Unmolested Volvo 850 GLT
Discussion
managed to find an original unmolested low mileage tidy 850 GLT which was one family plus one owner
The 850 was new in 1997 and delivered (UK spec) to Germany where the original owner worked in the forces, then in 1999 the 850 was brought to the UK
The original owner passed away in 2008 then his spouse took ownership only using the car sparingly for a couple of years with their son using the car when visiting his mother then the car was laid up in their garage between 2012 and 2014. The son then took ownership of the car and ran it for a couple of years until 2016 before storing it in his garage. The son sold the car last year to an 'enthusiast' who had been looking for an 850 (turns out he was a car dealer) The car was then sold in April 2019 to the person I bought it from.
I bought the car a few days before we went into lockdown and drove to 250 miles home. The 850 had a new timing belt fitted a couple of weeks before I purchased the car so several stops were made on the road home to check nothing was amiss. However when I arrived home and lifted the bonnet I noticed the radiator expansion tank was almost empty. It didn't take long to find the leak at the water pump. The day before we went into lockdown I managed to order a new timing and serpentine belts, idler pulleys, tensioners, water pump, service kit and various other parts from Volvo and when they arrived the work began. New discs & pads were supplied with the car so they are fitted for the time being as the original 23 year old discs were ready for the bin. Next time I'll be fitting genuine Volvo parts.
I spent April and May getting the car ready for the road, I detailed the paintwork and interior, spent a week cleaning the underside (was covered in brown watery muddy splashes) I made up a flash code reader then managed to find an OBD2 dongle to connect to the primitive 850 system and connected the the ECU which allowed me to check the mileage. The 850s have a habit of breaking the cogs in the speedo head and most 850 have done many thousands more miles than is on the speedo. Turns out my car has a discrepancy of 857 miles. Speaking to the son the cog has never broken so at a loss as to where the miles have gone.
The son told me the car was in excellent condition when he sold it apart from the front bumper which was scuffed and bashed. This would explain why the bumper had been poorly repainted with a textured finish in the wrong colour. I managed to fine a used bumper in good condition and fitted it.
I taxed the car on 1st of June and so far have done 270 miles. I kept a close watch on the water level as I had changed the water pump and done a full coolant flush to remove the pink and fill with Volvo HOAT coolant. I had read that it can take a week or two to remove all the air from the system but I've not had to top up therefore no air and no leaks.
Still a few small bits of fettling before it's back to factory original but I'm almost there...
One of the stops on the road home to check nothing is amiss
Car was supplied with two sets of wheels, Antlia 15" which had new cheap tyres fitted and Columba 16" with cracked tyre sidewalls. I bought new tyres for the Columba wheels and went for a quick spin the day before lockdown. The car didn't feel good, something was amiss and a balance problem, but as were were going into lockdown there wasn't much I could do. After fitting the Volvo parts I had ordered I decided to take a closer look at the suspension. I found nothing worn or broken and was stumped as to why the car didn't ride as good as it had on the 15' Antila wheels, I thought maybe a buckled wheel!!! I went to check them and there it was right in front of me, a 205/55R16 tyre, I checked the others and there were two x 205/55R16 and two 205/50R16. I had ordered 205/50R16 so National Tyres had screwed up big time. The car went in to have the incorrect tyres changed and I had them check the balance of the others, they were well out of balance with only 25 miles on them. Lesson learned, I won't be buying from National Tyres ever again
Columba wheels and wonky tyres fitted
The 850 is in good company with an XC90 for company for some sibling rivalry
Interior is in immaculate condition
Genuine low mileage car
Dirty bottom
Clean bottom.
I went over every inch of the car and the only rust I found was on the towbar which has now been painted
Wheel arches all cleaned
1st June and street legal and with the sun shining it was time to go for a test drive
Once up and running and with the heatwave I decided to take the 850 to my local air-con guru, a couple of hours later I had icy cold air. Then the sun hid behind the clouds and the rain came...
Previous owner fitted aftermarket clear side repeaters and left the originals in the car so I Tango'd them back onto the car
Replacement bumper fitted and the front is looking sorted now
Fitted new rear bumper brackets and removed the towbar then refitted the bumper straight this time
Lockdown mission accomplished and nothing left to do
The 850 was new in 1997 and delivered (UK spec) to Germany where the original owner worked in the forces, then in 1999 the 850 was brought to the UK
The original owner passed away in 2008 then his spouse took ownership only using the car sparingly for a couple of years with their son using the car when visiting his mother then the car was laid up in their garage between 2012 and 2014. The son then took ownership of the car and ran it for a couple of years until 2016 before storing it in his garage. The son sold the car last year to an 'enthusiast' who had been looking for an 850 (turns out he was a car dealer) The car was then sold in April 2019 to the person I bought it from.
