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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / July 2006buying help
Hi All, I'm considering buying a 1996 850 Turbo sedan for my 17 year old son. It would be our first Volvo. The car has 88000 miles on it. It's very clean, loaded, and seems to be in pretty good shape. It drives well, and is more powerful than I expected. The dealer, a used car lot that specializes in Volvos, is asking $5300. That includes a 60 day 2000 mile warranty. It may need some front end work, though, ball joints possibly. I have a few questions I hope the group can help me with: 1-How are the turbos on these cars? Do they last the life of the car, or am I possibly be looking at an expensive repair in the near future? 2-There is no sticker showing replacement of the timing belt (chain?). How expensive are these to replace? 3-How good are these in winter? Is torque-steer with the turbo tricky? I know front drive is usually good, but I've had front drive cars that I never trusted in bad conditions no matter what kind of tires I had. 4-What other wear items, other than the usual like brakes, can I expect to replace soon? 5-Are gas and maintenance reasonable? TIA to all posters! > 1-How are the turbos on these cars? Do they last the life of the car, or am > I possibly be looking at an expensive repair in the near future? Never seen one fail, yet. > 2-There is no sticker showing replacement of the timing belt (chain?). How > expensive are these to replace? About $400 (parts and labor included). If you decide to replace the water pump at the same time as the belt and tensioner, add $100 to that cost. Replacing the water pump is highly recommended. Also, this service had to be done at 75,000 miles. You're at 88,000 - I would strongly recommend negotiating a replacement of belt, tensioner and water pump as part of the purchase price - or knock the price down by at least $500. > 3-How good are these in winter? Is torque-steer with the turbo tricky? I > know front drive is usually good, but I've had front drive cars that I never > trusted in bad conditions no matter what kind of tires I had. Not as good as any of the RWD Volvos. If your son likes to hit the pedal, he's going to be in trouble. Make sure he keeps TRACS on, and you may want to put the transmission in "winter" mode until he's comfortable with the car. > 4-What other wear items, other than the usual like brakes, can I expect to > replace soon? Air-conditioning evaporator. > 5-Are gas and maintenance reasonable? Expect about 18 - 20 city, and 26 - 30 hwy. Maintenance is reasonable for a Volvo. AC  SignatureEmail: echo 142322093203359315271794620168064975321554275890186P | dc >> 1-How are the turbos on these cars? Do they last the life of the car, or am >> I possibly be looking at an expensive repair in the near future? [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Also, this service had to be done at 75,000 miles. Sorry, I was wrong. This service had to be done at 70,000 miles. The rest still applies. AC > You're at 88,000 - I > would strongly recommend negotiating a replacement of belt, tensioner and > water pump as part of the purchase price - or knock the price down by at > least $500. SignatureEmail: echo 142322093203359315271794620168064975321554275890186P | dc Not a question you asked but you might check with your insurance agent what that word "turbo" will do to the rates. I know for my children (both with clean records) who each had volvo wagons when at home the rates for the "turbo" raised liability about 2X that of the non turbo model. I think you will find the non-turbo model has adequate handling and power for young drivers. Also the non turbo gets better milage and uses lower octane fuel. Howard 1985 245 1993 945T > Hi All, > I'm considering buying a 1996 850 Turbo sedan for my 17 year old son. It [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > 5-Are gas and maintenance reasonable? > TIA to all posters! > Not a question you asked but you might check with your insurance agent what > that word "turbo" will do to the rates. I know for my children (both with [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > 1985 245 > 1993 945T For me it made no difference at all, they didn't even ask me if the car was a turbo, it just says "2422D GL" on the insurance card. > > Not a question you asked but you might check with your insurance agent what > > that word "turbo" will do to the rates. I know for my children (both with [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > For me it made no difference at all, they didn't even ask me if the car > was a turbo, it just says "2422D GL" on the insurance card. Interesting. All my insurance company wants is license and vin #. Their computer figures it out from their Howard Hi, Thanks for your good advice! My insurance co. charges a slight premium for the turbo, but not enough to force me to buy the non-turbo. We compared the turbo to a non-turbo and felt that the turbo was the way to go. We bought the car yesterday and are happy to be Volvo owners! Thanks again! JP >> > Not a question you asked but you might check with your insurance agent > what [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > computer figures it out from their > Howard > Hi All, > I'm considering buying a 1996 850 Turbo sedan for my 17 year old son. It > would be our first Volvo. The car has 88000 miles on it. Personally I wouldn't tempt a 17 year old with the Turbo version, he might enjoy stepping into it a bit much. Double check insurance rates as well. These are not inexpensive cars to maintain. Things like $500 ABS controllers and $1500 air conditioner repairs are fairly common. John |
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