1993 Volvo 850 glt from North America
Summary:
A car that is unfortunately not worth its maintenance costs
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.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 21st November, 2006
27th Aug 2020, 15:50
What? Light doors protect you more. The 850 was one of the very first cars with SIPS - Side impact protection system. When it was new it was pretty much the safest car you could buy. Light doors are better in a crash - LOL.
27th Aug 2020, 19:24
Light doors are better in an accident or other emergency situation. Easier to open if the car is submerged in water. Also easier to try to open if the door got dented in during the wreck.
29th Aug 2020, 03:47
Maybe you got confused and ended up on Car Survey by mistake; maybe you were searching for a submarine forum.
I have yet to see a car manufacturer design a vehicle to facilitate escape if submerged in water, but perhaps you could enlighten us. As a previous poster said, Volvo addressed side impact on their vehicles. Sturdy doors, which probably means heavy increases protection, unless you want to go to ridiculous intricate costly lightweight construction.
Then maybe you are just angling for comments.
29th Aug 2020, 17:33
This isn’t really a complicated concept. Think of doors even for entering buildings. Heavy, bulky doors are more difficult to open. Due to the higher inertia, it requires more force to open. With water pressure pushing back against the door in a submerged case, that’d be even more amplified. That comment about the lighter doors actually makes a lot of sense.
31st Aug 2020, 03:52
Not suggesting this is complicated.
If you are.intending to take your car underwater, no doors might be another option even less complicated and even lighter.
1st Sep 2020, 00:51
I’ll bet UPS & USPS drivers fare well when those vehicles go into a lake or pond. You joke about it, but not having doors could have advantages.
24th Aug 2020, 23:31
And the crash safety's nothing to write home about either, those doors are way too heavy!!! Volvo was late to the light door party, lighter doors carry a lower risk of injury in a side impact. The frontal crash test result wasn't very good either.