I bought the car a few days before we went into lockdown and drove to 250 miles home. The 850 had a new timing belt fitted a couple of weeks before I purchased the car so several stops were made on the road home to check nothing was amiss. However when I arrived home and lifted the bonnet I noticed the radiator expansion tank was almost empty. It didn't take long to find the leak at the water pump. The day before we went into lockdown I managed to order a new timing and serpentine belts, idler pulleys, tensioners, water pump, service kit and various other parts from Volvo and when they arrived the work began. New discs & pads were supplied with the car so they are fitted for the time being as the original 23 year old discs were ready for the bin. Next time I'll be fitting genuine Volvo parts.
I spent April and May getting the car ready for the road, I detailed the paintwork and interior, spent a week cleaning the underside (was covered in brown watery muddy splashes) I made up a flash code reader then managed to find an OBD2 dongle to connect to the primitive 850 system and connected the the ECU which allowed me to check the mileage. The 850s have a habit of breaking the cogs in the speedo head and most 850 have done many thousands more miles than is on the speedo. Turns out my car has a discrepancy of 857 miles. Speaking to the son the cog has never broken so at a loss as to where the miles have gone.
The son told me the car was in excellent condition when he sold it apart from the front bumper which was scuffed and bashed. This would explain why the bumper had been poorly repainted with a textured finish in the wrong colour. I managed to fine a used bumper in good condition and fitted it.
I taxed the car on 1st of June and so far have done 270 miles. I kept a close watch on the water level as I had changed the water pump and done a full coolant flush to remove the pink and fill with Volvo HOAT coolant. I had read that it can take a week or two to remove all the air from the system but I've not had to top up therefore no air and no leaks.
Still a few small bits of fettling before it's back to factory original but I'm almost there...
One of the stops on the road home to check nothing is amiss
Car was supplied with two sets of wheels, Antlia 15" which had new cheap tyres fitted and Columba 16" with cracked tyre sidewalls. I bought new tyres for the Columba wheels and went for a quick spin the day before lockdown. The car didn't feel good, something was amiss and a balance problem, but as were were going into lockdown there wasn't much I could do. After fitting the Volvo parts I had ordered I decided to take a closer look at the suspension. I found nothing worn or broken and was stumped as to why the car didn't ride as good as it had on the 15' Antila wheels, I thought maybe a buckled wheel!!! I went to check them and there it was right in front of me, a 205/55R16 tyre, I checked the others and there were two x 205/55R16 and two 205/50R16. I had ordered 205/50R16 so National Tyres had screwed up big time. The car went in to have the incorrect tyres changed and I had them check the balance of the others, they were well out of balance with only 25 miles on them. Lesson learned, I won't be buying from National Tyres ever again
Columba wheels and wonky tyres fitted
The 850 is in good company with an XC90 for company for some sibling rivalry
Interior is in immaculate condition
Genuine low mileage car
Dirty bottom
Clean bottom.
I went over every inch of the car and the only rust I found was on the towbar which has now been painted
Wheel arches all cleaned
1st June and street legal and with the sun shining it was time to go for a test drive
Once up and running and with the heatwave I decided to take the 850 to my local air-con guru, a couple of hours later I had icy cold air. Then the sun hid behind the clouds and the rain came...
Previous owner fitted aftermarket clear side repeaters and left the originals in the car so I Tango'd them back onto the car
Replacement bumper fitted and the front is looking sorted now
Fitted new rear bumper brackets and removed the towbar then refitted the bumper straight this time
Lockdown mission accomplished and nothing left to do
Thanks for the kind words, yes It's a lovely car which I was lucky to find.
@ rix I would have a Gul in a minute but it would be wasted on me now... No rattly tailgate, but thanks for the offer
@ miniman Thanks
@ Rass29 Yes very happy now that it's back to a factory fresh 23 year old. I cleaned the wheel arches with a pot scrubbing brush, soapy water then rinsed and when dry gave a coat of Chemical Guys Bare Bones
Before and after pics...
