Volvo Shopping

[TBR]

I'd certainly take a standard (or a turbo I suppose, if maintained well) if it was available, but I am not going to search far and wide for one.

Like I said, I want more room and I want something more comfortable. Additionally, if I drive it for a few days and decide I like the Prelude more I'll just ship it to my brother, I am shopping as much for him as for me, I just get preference seeing as how I am the one with $17 grand in the bank and a paid for car worth a hell of a lot more than his beater truck. But, my personal theory is that I'll have fun in anything, so as long as it doesn't sacrifice too much nimbleness I think I'll be happy. Also, fyi, I have a Prelude Si, which is rated 20/24 under the new standards (22/26 under the old). I regularly get over 30, proving what a joke the EPA ratings are.

[chevyguy06]

I drove a V50 and a C30 T5 1.0 today...loved em both :)

[CALL_911]

I drove a V50 and a C30 T5 1.0 today...loved em both :)

Those weren't quite the Volvos he had in mind.

[TBR]

Just a tad out of my range...and I would never buy either one.

[chevyguy06]

Those weren't quite the Volvos he had in mind.

I know, but I loved em' and it's Volvo related so I thought I'd throw it in there 

[The Pirate]

Hehehe, I've been mulling over getting a Volvo wagon myself.  As I understand it, the 850 is a pretty solid car, but parts and labor are both pricey.

But I see a ton of them with high mileage (160K to 200K) and still in good condition with only a few small issues (if any).

[TBR]

Ironically enough, the other option is to hold out for one of my dad's employees to sell his Protege ES 5MT (3rd baby is on the way).

[The Pirate]

Ironically enough, the other option is to hold out for one of my dad's employees to sell his Protege ES 5MT (3rd baby is on the way).

What year?  Mine had a nasty run of brake issues, specifically the rear calipers, but this seems to be exclusive to the 2001 ES only.  Other than that, it's held up very well, and I don't baby my cars.  You've driven one (the P5), so you are aware of the other crappy things with the car (gearing and noise).  Mazda parts are ridiculously expensive too.  Caliper is $400 from the dealer, and $130 from my local indie guy (I'm talking about decent quality stuff, not the crap ones).  And Proteg? tail lights cost about $120 for one (again, from the indie guy).  Damn hit-and-run drivers...

They eat rear sway bar links too.

[TBR]

What year?  Mine had a nasty run of brake issues, specifically the rear calipers, but this seems to be exclusive to the 2001 ES only.  Other than that, it's held up very well, and I don't baby my cars.  You've driven one (the P5), so you are aware of the other crappy things with the car (gearing and noise).  Mazda parts are ridiculously expensive too.  Caliper is $400 from the dealer, and $130 from my local indie guy (I'm talking about decent quality stuff, not the crap ones).  And Proteg? tail lights cost about $120 for one (again, from the indie guy).  Damn hit-and-run drivers...

They eat rear sway bar links too.

I didn't drive it long enough to notice any gearing issues, the shifter was fine. It was about as noisy as the Prelude, so no big deal there, though as noted I would like something more luxurious. And, I don't know about the year, I do know it is a post-face lift one (it is also silver).

Honestly, I'd sort of hate to get one because everytime I drove it I would think of how good of a deal I passed over on that P5, $6500 for a loaded '03 with 99k (that wasn't silver, it is right behind red as one of my least favorite car colors), why didn't I buy it?!?!

Of course, if I had we would still be in a pickle since I would have just sold the Prelude.

[The Pirate]

I didn't drive it long enough to notice any gearing issues, the shifter was fine. It was about as noisy as the Prelude, so no big deal there, though as noted I would like something more luxurious. And, I don't know about the year, I do know it is a post-face lift one (it is also silver).

Honestly, I'd sort of hate to get one because everytime I drove it I would think of how good of a deal I passed over on that P5, $6500 for a loaded '03 with 99k (that wasn't silver, it is right behind red as one of my least favorite car colors), why didn't I buy it?!?!

Of course, if I had we would still be in a pickle since I would have just sold the Prelude.

Yeah, mine is silver, and it's not my favorite color.  One can't be too picky when buying used though.  And when I kvetch about the gearing, I'm talking about the ratios.  There is nothing wrong with the shifter.  The car needs each gear to be a bit taller.  It is revving ~3K rpm going 50 mph in 4th gear, and revving ~3350 rpm at 70 mph in 5th gear.  No fuel economy problems, as I can get 34 mpg highway quite easily, but it's annoying.

[TBR]

I assumed as much regarding the gearing, I have just heard criticism of the shifter too. That doesn't seem to be much higher than what the Prelude turns (and the Prelude has a bigger engine, at 2.3l).

It seems as if Mazda didn't sell Protege ESes in any color but silver.

