RE: Volvo 850 R: Spotted
Discussion
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
It is a bit of an icon admittedly, but for a third of the price you could have a remapped Focus ST, which has exactly the same engine. £20k is a bit silly.
The only thing that the ST has in common with this is the engine layout. It's actually a completely different engine. I get your point though...
Filibuster said:
s m said:
Standard performance always seemed a bit lacklustre compared to other fast estates
The segment of fast estates has just been invented around that time. Sure the Audi RS2 was faster, but that one was developed and built by Porsche. And ridiculously expensive back then (and still today). What other fast estates where there back in the 90's?On the car itself, these ran-rings around almost anything else in their size/class at the time and absolutely cemented Volvo as a desireable car and not just something for families of librarians/teachers, antique dealers or tree-surgeons - remember that the mid-90s was the era of Audi making generally disappointing cars (RS2 being an exception - not made by Audi - about 3 times the price of one of these!!)
On the pricing of this car - a massive part of the appeal of smokey-old cars is that they aren't FORTUNES, so when someone decides they should cost fortunes, my interest completely dissipates...
I'm sure SOMEONE loves these enough to desire that and maybe even pay well for it BUT, it doesn't strike me there'll be a queue of such people
With all cars there is a 'sweet spot' time to buy one (and maybe a spare-or-2 for parts) and that time has passed for the 850 now - it funny how cars go from 'everywhere' to 'banger money' to 'where the did all the 850s/Xantias/Mondeo/whatevers go" isn't it
On the pricing of this car - a massive part of the appeal of smokey-old cars is that they aren't FORTUNES, so when someone decides they should cost fortunes, my interest completely dissipates...
I'm sure SOMEONE loves these enough to desire that and maybe even pay well for it BUT, it doesn't strike me there'll be a queue of such people
With all cars there is a 'sweet spot' time to buy one (and maybe a spare-or-2 for parts) and that time has passed for the 850 now - it funny how cars go from 'everywhere' to 'banger money' to 'where the did all the 850s/Xantias/Mondeo/whatevers go" isn't it
JMF894 said:
20K? Really?
It's so sad to think that even 'relatively' mundane stuff like this could now becoming unattainable for enthusiasts with real world bank accounts.
Certainly makes my stage 3+ 9-5 Aero manual saloon 2006 with 72k on the clock seem good value for what I'm asking............
Maybe I should mothball it
If you had been selling that 18 months ago I'd have bitten your hand off for it. All the best cars come up at the wrong time It's so sad to think that even 'relatively' mundane stuff like this could now becoming unattainable for enthusiasts with real world bank accounts.
Certainly makes my stage 3+ 9-5 Aero manual saloon 2006 with 72k on the clock seem good value for what I'm asking............
Maybe I should mothball it
cookie1600 said:
I think I'd rather spend considerably less to achieve slightly better Swedish performance:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/saab/saab-9-3-aero-2.8t-...
Enough left over for the tax, insurance, fuel, servicing and a trip to IKEA for a flat-pack 'Billy' bookcase and a smorgasbord of meatballs and pickled Herring
You'd rather have a "harder to fix" Vectra over a car which won BTCC races - really!? https://www.gumtree.com/p/saab/saab-9-3-aero-2.8t-...
Enough left over for the tax, insurance, fuel, servicing and a trip to IKEA for a flat-pack 'Billy' bookcase and a smorgasbord of meatballs and pickled Herring
I see too-many Saabs which are total basketcases - mostly down to electronics which are a pain-in-the-arse being JUST different enough from their Vauxhall kin to make diagnosis and swapping parts difficult.
Saabs are definately in the 'buy now or never' zone tho - 93s are filling-up the scrapyards fast and 95s are almost gone-from-sight entirely - it's time to either stock-up on spares or garage-and-wait for someone else to want yours ;0
p.s. a lot of Saabs are dying so that their engines can grace things like Astravans too - at least most of the electrics will be repairable after they do that ;0
I had a black (very dark grey) Estate one in mid 90’s.
Had it from new for 2 years.
Was quite nippy in its day.
It went through front P Zeros quite quickly if I remember.
First car I had with heated rear seats.
Had a new turbo on warranty. Rear screen shattered one day while we were standing near by. Was a bit strange.
3rd gear was whooooshtastic
It was a very comfy car with leather and Alcantara everywhere. Enjoyed it.
Had it from new for 2 years.
Was quite nippy in its day.
It went through front P Zeros quite quickly if I remember.
First car I had with heated rear seats.
Had a new turbo on warranty. Rear screen shattered one day while we were standing near by. Was a bit strange.
3rd gear was whooooshtastic
It was a very comfy car with leather and Alcantara everywhere. Enjoyed it.
Pulling on my anorak, and adopting my pedantic mindset, the statement near the brginning of the piece, "It also comes with a limited slip differential and sport suspension with self-leveling rear shock absorbers." is incorrect.
No, it doesn't come with self-levelling rear shock absorbers.
It has the Nivomat system, developed by Boge/Sachs, and has a lightweight foil spring
Expensive to replace with original (although compared to the joke price of this car, a mere pittance).
And secondly, the article describes the upholstery as something that 'belies its age and mileage'.
Belies? That means it means to give a true impression of something (in broad terms).
As the mileage is given as 40,000 (41,383 actually) are you suggesting that the car has done considerably more miles (as the original advert blurb suggests something almost factory-fresh)?
As an aside, Fast Classic s have a 70k 850R example in red for £5k less than this car, albeit one that is an auto.
Having owned an 850 T5, and 850R, several V70Rs and a V70R AWD, I can see the allure.
