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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Recommend a known Volvo 850 or unknown small car for new nonmechanical driver

Aug. 30, 2010 9:33 a.m. glueguy New Reader

Friend of the family turned 16 and is looking for a car to support her work habit. I may work on it out of kindness, but basically she is on her own with no known mechanical aptitude in her family.

Deep within the bowels of my in-law family there is a 1997 Volvo 850 automatic with 120k. It's been a kid-car for 4-5 years and now needs a new driver. Newish tires and battery, but don't know the rest of the maintenance history.

So the good is that the Volvo has a trusted background and is not know to be ready to fall apart. I'm torn between recommending this one and a generic Saturn/Sentra/Protege.

Thoughts?
Aug. 30, 2010 10:18 a.m. digdug18 HalfDork

It would be more fun of a car if you dropped a V8 in it.
Aug. 30, 2010 10:20 a.m. NGTD HalfDork

Focus
Aug. 30, 2010 10:31 a.m. mndsm Dork

Price?
Aug. 30, 2010 10:31 a.m. Junkyard_Dog Dork

Make sure the timing belt is up to date on that Volvo! I say freshen it up and go with what you know and already have.
Aug. 30, 2010 12:14 p.m. glueguy New Reader

mndsm wrote:

Price?

$1500 - $1800
Aug. 30, 2010 12:45 p.m. mndsm Dork

Find a beater civic, fill it with gas, run it till it dies, and sell it at a profit. Repeat ad nauseum.
Aug. 30, 2010 1:08 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

I like my '95 Volvo that I had from 106k miles well into the 160k mile range.
T-belt is important since it is an interference motor. Have the water pump and idler pully replaced at the same time. I think the interval is 60 or 70k miles so at 120k you will be looking for some proof it has been done.

Most everything is an easy repair with one exception and that is the AC condenser. If the AC is not working this could be the issue. The condenser is on the firewall behind the dash and the repair requires the full steering wheel and dashboard to be replace. As typical, it is not the cost of the part but rather the cost of the labor. Typical quotes are $1,900.
Aug. 30, 2010 1:23 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

Volvo Resources:

Repairs:
http://www.volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml
http://www.volvospeed.com/maintenance1.shtml
http://www.volvospeed.com/vs_forum/

23 pages on AC Evaporator repair:
http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf

Parts:
http://www.fcpgroton.com/

Everything is held together with torx head screws. Get a set each of the following and all is easy.
Aug. 30, 2010 2:22 p.m. Lugnut HalfDork

They aren't hard at all to work on. Torx bits and 10mm sockets, that's most of your toolset.

I am very in favor of putting a young, new driver in a Volvo. I would rather smash into a tree in my Volvo than in my Swift, that's all I'm saying.
Aug. 30, 2010 4:40 p.m. fornetti14 Reader

Another vote for the Volvo. I bought a '95 850 turbo wagon recently with very little maintanence history.

I changed the timing belt, water pump and replaced the air filter. A week later we went 800 miles round trip for a family wedding. The old 170,000 Volvo never missed a beat even in Chicago traffic.
Aug. 30, 2010 5:01 p.m. glueguy New Reader

I think that my biggest concern is that she won't be working on it, and I don't want to assume that it will be me. Does anyone have a sense of the repair costs for a 13 year old Volvo compared to a typical Nissan/Saturn/Honda subcompact? Aside from the expensive AC and ABS controllers, the usual stuff like brakes, tuneups, etc. At that age are they all a wash or should I expect Volvo parts and complexity to make repair bills higher for someone paying for work?
Aug. 30, 2010 5:52 p.m. irish44j HalfDork

late-80s corolla or civic.

/thread.
Aug. 30, 2010 8:43 p.m. Junkyard_Dog Dork

glueguy wrote:

I think that my biggest concern is that she won't be working on it, and I don't want to assume that it will be me. Does anyone have a sense of the repair costs for a 13 year old Volvo compared to a typical Nissan/Saturn/Honda subcompact? Aside from the expensive AC and ABS controllers, the usual stuff like brakes, tuneups, etc. At that age are they all a wash or should I expect Volvo parts and complexity to make repair bills higher for someone paying for work?

Shopping for your own parts will save money regardless of make and model. Will the shop know where to get cheap parts and pass the savings on to her? Doubtful. There is more of a tendency for higher end garages to pad the bill a bit but thats what happens when you pay someone else to work on your car. Check for local Volvo specialists and take a look at their rates. Find a Volvo club in your area and ask about trusted garages.
Aug. 31, 2010 8:29 p.m. fornetti14 Reader

Yeah, if you are involved in this "purchase" I bet you'd be involved in the repairs as well
Aug. 31, 2010 10:25 p.m. InigoMontoya Reader

Get the geo equiv. of the corolla, although by now the price difference will probably not mean much. The one good thing with things like the japanese ones is that almost anyone (shop) will work on them)
Sept. 1, 2010 5:18 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

I would never recommend a Volvo to a person with no mechanical aptitude. Especially the newer ones, from 700 series up. They always have bugs and gremlins, and paying a shop to look at them and try to fix them costs a whole lot over time.

Truly, every one of my non-motorhead friends who has had a Volvo has hated the experience.
Sept. 1, 2010 5:48 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I would stick with the cheap econoboxes. Would be a shame to see the family dog/volvo killed by a new driver
Sept. 1, 2010 8:48 a.m. Lugnut HalfDork

Just make sure a mishap in the cheap econonbox won't kill the new driver.

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