Volvo 850 2.5 SE Estate - my new Eurotrip barge
Discussion
Hi Folks,
A few friends and I are going on a little cross-continental road trip in May and needed something a little bigger than my Volvo S40 to do it in (the largest car between us). So having watched e-Bay and Autotrader for about a month, I picked myself up this wodge of mid-90s Volvo nirvana.
What's the 850 like? Well it's ridiculously comfortable - but that's hardly exceptional for a Volvo. What I DO love about it, is the room available - plenty of space to stretch out in and a large glass area makes for a light and airy feeling. The velour is delightful - so soft and luxurious to touch.
The 2.4(2.5 was a slight exaggeration by Volvo) engine is the 10v -- so only 140bhp available. However,at low speeds the engine is very torquey and makes a deeply delicious noise under acceleration. I think it'll be perfect for the road trip as it sits at 70mph and purrs like a very quiet kitten whilst doing so.
The things I've had to do so far:
Oil and filter service
Changed cambelt and waterpump
Replaced reversing switch (for the reverse lights)
Stripped the dash and instrument cluster to replace a tiny little gear in the odeometer (common fault)and a few of the instrument bulbs
Fitted roof rails
Replaced all six speakers to Volvo recommended Alpine units
Replaced the air hose
Had a new key cut at Timpsons
Fitted a new bonnet release pull as the old one had snapped off
Fitted a Volvo V70 cd-player (which is sadly a dark grey - not black)
Changed all four door card fabric inserts as the old ones were mostly damaged
Vacuumed the car about 10 times to get rid of all trace of dog hair
The road trip will start in Cambridgeshire, then we'll head off to the Cote d'Azur, followed by Trento in Northern Italy, and then back up through Switzerland before returning back to Blighty.
It'll be our first European road trip, so any advice would be most appreciated!
Cheers,
Andrew
A few friends and I are going on a little cross-continental road trip in May and needed something a little bigger than my Volvo S40 to do it in (the largest car between us). So having watched e-Bay and Autotrader for about a month, I picked myself up this wodge of mid-90s Volvo nirvana.
What's the 850 like? Well it's ridiculously comfortable - but that's hardly exceptional for a Volvo. What I DO love about it, is the room available - plenty of space to stretch out in and a large glass area makes for a light and airy feeling. The velour is delightful - so soft and luxurious to touch.
The 2.4(2.5 was a slight exaggeration by Volvo) engine is the 10v -- so only 140bhp available. However,at low speeds the engine is very torquey and makes a deeply delicious noise under acceleration. I think it'll be perfect for the road trip as it sits at 70mph and purrs like a very quiet kitten whilst doing so.
The things I've had to do so far:
Oil and filter service
Changed cambelt and waterpump
Replaced reversing switch (for the reverse lights)
Stripped the dash and instrument cluster to replace a tiny little gear in the odeometer (common fault)and a few of the instrument bulbs
Fitted roof rails
Replaced all six speakers to Volvo recommended Alpine units
Replaced the air hose
Had a new key cut at Timpsons
Fitted a new bonnet release pull as the old one had snapped off
Fitted a Volvo V70 cd-player (which is sadly a dark grey - not black)
Changed all four door card fabric inserts as the old ones were mostly damaged
Vacuumed the car about 10 times to get rid of all trace of dog hair
The road trip will start in Cambridgeshire, then we'll head off to the Cote d'Azur, followed by Trento in Northern Italy, and then back up through Switzerland before returning back to Blighty.
It'll be our first European road trip, so any advice would be most appreciated!
Cheers,
Andrew
January 2016 update:
The 850 and I have now covered over 12,000 miles together over the last 8 months. And I have been mighty impressed.
Back in May the Volvo took my friends and I effortlessly down to the South of France in under 24 hours. Having had various day trips to Saint Tropez, Monaco and general exploring around the Cote d'azue, we then
travelled to Northern Italy where we stayed in Trentino before moving on to Switzerland and eventually home. We managed to rack up 3000 miles in one week.
I'm pleased to say the aircon worked a treat and we didn't suffer from any issues whatsoever. Not even a drop of oil used.
The Volvo in a Saint Tropez beach car park
The Volvo having just entered Italy
The Volvo also lived to expectations when I had to move three years worth of my accumulated personal items from Cambridgeshire to Reading.
In conclusion, this road-trip Volvo has become a much valued member of the Silver75 household. It's like a big, comfy automated Swiss Army knife that just keeps going on. I can't recommend these old 850s enough.
The 850 and I have now covered over 12,000 miles together over the last 8 months. And I have been mighty impressed.
Back in May the Volvo took my friends and I effortlessly down to the South of France in under 24 hours. Having had various day trips to Saint Tropez, Monaco and general exploring around the Cote d'azue, we then
travelled to Northern Italy where we stayed in Trentino before moving on to Switzerland and eventually home. We managed to rack up 3000 miles in one week.
I'm pleased to say the aircon worked a treat and we didn't suffer from any issues whatsoever. Not even a drop of oil used.
The Volvo in a Saint Tropez beach car park
The Volvo having just entered Italy
The Volvo also lived to expectations when I had to move three years worth of my accumulated personal items from Cambridgeshire to Reading.
In conclusion, this road-trip Volvo has become a much valued member of the Silver75 household. It's like a big, comfy automated Swiss Army knife that just keeps going on. I can't recommend these old 850s enough.
Edited by Silver75 on Sunday 24th January 23:32
FRA53R said:
That's just beautiful! I love green cars and I love Volvo estates so that looks perfect to me. Really good to see that you are taking proper care of it 
The 10v engine might not be lightening fast but it's got good torque and I liked the sound it had.
Thanks FRA53R - the olive green paintwork really sets it off. And you're right, the 10v unit is cracking - great noise and pulls like a little steam train no matter how much stuff it's carrying. The 10v engine might not be lightening fast but it's got good torque and I liked the sound it had.Sillyhatday said:
Nothing wrong with the 10v. They have nice midrange torque and rev out quite nicely too!
I maintain that the seats in these are better than anything more modern that I've sat in. Miles in front of an Octavia or the likes of. So comfortable, perfect road trip car
As a bonus I don't think they handle anywhere nearly as bad as you would expect.
It's good too see it's a manual. There geared quite well for cruising as you know. They quite hard to find in manual spec?
Sillyhatday, absolutely agree, the seats are pretty much perfect. I was in a nearly new E-Class the other day and having hopped into the 850 almost imediately after, it [the Volvo] felt like it was from a class above in terms of comfort! I haven't seen many in manual spec, and I have seen very, very few that have a passenger airbag in either.I maintain that the seats in these are better than anything more modern that I've sat in. Miles in front of an Octavia or the likes of. So comfortable, perfect road trip car
As a bonus I don't think they handle anywhere nearly as bad as you would expect.
It's good too see it's a manual. There geared quite well for cruising as you know. They quite hard to find in manual spec?
So the 850 had its MOT and annual service. Unfortunately it cost me a few shillings - £652 to be precise. The following bits were done by an independent Volvo garage in Bridgened;
Driveshaft boot
Lower Wishbone arm
O/S/R calliper
Brake fluid change
O/S/F link arm
4 wheel alignment
Oil service
Air filter
MOT
I also treated the car to some new Hankook tyres on the front.
Having bought this car as a simple road trip car, it has really got under my skin. I've caculated that I've spent over £1000 on it, but yet I don't begrudge it one little bit. It's never failed to start and continues to run and run and run. I've now covered about 16,000 miles in the 12 months that I've owned it.
I fancy a little Scottish road trip soon...
Edited by Silver75 on Monday 28th March 22:17
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