@ rix I would have a Gul in a minute but it would be wasted on me now... No rattly tailgate, but thanks for the offer
@ miniman Thanks
@ Rass29 Yes very happy now that it's back to a factory fresh 23 year old. I cleaned the wheel arches with a pot scrubbing brush, soapy water then rinsed and when dry gave a coat of Chemical Guys Bare Bones
Before and after pics...
rednotdead said:
These were a real favourite with the UK Forces in Germany, helped by very favourable pricing on top of the tax free bonus. They were everywhere in the mid/late 90s, usually metallic green.
Yes this was purchased by a German based UK forces Captain, it spent the first two years in Germany then came back to Blighty in 1999. DVLA website has it as 1997 car first registered in the UK in 1999. Original receipt in 1997 for a cost of £17,948, heavily discounted and lower VAT when buying for the German marketThere were a lot on German based UK forces guys who bought cars and sold them on to UK dealers, apparently it only took 4 cars before you had enough money to buy yourself a new car. Then they changed the rules and cars had to be kept for a minimum of 6 months so all the lock-ups in Germany were filled with brand new Volvos, Mercs, BMWs and Audis for 6 months before being brought to the UK markets. Some of the dealers in the UK done deals where they provided train tickets for the guys to get back to Germany...
Edited by 47p2 on Wednesday 24th June 18:51
47p2 said:
Then they changed the rules and cars had to be kept for a minimum of 6 months so all the lock-ups in Germany were filled with brand new Volvos, Mercs, BMWs and Audis for 6 months before being brought to the UK markets. Some of the dealers in the UK done deals where they provided train tickets for the guys to get back to Germany...
When I was there in the '90s it was one brand new tax free vehicle per entitled person in a 12 month period (so 2 cars a year for a married couple). To sell back in the UK it had to be at least 6 months old with c3250 miles on the clock. Not long after I left the rules changed. If you picked your brands and models right you could upgrade easily for no extra outlay - I had a friend went from a boggo 850 to T5 in about 4 cars with no extra cash changing hands. Saab 900 convertibles, Jeep Cherokee 4.0, Audi A4 avants and any Merc were all good bets to 'earn' some money or have an easy upgrade path.Edited by 47p2 on Wednesday 24th June 18:51
47p2 said:
Thanks for the kind words, yes It's a lovely car which I was lucky to find.
@ rix I would have a Gul in a minute but it would be wasted on me now... No rattly tailgate, but thanks for the offer
@ miniman Thanks
@ Rass29 Yes very happy now that it's back to a factory fresh 23 year old. I cleaned the wheel arches with a pot scrubbing brush, soapy water then rinsed and when dry gave a coat of Chemical Guys Bare Bones
Before and after pics...
Thanks for the info, I will give that a go at the weekend, fingers crossed they will come up as good as yours. @ rix I would have a Gul in a minute but it would be wasted on me now... No rattly tailgate, but thanks for the offer
@ miniman Thanks
@ Rass29 Yes very happy now that it's back to a factory fresh 23 year old. I cleaned the wheel arches with a pot scrubbing brush, soapy water then rinsed and when dry gave a coat of Chemical Guys Bare Bones
Before and after pics...
Here is a pic of mine
Recent work on the 850 has been to paint some of the metalwork underneath to 1. Make it more pleasing to look at when I remove the wheels and 2. To help preserve the car for future generations to enjoy.
I started by painting the brake calipers and then the suspension parts
Then it was the exhaust tailpipe’s turn to be tidied up. Original GLT tailpipes are no longer available and the GLT doesn’t have the square pipe that was fitted to the T5s but a round pipe with a folded inwards lip that was originally painted in black. I spoke to my local stainless exhaust builder and we decided the best route was to keep the original tailpipe and weld a stainless steel tailpipe over it
I started by painting the brake calipers and then the suspension parts
Then it was the exhaust tailpipe’s turn to be tidied up. Original GLT tailpipes are no longer available and the GLT doesn’t have the square pipe that was fitted to the T5s but a round pipe with a folded inwards lip that was originally painted in black. I spoke to my local stainless exhaust builder and we decided the best route was to keep the original tailpipe and weld a stainless steel tailpipe over it
That's probably the cleanest 850 on here, my dad (a serial Volvoist), had an 850 TDI, but couldn't get on with it, and swapped back a 940 2.3t, which he tools about in to this day. They really are bombproof if you are handy with a spanner. I'd like a V70R to move furniture quickly (but then I'm a glutton for punishment).
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