Beater Archive

Flying Brick: 1993-97 Volvo 850

By admin ⋅ October 13, 2009 ⋅  Email this Article ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

by Raphael Leonard

This week’s Beater Review was suggested by safety maven and friend of the site, Dan Lee. Thanks Dan! Remember, you too can suggest a car to us, even that rust-bucket up on blocks in your front yard. Just have a look-see at the “how we choose vehicles” section of the site, and drop Brian, our editor-at-large, a line.

The Background

Growing up, I can safely say that my family had an interesting assortment of cars, ranging from an ’88 Toyota 4×4 Pickup with a V6, finished in a delightful mud brown, to a blindingly yellow ’83 Pontiac Sunbird coupe (anyone remember those?). However, before the folks moved on up to an Outback Limited and an enormous Eldorado convertible, my mother had the pleasure of driving a Volvo wagon. Dubbed ‘Annie,’ she was a 1985 240 DL, dark red. Indeed, she is still trundling about the roads of northern California, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 250-thousand miles and a set of blue California plates, marking her territory with oil spots rather than urine and unleashing a wily cry, caused by a slipping belt, into the world. While Annie could be called many things, (blocky, safe, and dead reliable come to mind) fast is not one of them. Saddled with an inline-four cylinder engine and an automatic transmission, she was woefully sluggish, and often required to be babied in the slow lane for quite a while before merging into traffic, an agonizing task if you have a couple of screaming rugrats in the back seat.

Well, in the early 90s, Volvo heard the complaints of the masses, and introduced the 850. Sporting a futuristic looking redesign which was the last hurrah of Jan Wilsgaard, legendary Volvo designer, as well as a 5-cylinder engine, it cemented Volvo’s reputation as a luxury automaker. And, considering the Turbo and ‘R’ models that were available, it certainly helped quiet the ‘slow Volvo’ stereotype.

The Opportunity

While certainly not a model of technology, the 850 was quite advanced for its day, and attracted a number of buyers with its good performance and solid safety features, which included ABS, dual front airbags, and a three point seatbelt for the rear center passenger, which classically featured a moderately useless lap belt. You might be thinking, “whoop-de-freakin’-doo, Raphael… a three point seatbelt.” Well, my good beater enthusiast, while none of this may seem particularly remarkable today, it was considered fairly excessive in 1993. Not surprisingly, it received consistent strong ratings from the IIHS, showing that Volvo hadn’t strayed from their safety laden roots, something that gave them a name in the first place.

Let’s not forget the fun-to-drive factor, something that was sorely lacking in most of the 850s predecessors, the vast majority of which boasted all the get-up-and-go of a winded snail. While the standard 5-cylinder engine was impressive for a Volvo, it didn’t particularly stand out in the sea of entry-level-luxury cars. Equipped with the optional turbo, the car got some oomph, and ‘R’ models were remarkably quick. If you’re a wagon fan, the idea of a grocery-getting sleeper Volvo probably appeals to you. Also, these cars were available with all-wheel-drive, so if you’re in a snowy area, you can easily use the 850 as an all season beater.

The Downside

As with most European cars, the Volvo isn’t particularly cheap to fix should anything go wrong. And sadly, by most accounts, the 850 isn’t quite up to par in the reliability department as earlier models. While certainly not what you’d call ‘unreliable,’ more electronic crap means more to break, and electronic crap is something that the 850 has plenty of. While you probably won’t be spending as much on repairs as you would with, say, a Mercedes or BMW, the Volvo 850 is by no means a new car, with the latest model being twelve years old. If you find one, be sure to have a mechanic look it over before purchase, because they can easily become money pits.

What may be considered a downside for some is that your standard 850 is a front-wheel-drive vehicle. However, if this is an issue, there’s always the option of the AWD mentioned above.

The Hit

$1,500 – $4,900. ‘R’ models start at about $4,000.

In a Nutshell

A Volvo with attitude, or even, “tude” (see Urban Dictionary). For decent performance, safety, and long term durability (if the occasional expensive repair isn’t an issue), the 850 is certainly worth a look. If you’re a “big spender” (notice the quotation marks) and are interested in a sleeper Swede, then consider the 850 R. I’m certain that there are few things more fulfilling in this life than blowing somebody’s doors off in a Volvo station wagon.