Cheap Volvo 850 T5 Estate... Is it any good?

[@ianwalters11]

Geoff good luck hope you still got it. We had a 1995 estate T5 in red, got it for 2 grand around 2007 i think had 159000 on clock 1 owner FVSH owned by a solicitor he even took it to main dealer for a bulb so I had a huge pile of receipts. The famous ABS module had gone down that was all fixed by previous owner. First thing to fail for us was radiator at around 200000 miles wear and tear, glove box got stuck should have gone to an independent garage that ended up being costly needlessly, had a hose fail and around 230000 needed new ignition coil and the car was starting to cut out coming off motorways at idle, turns out AA came out it was just oil and dirt build up from age and mileage so he used a toothbrush to clean out the butterfly breather but that stopped it cutting out and the new coil sorted out the dodgy tick over. Oh yeah and leaving it in wet weather by the coast for a week was bad idea the handbrake stook on brake shoes broke so had to have them removed and cleaned out AA bloke says car fine to drive just remember you have no handbrake now so always leave car in park (automatic) which you always do anyway but had to fit new shoes as obviously an MOT failure. Apart from these wear and tear main issue was front tyres lol. Car came fitted with Michelin Pilot Primacy’s which were nice tyres but even back then were about 130 a tyre. Even driving reasonably carefully those tyres were smooth by 10000 miles maximum usually bald by 8000. I always loved Continental tyres so was gonna fit them but garage said “yes we agree they are amazing tyres in the wet have amazing grip but are so soft if we fit those you will be back in 3 months needing another set!”. By time we sold car turbo was worn but with 250000 miles on clock it was no surprise a big crowd of smoke erupted when you floored it full on boost . Geezer sold it too MOT’d it for 3 more years so car must have done close to 300000 miles. Unless terminal failure I’m sure the car could have lasted many more years, no rust just faded red paint from sun. New turbo needed probably top engine rebuild too but that would have extended its life many years. Those 5 cylinders are incredible!

[@Naebothernosey]

Same colour as one of my T-5s, personally (although I've never driven a manual, my four 850s are Autos albeit my C70 is a manual), I think the Autos suit them well. Proper Jekyll and Hyde cars - they'll cruise comfortably and quietly, then when you floor it they just 'go' especially when in Sport mode. Your wing has went the way my four have - I've replaced the two on my diesel and my Verdigris T-5 has both to be fitted, but my other two T-5s are the way yours is. It's caused by (apparently) the screenwash dripping over the years down from the screenwash bottle. Tailgates rust too, as do the rear bumper brackets. Keep an eye on the coolant too, which can be the heater matrix - I've done two and they're dead easy now (on Autos as there's no shift cables to manoeuvre round as per a manual). Dashes do peel, however it may have been lifted to gain access to the glove box, which does jam when the mechanism breaks. Should just stick back down. If you're ever in Scotland pop me a message and you can meet my 850s 🙂

[@danieleaton1399]

Great buy don't see these much , there was a video of a bloke that breaks them on his drive and they were all perfectly usable cars

[@vwbug1975]

Nobody bought it because it was an automatic. In the US, a manual transmission is the reason cars don't sell. It's nearly impossible to find a car with a manual transmission now.

[@davidmwood560]

Hi Geoff; nice car, over the years, I've had a total of 7 Volvo 850s; one manual (didn't like it) and six autos. '3 were "P" reg and 2 of those were ex police pursuit/ARU vehicles. In my opinion, the 850 was just about the best cars Volvo ever made. Unless you're lucky enough to find a mint 122S.

[@bastogne315]

There a french lad "smells like gasoline" he takes his cars to Morocco to get painted. 600 quid and that include body work. He's just done a Peugeot 508. Came out really well. He gets a ferry from Genoa ( think)

[@GeoffBuysCars]

That would be a road trip and a half

[@robinforrest7680]

Peugeot 605 SRI to be precise, but yeah for the price he paid they did a pretty good job. I did offer him Sven my previous 9-5 2.0t, but unfortunately he had too much going on at the time and couldn’t take it on. I like his channel, he does some pretty cool restorations and really knows his stuff.

