with the torque.

I just thought I would update everyone on the gearbox problems. My local garage added some magical compound to the gearbox to rejuvenate the seals and it's now tight as a drum.

I recently drove the car to Italy, a journey of 1250 miles, and I managed it in 16 hours. After 16 hours I had no backache and my only disappointment was that the villa we had rented wasn't further away. The car didn't miss a beat just sat there at 95 mph all the way.

The car was loaded to the gunnels with Mountain bikes and my wife's obligatory 75 Kg of luggage and it still managed 22 mpg.

I love these Volvos. Handsome looks that off set you from the crowd, not to mention exceptional performance and solid engines that will last for uninmaginable miles.

Refuse to believe that these engines will last less than 250000 miles. Volvo is a record holder for the highest mileage car - a P1800 that covered more than 2000000 miles, and did 675000 miles before a rebuild and beforehand, always started. A British car of the same era had trouble exceeding 50000 miles without serious engine problems (piston rings, head gaskets etc).

Volvo engines are renowned for their high durability. I have never come across a high mileage Volvo engine that is smokey.

I would have a Volvo 850 any day and would not buy a Merc or a BMW, even if they were the last cars on earth. Reason being, they just don`t appeal to me. Merc drivers, especially, don't gain much respect on the road, probably due to the stigma of owning such a vehicle.

My base model 1994 850 has 280,000 kms on the clock. I have driven some brutal outback Australian kilometres since I have had it, and it has never let me down. Set it to "sport" mode and it has plenty of zing for city driving, but most of my kilometres are big, long remote area distances, with me sleeping in the back seat when hints of fatigue set in. I often drive for 24 or more hours (with breaks!) at a time, and emerge from this car feeling fit as a fiddle - and with better than 10 litre per 100 km fuel economy (sitting on 110-120 kph).

The bad news is that I'm now a hooked "blo*dy Volvo driver" and will be sticking with Volvos from now on (despite being a motorcyclist in my spare time!).

I bought a 96 850T5 with 142553 on the clock, from a fellow who hadn't maintained it for $4200 (USD). I hit 154000 earlier today, and I've had this car for barely ten months. My only problems with it was that I had a fuel pump fail (unexpected and unpreventable), to the tune of $700. My only other issue with it is that the inner-cover for the Sunroof is sitting off track, and so my sunroof can't open. However, I drive the car hard, and recently managed to travel through over 1 foot of flood water (Snoqualmie, Washington; November '06) for 15 minutes, with no difference in performance upon leaving the water or since. I was the only non-truck/jeep that I passed on the road that day.

Your comment on the trip to Italy has me sold! Don't think my license will last long if I buy one of these! The idea of doing an average speed of 95mph with all my junk on board appeals...