'Back in the day' they seemed, and indeed were, fast things, but the 2000-2007 model just seemed to be too big and lardy compared to its predecessor to me, and I eventually shifted my allegiance to a couple of Saab 9-5 estates and then the ubiquitous German brands.
No, it doesn't come with self-levelling rear shock absorbers.
It has the Nivomat system, developed by Boge/Sachs, and has a lightweight foil spring
Expensive to replace with original (although compared to the joke price of this car, a mere pittance).
And secondly, the article describes the upholstery as something that 'belies its age and mileage'.
Belies? That means it means to give a true impression of something (in broad terms).
As the mileage is given as 40,000 (41,383 actually) are you suggesting that the car has done considerably more miles (as the original advert blurb suggests something almost factory-fresh)?
As an aside, Fast Classic s have a 70k 850R example in red for £5k less than this car, albeit one that is an auto.
Having owned an 850 T5, and 850R, several V70Rs and a V70R AWD, I can see the allure.
'Back in the day' they seemed, and indeed were, fast things, but the 2000-2007 model just seemed to be too big and lardy compared to its predecessor to me, and I eventually shifted my allegiance to a couple of Saab 9-5 estates and then the ubiquitous German brands.
The LSD fitted to these (admittedly a viscous unit) actually does a great job of taming the handling under power. Is it as good as a plate type diff? No, absolutely not, but it does banish torque steer and allows you to get the power down (to an extent- a 215 section tyre trying to put 180bhp to the tarmac is always going to struggle).
406dogvan said:
You'd rather have a "harder to fix" Vectra over a car which won BTCC races - really!?
I see too-many Saabs which are total basketcases - mostly down to electronics which are a pain-in-the-arse being JUST different enough from their Vauxhall kin to make diagnosis and swapping parts difficult.
Saabs are definately in the 'buy now or never' zone tho - 93s are filling-up the scrapyards fast and 95s are almost gone-from-sight entirely - it's time to either stock-up on spares or garage-and-wait for someone else to want yours ;0
Clearly you know a lot about the later SAAB range, I bow to your expert knowledge, but please just clarify:I see too-many Saabs which are total basketcases - mostly down to electronics which are a pain-in-the-arse being JUST different enough from their Vauxhall kin to make diagnosis and swapping parts difficult.
Saabs are definately in the 'buy now or never' zone tho - 93s are filling-up the scrapyards fast and 95s are almost gone-from-sight entirely - it's time to either stock-up on spares or garage-and-wait for someone else to want yours ;0
- Although I'll warrant that the SAAB 9-3 had parentage in the Epsilon platform (which SAAB engineers helped design and refine specifically), which also spawned the Vectra, how is it "harder to fix" than any other car? I can fix most things on mine in my driveway and I'm just an amateur enthusiast
- You see 'too many SAAB's' which are 'basket cases' because of electronics. Are you using the GM Tech 2 diagnostic system and paying for the yearly subscription to keep it current? My independent SAAB guys have this and they don't see any more issues with SAAB electronics than any other make of car they work on. Indeed, in 11 years and 200,000 miles of driving 9-3's, I have only had one electrical/electronic issue which was down to an ECU, that was under £200 new and fitted. I can have the configuration of any user interfaced, electronically controlled systems in my 9-3's changed at any point should I want to alter say how many times the indicators flash when I press the remote control to open or close the car etc etc.
- Why would anyone want to 'stock up on spares' when they are all easily available the same day as pattern parts or next day as genuine through dedicated suppliers like Neo Brothers, partsforsaabs or indeed through the official spares network supported by the SAAB GB company now known as Orio UK?
- I live within 200M of two 9-3's and two 9-5's - I don't know the owners of any of them, so they are hardly 'unseen' these days. In fact SAAB UK (Orio) indicate there are still 150,000 SAABs on UK roads
Back to Volvo T5's. I had the chance to drive a fairly new, standard T5 Estate back in the day and bearing in mind I'd been used to fairly mundane repmobiles, it didn't give me the poke in the back I was expecting. It was certainly fast and very solid, but I can't help thinking I was expecting a whole lot more from it.
... i can certainly see this selling...here is the scenario.
You have a large house, think 10 acres, out-houses, large purpose built 10 garage block etc. Your 'man' you employ to do gardening, DIY etc is doing one of the out-houses up, needs car to do tip runs. Ask the wife shall he use her range rover or the X5? He certainly cannot use your McLaren, the M5 is a saloon and the nanny car is too small (and anyway, its in the garage as the housekeep crashed it last week). you suggest getting an old Volvo estate, she says perfect. You call these guys, get a few grand off, transfer the money (5, 10, 15, 20K, it doesn't really matter just along as the best one you can find as if it breaks down it will be a hassle) they deliver it over the weekend as you are too busy to view...car sold. the Volvo get used sparingly and over the years you grow quite fond of it, take it to the occasional shoot.
It only take one person to make a market.
You have a large house, think 10 acres, out-houses, large purpose built 10 garage block etc. Your 'man' you employ to do gardening, DIY etc is doing one of the out-houses up, needs car to do tip runs. Ask the wife shall he use her range rover or the X5? He certainly cannot use your McLaren, the M5 is a saloon and the nanny car is too small (and anyway, its in the garage as the housekeep crashed it last week). you suggest getting an old Volvo estate, she says perfect. You call these guys, get a few grand off, transfer the money (5, 10, 15, 20K, it doesn't really matter just along as the best one you can find as if it breaks down it will be a hassle) they deliver it over the weekend as you are too busy to view...car sold. the Volvo get used sparingly and over the years you grow quite fond of it, take it to the occasional shoot.
It only take one person to make a market.
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