[@liammedler]

My dash peeled up (not quite as bad as yours) and I used contact glue and a sash clamp wedged against the headrest. Holding up so far! Also, that pipe is only distributing air to the ECU, most are split, no big issue

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Thanks for that! Got to get this glued back together but it's so damn cold now. Check out my latest video where we look underneath the car too :)

[@bastogne315]

Omg that freakin pipe dude. Jubilee clip heaven!

[@GeoffBuysCars]

So bad isn’t it

[@paulbuckland91]

I did message about the taped up pipe being for the gearbox ecu. It’s just a fresh air pipe. Got a new one for my C70 for less than £25

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Ahhhhhhh got a link for that pipe...?!

[@misolowy3929]

Interesting you can start without having a leg on a clutch. Simple systems.

[@matthewwiddows6319]

Fix the engine light, not sure if it puts these into limp mode which will be actuator boost. That's why we need to see the boost gauge on a pull. You will need to make your own code reader to pull the codes on these. Common lambda light cause on these is rubber elbow on end of manifold 231 or 232 i think.

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Ahhh ok i'll do a boost video later.

[@ruaridhcorkerton2761]

Same colour as mine but I have the blue leather interior and manual transmission. Done 265k miles 👍

[@davidlukey5189]

I messaged the guy in Exeter about this car a couple of times trying to talk him into swapping it for my ST170. He didn't bite (obviously). I couldn't understand why nobody was buying it.

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Ah we chatted about you, he had already bought an ML430 for his dogs, didn't realise you were the guy trying to swap the ST!

[@davidlukey5189]

@@GeoffBuysCars yep that was me. Worked out for the best. I swapped my ST for the V70 Classic, which is absolutely faultless 🤞🤞

[@davidlukey5189]

@@GeoffBuysCars see what you've done to me? I wasn't thinking about getting back in an old Volvo til I found your channel. You'll be mentioned in the inevitable divorce papers.

[@xavierentwistle8758]

It had been sold multiple times on ebay which certainly put me off it, and id assume thats why no one else bought it either. Fortunately Geoff has the balls.

[@jamesmacdonald3090]

It must just be me but £1300 seems a lot for one of these old buses with an auto box? I bought my third 850, t5 with manual box in 2019 for £300, ran it for for a year and sold to an enthusiast for £700.... prices then seemed to go a bit mad and bangernomics went out the window? Just picked up a very tidy P2 manual 2.3 t5 for £450 so there are bargains out there. Not sure what to do with it, very similar to my Chrysler 300c touring, might have to flip a coin or sell both to fund my Range Rover fetish?

[@worldhello1234]

@4:17 Creme leather interior is a rare sight in a car like this.

[@1live2]

Quite nice, it looks like mine (rusted wing included) mine was less expensive (please stop referring to Volvo 850 as "cheap" 😂) but yours is a T5. I would love to drive it and compare it with my GTL We should invent and patent an easy fix for the front wing rust, if you come up with an idea let me know. For now black duct tape will do. Let's see what happens next summer...

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Yes, the cheap 850 is now getting harder to find!

[@bastogne315]

Hi everyone 🙂

[@bastogne315]

I'm in a hotel in Aberdeen. Just did a huge dry poo...didn't even need to use toilet paper. Hope this helps the algorithm.

[@GeoffBuysCars]

@@bastogne315 I’m having a poo whilst replying, does that double up on the algorithm? How’s Scotland today? I swear you are often first on these videos!! Hilarious video drops tonight at 7pm. Unlike my poo which just dropped now.

[@bastogne315]

@@GeoffBuysCars 😂😂🥰

[@JP5isalive]

@@GeoffBuysCars Quality reply Geoff. Keep up the top content! Have you ever owned an older S60? I had a 2005 D5 for 5 years. Brilliant car, until it became unfeasible to plough any more money into it. That was a sad day.

[@Halotest100]

Dated now but a great car in their day. A real sleeper on motor ways back in the 90's.

[@captainmashedpotato2630]

The question is, how many 850s is too many?

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Three. This one will go, that’s what I have decided based on my two driving videos I posted this week. I like the black non turbo more.

[@trevorockwell8764]

@@GeoffBuysCars shame, I don’t know why you like the non-turbos so much, they are really slow.

[@GeoffBuysCars]

@@trevorockwell8764 because speed is overrated :)

[@kawakuru]

Cool car i have same color T-5 whit manual gerbox🏁👍🇸🇪 buy next T-5R .i have 1

[@GeoffBuysCars]

it is a lovely colour!

