Used 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo 4dr Wagon Consumer Reviews
Used 850 for sale
17 year love affair with my 1996 850 Turbo wagon
MJ the Umpqua River Lighthouse Keeper, Coos Bay, OR, 05/19/2016
updated 11/28/2016
Volvo 850 Turbo 4dr Wagon
11 of 12 people found this review helpful
Nov/16 update. At the end of Sept of '16, my 14 year old, 100 lb. chocolate lab Cody passed. Prior to having Cody, I had his 80 lb. mother Dodie. Since 1999, I have never had the 2nd row seats in an upright position. As a 'mobile dog house', the entire back of the car was used to carry supplies and big dogs. Now, being 'dogless', I cleared out all the blankets and beddings and finally up righted the 2 row seats. The black leather is in perfect condition. Still love my Volvo. I own at 1996 850 Turbo Wagon. I am the 2nd owner, having bought it in 9/99 with 39k miles. Just hit 273k miles in 5/16. Serviced w/dealers up through 2004 in Santa Clara, CA & Portland, OR when average commute was 40mi/day on freeways. But best mechanic is 'a Volvo guy' on the Oregon Coast, which he loves 'cause 1996 model was still a 'Swedish made vehicle'. MPG on highway has been 28, in town 24. Since 2004, I have been religious about routine maintenance every 3k miles. The usual brakes replacements at 45K intervals, timing belts at 80k intervals. Air condition part replacement at 190k. Since 2004, daily commute is 50mi round trip on the winding Oregon Coast. In 2014, hit black ice and 'off-roaded' for 100 yards. 100 lb. chocolate lab in the back ended up in the front seat by the time the Volvo got me solidly back on the road, with only loosing the driver's side mirror. Body shop still thinks my car is blessed when I showed them the images of the tire tracks in the woods. Aiming to hit the 300Kmi mark, so my mechanic can send his pic and story into Volvo. Previously owned a 1968 142 Sedan from 1974-1980, then every car in between (Dodge, Saab, Honda, Peugeot, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Toyota and a Cadillac (those were my 'LA years'), went back to Volvo in 1999 and never looked back. Yeah, they knew the cup holder placement was a mistake when they launched the 850 series in 1993, so they changed it by 1997/98. V70 fixed some of the issues, but created more. 1996 & 1997 850 Turbo Wagons were that last, great Swedish Car. My friends from Sweden tell me so!
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Tough times in the last 2 yrs
turbodude99, 11/03/2004
Volvo 850 Turbo 4dr Wagon
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
Great car to drive, but expensive to keep on the road. It has high mileage, but Volvos are expected to be solid. Replacements over the last couple of years - ABS unit, turbo (expected at 150K), AC compressor, both O2 sensors, shocks and complete brakes (rears twice) water pump, fuel pump,2 ABS sensors, + minor items. It currently is burning / losing oil. Source not found yet. I did a lot of research on this vehicle prior to buying it and unfortunately, was very disapointed in the reliability.
1996 Volvo 850 for sale near you
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- Base SedanMSRP: $2,995853 mi away
- 1996 Volvo 850MSRP: $4,9951,196 mi away
Enjoying my 850 Turbo-starting to worry
TomH, 01/27/2003
Volvo 850 Turbo 4dr Wagon
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I bought my car 1 year old from the dealer. I had all scheduled maint. done at the dealer. I have been very happy with reliability for the past 5 years. It now has 73K miles and I am having to do some major maint. that is very expensive. New engine mounts (known to go bad), new struts, shocks, brake rotors, radiator, dented rim. Roads are rough around Dallas and I drive it hard, it just seems like a major overhaul. I was going to trade it but decided to do the repairs and hope to keep it for another two years/25K mi.
Excellent reliability.
Melarti, 10/13/2002
Volvo 850 Turbo 4dr Wagon
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Having owned many, many used cars over the past decades, I have a good baseline from which to evaluate long term reliability. I attribute excellent build quality to the phenomenal reliability that we have experienced with this car. After over 45000 miles, the only problem experienced was with a squeaky ventilation fan.
Love my Volvo
Paula, 04/03/2008
Volvo 850 Turbo 4dr Wagon
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
When I bought this car it needed a new timing belt, which also means a new water pump. Other than that it is so much fun to drive, lots of pep,easy to haul my 100 pound dog and cat in, and easy for them to get inand out. It gets better mileage than our 2003 Cadillac, and looks great doing it. The cup holders are the only problem, and they're horrible.