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Troll: Turbo Volvo

I fell in love with a Volvo lately myself. I drove a 2005 Volvo S60-R at work. EASILY THE most bad ass car I've driven in a long time. Well, except a 2007 Z06. I want that volvo BADDDDDD. This is the one I drove the other day.

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I had a 95 850 Turbo. I like the SVT Contour alot better. The 850's Handling is not nearly as good and their Dashes break from the mounts and rattle like crazy. My 850 was completely stock with 135k miles and ran a 15.4 1/4.

The SVT has better gas milage and about the same power. Has a higher top speed and handles better. The Volvo will certainly put down more power for less money but the 850T's and R's only came in Auto's in the US.

volvospeed.com is the counterpart to Contour.org

I enjoyed it while I had it but certainly don't miss it.
 
Uhoh, thread hijack...kinda. But my gf had mentioned to her mom about how she wanted to get a nice boxy Volvo, and her mom nearly flipped a nut because of how "expensive they are to fix." I don't know of anyone who owns a Volvo except a coworker from a couple years back, and he had a Volvo 240 from the early 90's or late 80's (I think) with over 300k and he said his family bought it for $400 and hadn't had to replace anything for over 10k miles...So, are they actually expensive to fix???
 
There are a couple late 90's 850R's around here. I look at them think, wow that car can kick most other cars rears and I and can still haul the dog around in it. LOL
 
I would say that the 850 is expensive if your dealer maintains it. But parts arent to bad. Our 240 is incredibly reliable. I figured we will have the 240 long after the 850 junks out. The 240 engine is easy and there is tons of room in there to work on it and parts arent to bad either, just watch out for rear main seal. Its defently a solid car. We have seen many 240 with over 300K on them. We even saw one with 435K on the clock. The actaul body of the car is extremely solid, i use to feel way safer in the 240 versus the contour. Our 240 has 4 studded snow tires for the winter and i tell you nothing can stop that thing in the winter.

The 240 is rear wheel drive, the 850 was the first time volvo made front wheel drive. i would say stay away from the 1994 850's, as i have heard there was a bunch of problems.

Matt
 
MattB said:
I would say that the 850 is expensive if your dealer maintains it. But parts arent to bad. Our 240 is incredibly reliable. I figured we will have the 240 long after the 850 junks out. The 240 engine is easy and there is tons of room in there to work on it and parts arent to bad either, just watch out for rear main seal. Its defently a solid car. We have seen many 240 with over 300K on them. We even saw one with 435K on the clock. The actaul body of the car is extremely solid, i use to feel way safer in the 240 versus the contour. Our 240 has 4 studded snow tires for the winter and i tell you nothing can stop that thing in the winter.

The 240 is rear wheel drive, the 850 was the first time volvo made front wheel drive. i would say stay away from the 1994 850's, as i have heard there was a bunch of problems.

Matt
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Thanks for the info. I hate stereotypes about cars :nonono: . "Found On Road Dead" my a$$... "Volvo's are expensive to fix" my a$$... :p Besides, my gf's mom's good friend works on cars all the time. He keeps his mid 90's Buick Regal running mad strong all the time. Shouldn't have any problems with a 4 or 5 cyl Volvo...:shrug:
 
For Volvos, parts from FCP Groton are reasonably priced. I usually buy parts from there and just do the work myself. I find that Volvo 850's are not that difficult to work on. On my '97 850, I've done all the normal maintenance items: plugs, wires, cap & rotor, brakes, timing belt (imperative at 70K mile intervals!), timing belt pulleys/tensioner, water pump (do this when replacing timing belt-cheap insurance), A/C evaporator (common malady on 850s and possibly the most labor intensive part to remove on an 850), one door lock acuator, and one CV joint boot (I think I'm going to have to replace that CV joint anyway). I would definitely buy another 850.
 
I've always liked wagons. Having owned two Taurus SHOs, my dream was always to build a SHO wagon as a project car, much like the two that Ford built, but with a stick instead of the ATX. From Car and Driver, April 1993:

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The entire article can be read here:

http://www.klimesgroup.com/SHowagon/cdarticle.htm

On the Volvo thing -- a buddy of mine cruised all over the fruited plain in a 1997 Volvo V90 wagon -- one of the last of the rear-drivers. It had a 2.9 liter normally aspirated V-6, but he always leaned on that thing, and it held up pretty well for him. He sold it with maybe 160,000 on the clock.
 
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