[@kawakuru]

@@GeoffBuysCarsmy T-5R is olive Green👍 and i lovet

[@ArmstA79]

Commenting for Alan Gorhythm 👍

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Alan Gorithym is a good friend of mine, and yours.

[@paultrueman6700]

Awesome car 😁

[@GeoffBuysCars]

I know right!

[@craighaydock7710]

Geoff, do you ever take the rear wheel arch liners out and check for rust? Seems to be a common place for them. Got my 28 year old 850 in for mot today, it's been stood a while hope it passes

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Hey Craig, yeah, the worst i've seen was on my 850 TDI, if you search 'geoff buys cars 850 tdi' I did a video on the work I did on that car. I've still got that one, doesn't appear on the channel much though. Good luck with the MOT!

[@craighaydock7710]

@@GeoffBuysCars for the age of them we can't complain, mine failed on c.v boot and rear subframe support bracket corroded , will be ready and motd in a few hours🖒

[@carlwerner1777]

Hi Jeff the s breather under inlet manifold is blocked

[@GeoffBuysCars]

i'll check that out too, how can you tell that?

[@SWMIKE100]

Nice 850 👍

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Thanks!

[@TSC-Detroit]

Exactly the same as my volvo but I have the NA motor

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Lovely colour this. Is yours a manual..?

[@TSC-Detroit]

@@GeoffBuysCars mine is an automatic but i might manual swap if it ever goes out on me i saved this car from a junkyard and blew up the motor a year later before replacing the engine with a used 86,000 one i got from iowa

[@letsgobrandon1300]

Good car. Turbo makes them real quick. Had a '96 850. Turquoise pearl. 285,000 miles then the oil looked liked a milkshake. So I got 1993 9000 turbo 5spd instead with 145,000 miles.

[@عباسمهدي-ذ1د]

لماذ خروج الماء من الصالنصه عند التشغيل

[@matthewwiddows6319]

Turbo return o ring common on these aswell.

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Do you reckon this car is starting to look expensive?

[@matthewwiddows6319]

@@GeoffBuysCars no, its expected on a £1300 car, other that rear main seal, all other jobs can be done on a driveway with common tools and the bits are cheap. Sort the leaks, clear the codes, paint the bumpers, full service and enjoy.

[@850glt]

Another two jubilee clips on there will fix the oil leak

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Or three. At least. The more the merrier. Or messier.

[@bastogne315]

First. Note rules of KZbin state you cannot say you are " first " unless you watch the entire video...first.

[@GeoffBuysCars]

You have been first before. If there was a slogan for a t shirt....

[@LBKER_]

Just bought one of these for £500 💪❤️

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Brilliant!! Keep me posted

[@LBKER_]

@@GeoffBuysCars do you need any parts as I bought this for parts for my 850 r

[@trevorockwell8764]

Right engine finally. But wrong gearbox.

[@muckle8]

Think the auto’s are quicker than the manuals actually , they seem to come on boost a lot earlier

[@trevorockwell8764]

@@muckle8 no way. The manual has a faster stated 0 to 60mph time. Auto gearboxes of this period are terrible slush-boxes. I have an 850R manual, trust me.

[@muckle8]

@trevorrockwell8764. Maybe 0.5 of a second quicker yes? And this probably timed with somebody revving and dropping the clutch? All those claimed manufacturers 0 to 60 mph times didn’t mean much when these cars were new and don’t mean anything today - the auto boxes in these are a long way from a slush box ! They were designed and produced by the best two transmission manufacturers out there - aisin and Borg Warner - the auto’s spool up quicker, come on boost sooner and therefore in real world terms ARE quicker and more nippy than the manuals- the biggest advantage of a manual is perhaps that you could hold a gear into a corner etc and take the weight off the wheel brakes but unless your driving it like you stole it this shouldn’t arise too often - I’ve owned 3 t5’s one saloon and two estates , one was an ex cop white estate and it was FAR quicker than the t5 r i purchased after - if you look at supercars today none come with manual gearboxes!

[@Salmon260]

If you have jack in your VOLVO 850, you can "Hit the Road Jack" !!!!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@oldgravy9575]

good

[@GeoffBuysCars]

Good gravy?