I found it! - An 850 Wagon with a 5-speed! But alas it is only the Base model with wheel covers, no sunroof, and NO TURBO. Oh well, it's a great starting point as it turns out.

"Volvo - For Life"

Well - we finally have our bouncing baby boy and it was time to graduate from the Porsche and the pocket-rocket Ford Focus back to another Volvo Wagon. This time I had to have a 5-speed if I planned to keep it longer than 6 months. After searching for months, I found the one waiting for me at a used car dealership in Va. Beach. As it turned out, they also wanted my Focus - perfect!

After being let down by the poor cosmetic condition and difficult staff used to dealing with Navy brats fresh out of high school, I took the Volvo to a certified mechanic to have it checked out. Things you will want to have checked on a Volvo 850:

Timing belt - this MUST be done at 70K mile intervals or you risk having to replace a $5K engine)

Air pump and check valve - a common problem due to the location of the pump (on the underside). When going through large puddles this unit can be destroyed.

Door hinge - a weak point on the 850. The doors can be easily opened beyond their intended angle and break the weld on the bracket which holds the door. The result is a cracking or loud popping noise when the door is opened too far. Rewelding is sometimes necessary.

Upgrades

There are a host of cosmetic and performance upgrades available for your 850 Wagon. From rear wings to wheels and tires and sport exhaust systems, there are many ways you can turn the grocery getter into a SPORTWAGON. In the late 90's the 850 Wagon and Sedan were German, Austrailian, and British Touring car champions!I would recommend the following upgrades:

Wheels - Upgrade your stock 15" steel or alloy wheels to the 16" Turbo twist rims. These are available from eBay and classifieds like Brickboard.com and iPDusa.com. A nice stock-looking upgrade for non-Turbo models.

Sport Exhaust - iPD sells the best aftermarket products for the 850 and any Volvo for that matter. The upgrade buys you about 15 hp and a nice exhaust note that the neighbors won't mind.

Air Filter - whether performance minded or not, the K&N filter is a must for the environmentally-conscious crowd. Buy one K&N filter (available from your local parts store like Advance Auto) and clean and reuse it for the lifetime of your car. It pays for itself after about 2 filter changes.

Suspension - a set of sport springs and Bilstein shocks turn your family wagon into a track-worthy race car (also from iPD). A friend of mine actually did the Car and Driver One Lap of America in a Turbo 850 Wagon with some suspension modifications and finished mid-pack! It really does not handle like the bread box wagon it appears to be.

One other tidbit...Did you know that Porsche actually designed the 5-cylinder engine powering the 850? The sound reminds me of my old 911 - very nice.

Misses...only a few
There are few things that you can complain about with the 850. The timing belt is a gotcha if you don't adhere to the maintenance interval (again...70K miles). Since the 5-cylinder is an interference engine if the timing belt breaks it will cause serious damage requiring a rebuild. At 168 hp, the wagon is also a bit underpowered and makes towing a real chore. The Turbo model is much more adequately equipped with 222 hp - quite an increase.

There also the minor annoyance of persistent squeaks and rattles. Given all the plastic cladding mated with leather and wood trim in the voluminous cabin and rear cargo area it's no wonder that there's a lot of extraneous noise about the interior. One way to minimize the squeak from the rear tailgate is to purchase a tailgate repair kit from (guess where...?) iPD (really, I do not work for them). This beefs up the mounting points for the interior tailgate panel and handles the slams a bit better. The other way to get rid of the squeaks is to use bearing grease on the rear seat backs (the latch where they fold down). This should lubricate them sufficiently.

Volvo offers a great family grocery-getter with a lot of performance potential. And now, with the momentum to supplant giant SUVs with more nimble and manageable sport wagons, the 850 or V70 series Wagon is a quite affordable alternative platform.

Thanks for reading. I hope you found some value in the time you spent. Best Regards and Happy Motoring!






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