Faults:

Engine threw a timing belt. Had to replace. However; I view this as my fault since I knew you needed to replace it every 150K or so.

Transmission seems skips around 35mph then is fine.

AC will stop working under moderate and hard acceleration. You have to turn it off (the AC) and wait awhile before it will work again.

General Comments:

Exterior: This is the first year, and I believe the first model, that Volvo used to transform their image from the boxy shape to the more round and elegant shape we are seeing today. I think the car still looks good today, however; it is dated.

Interior: My particular car has leather everywhere you don't sit (middle of seats and around the outside of the back) and cloth. Remember this car has 300K+ miles on it and the only thing wrong with the interior is a worn spot about 3" around where you have to slide into the car. The gauges are well laid out and the radio and controls are easy to become familiar with. I find the controls for the windshield wipers a bit confusing and each time I use them I have to keep flipping it until I find what I want. The fact that the Window controls are in the center console is amazingly thoughtful. My wife doesn't have to ask me to roll the back down for her, and you only have one switch to wear out. The seats are comfortable, but not on long trips. One thing to note is that the dash is horribly noisy going over bumps. You feel as if the car is shaking apart. Apparently this was a design flaw and has been corrected in later models, but for this one it is very annoying.

Driving: This car has two personalities. On one hand it takes this car FOREVER to get to speed. I have to practically floor it to keep up with traffic after a red light. However; once up to speed it is a sports car. Very good handling, and can take bumps very well at high speed on corners. This sportiness comes at a price though. You can't hit speed bumps very hard because it will jar you pretty good. Overall once you get up to speed it is a very fun car to drive.

Overall Impressions: Overall I really like this car. As I said I have 300K miles on it and it will not quit. I would rather have had the 5 speed as the power on this car is anemic at best. It is a comfortable car with stiff sports car characteristics. But hey. We spent $1500 to replace the engine and other than that it's been rock solid.

Faults:

Crankcase breather system clogs constantly. This last time it caused so much pressure it blew the rear main seal, (a $1200 fix for the main seal, a $300 fix for the breather element). Why didn't Volvo use a plain-old PCV valve?

The electronic components burn out prematurely, power seats, power antenna, etc. They are all very expensive to replace.

Leather seats wear through prematurely.

Has a tendency to flood in the winter, after which the compression is lost and ATF must be poured in the cylinders. A real pain!

The a/c went out and would be so expensive to fix I just rolled down the windows.

General Comments:

I currently own three 1993 850 GLT's. (One is a parts car). Almost everything is expensive to fix on these cars!

I am going to sell all three cars as soon as possible. I can't afford them anymore. The upkeep has exceeded the value of the cars many times over. I am finally waking up to smell the coffee!

The interior is not thought out at all. There is no place to even set a book in the front. The switches are positioned in inconvenient places. It is virtually impossible to vacuum in between the seats. If you drop something in between the seats - kiss it goodbye.

I hung on to these because of my positive experience with my 740, but this is not at all as good a car as the 740.

Positives are that it is a very attractive, safe car that handles very well and has nice acceleration for a 150 hp engine. They still turn heads today.