[ifcar]

I am confident that it will have no more problems than a much more boring (and similarly priced) Camry/Accord.

I brought up the Taurus because it was what came to mind that would be closest in size to a Volvo but cheaper or newer.

That's because the Camry and Accord are also ridiculously overpriced used. It's all in the name reputation.

But again, I said anything that old and high mileage is likely to have problems.

[J86]

My parents had a 1994 940, and I went to prep school so I have pretty solid experience with 240s, 740s, 940s, 850s, s and v70s, one s80, and a few xc90s and 70s.  My parents' experience, and the roughly 55 other Volvo owners I know, all have had the experience of seriously inexpensive parts.  Also, I don't know if A/C is important to you, but it will not be terribly cold, and will not ever get that way.  However, the seat heaters I do think have potential to cause 3rd degree burns.  I love Volvos, but the older ones are slow as shit and parts ain't cheap!

[Madman]

Oh yes you can. Actually, that's about what they go for. But you don't want one of those bor-mobiles. You want this

Well, plan on buying a new front bumper cover.  See all those cracks?  The R model's low airdam has a nasty habit of finding tall parking barriers.  Luckily, they come from the dealer pre-painted.  Just snap 'em on.


And what happened to the original alloy wheels?  No R ever came with these cheap plastic wheel trims.  My guess is the owner bent them hitting potholes (or possibly that same parking barrier he trashed the front bumper skin on) and was too damn cheap to replace them.


What other items did the owner of this car skimp on, I wonder?


Some advice on the Volvo 850:

1.  The 20 valve five cylinder engine is an interference design.  Change the timing belt immediately.  I don't care if the seller says he just changed it yesterday, change it anyhow.

2.  Make sure the anti-lock brakes work.  850s are notorious for eating ABS control modules.  You really don't want to know what a new one costs.

3.  Check front suspension, axles, CV joints, wheel bearings and hubs for any signs of wear and/or damage.  Careless owners (like the one of the car shown above) who crash into potholes and kerbs can easily derange the front end geometry.  Uneven tyre wear is a sure sign all is not well below.

4.  Leather interior (if equipped) is prone to wear away to nothing on the driver's seat bolster.  The leather is also prone to cracking and splitting if not regularly moisturised and maintained properly.  Passenger airbag covers are also known to curl up at the corners as the glue gives up the ghost and the outer vinyl separates from the backing material.  Neither of these are critical failures but they do look damn ugly.

5.  On 850s equipped with power seats, the seat back reclining cable eventually strips itself out.  It the seat back doesn't move when you press the button, odds are a million to one the cable needs to be replaced.  No biggie, but it is a PITA to get to.  Probably not a do-it-yourself project, then.

Other than those things which I have mentioned, the 850 is about as rock-solid as they come.  Don't fear the automatic.  It's built by Aisin-Warner (suppliers of automatic transmissions to Toyota and Lexus) and is totally bulletproof.  The 850 (and 1998 S70 and V70) are capable cruisers able to do interplanetary mileages with just a little bit of TLC.  1999 and later S70 and V70 use multiplex wiring systems and are much more complex to do any sort of electrical work on than the identical-looking 1998 S70/V70.  Any electrical servicing on any 1999 or later Volvo will require software from Volvo's VADIS network.


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[TBR]

"2.  Make sure the anti-lock brakes work.  850s are notorious for eating ABS control modules.  You really don't want to know what a new one costs."

I know, the Prelude's might be out (my old crappy "Honda specialist" said that might be why the ABS light comes on at times) and it would cost at least $2k to replace. Needless to say, I don't have ABS at the moment.

The rest sounds good, and I drive a Honda so I know about those timing belts.

[MrH]

You can find another Protege5 for the price of the one you found before.  They're not that rare.

Pirate, you get 34 mpg on the highway?!  Geeze.  I did mostly highway driving with a fair amount of short trips without letting the engine fully warm up and got 29 mpg.  That's the best I've gotten in awhile, and that's with the MP3 ECU which bumps fuel economy a little.  $4.19/gallon for premium is killer though.

[The Pirate]

You can find another Protege5 for the price of the one you found before.  They're not that rare.

Pirate, you get 34 mpg on the highway?!  Geeze.  I did mostly highway driving with a fair amount of short trips without letting the engine fully warm up and got 29 mpg.  That's the best I've gotten in awhile, and that's with the MP3 ECU which bumps fuel economy a little.  $4.19/gallon for premium is killer though.

EPA was 31 for my car, I don't know if the P5 is heavier (shouldn't be enough to make a difference).  And yes, with the cruise set at 70 mph on relatively flat highway, I'll get a pretty consistent 34 mpg.  That's without my rack setup on the roof though.