ebay special: 1996 Volvo 850 T-5
Discussion
I've been looking at these for ages: originally as a daily driver, until I realised that they're pretty terrible cars for constant start stop traffic on my journey to uni and commute on the m25 every week. Combine that with me needing to park in tight spots for work and I decided I'd have to get something more sensible.
So, I ended up getting a mazda 3 sport, which has (touch wood) been perfect for the job. With only 150BHP though, it's not the most exciting drive and since getting it I've had the urge for a second car as a kind of weekend toy.
Being 18, insurance was a pretty major factor, and eliminated pretty much every quick car other than the volvo. I kept looking on ebay, but most of them were either overpriced or utter wrecks, but I persevered until I found one that looked decent and had some nice mods. I spoke to the owner, put a bid in for £965 and won it, totally unseen. Probably not the most sensible thing to do really....
The next morning, I got up and proceded to break my sat nav and leave my car and house keys in the back of the cab I took down to the station. Not the best of starts, but I managed to fix the sat nav and the cab driver very kindly drove all the way back with my keys after his next job. Despite several train delays, I made it there on time, took a quick look over the car, trying to pretend I had a clue what I was looking at. Everything seemed fine so I handed over the money and signed the documents.
Anyway, here it is:
It's had a recon engine and gearbox, plus a pretty large amount of mods - I didn't realise how many there were until I came to collect the car: he'd missed several out in the description.
Having never driven an auto before, it was an "interesting" experience on the way back but I made it back alive. I also had a great conversation with some police at a service station who thought it was fantastic (apparantly they used to drive one). It's considerably faster than anything I've ever driven before and I haven't yet managed to master the fine line between a quick start and lighting up the front tyres (which it will do at 70MPH.....)
I took it for a proper drive with some friends this afternoon and it's brilliant fun. It also attracts a surprising amount of attention, probably because it's quite noisy and I look a tad ridiculous driving it, but people seem to take it in good humour. Had a bit of a brown trousers moment when I booted it onto a motorway, failing to see the police bike behind me, but he just flashed his lights and motioned for me to slow down, which I duly obeyed
So, here's a few more pictures (will update with better ones once my friend has sorted out his camera). Comments and even critisicm are welcome, I realise that for most people, the idea of an old volvo as a weekend car is madness!
So, I ended up getting a mazda 3 sport, which has (touch wood) been perfect for the job. With only 150BHP though, it's not the most exciting drive and since getting it I've had the urge for a second car as a kind of weekend toy.
Being 18, insurance was a pretty major factor, and eliminated pretty much every quick car other than the volvo. I kept looking on ebay, but most of them were either overpriced or utter wrecks, but I persevered until I found one that looked decent and had some nice mods. I spoke to the owner, put a bid in for £965 and won it, totally unseen. Probably not the most sensible thing to do really....
The next morning, I got up and proceded to break my sat nav and leave my car and house keys in the back of the cab I took down to the station. Not the best of starts, but I managed to fix the sat nav and the cab driver very kindly drove all the way back with my keys after his next job. Despite several train delays, I made it there on time, took a quick look over the car, trying to pretend I had a clue what I was looking at. Everything seemed fine so I handed over the money and signed the documents.
Anyway, here it is:
It's had a recon engine and gearbox, plus a pretty large amount of mods - I didn't realise how many there were until I came to collect the car: he'd missed several out in the description.
Having never driven an auto before, it was an "interesting" experience on the way back but I made it back alive. I also had a great conversation with some police at a service station who thought it was fantastic (apparantly they used to drive one). It's considerably faster than anything I've ever driven before and I haven't yet managed to master the fine line between a quick start and lighting up the front tyres (which it will do at 70MPH.....)
I took it for a proper drive with some friends this afternoon and it's brilliant fun. It also attracts a surprising amount of attention, probably because it's quite noisy and I look a tad ridiculous driving it, but people seem to take it in good humour. Had a bit of a brown trousers moment when I booted it onto a motorway, failing to see the police bike behind me, but he just flashed his lights and motioned for me to slow down, which I duly obeyed
So, here's a few more pictures (will update with better ones once my friend has sorted out his camera). Comments and even critisicm are welcome, I realise that for most people, the idea of an old volvo as a weekend car is madness!
lindrup119 said:
Wow! Looks incredible. Being 18 what are the quotes you're getting for it?
Thanks! I didn't get quotes as such, I just added it onto my current policy. It only added a few hundred on but then again policy is pretty expensive already so I guess they're more interested in the risk of the driver than the car.
Synchromesh said:
Nice buy mate. Love it. 
By my count, that makes four of us on here who've had T5s before while we're still in our teens.
You mention you're at uni in London, do you mind if I ask which?
Also, tell us more about these mods!
Thanks. I had a look at yours and a few others on this forum, love it!By my count, that makes four of us on here who've had T5s before while we're still in our teens.
You mention you're at uni in London, do you mind if I ask which?
Also, tell us more about these mods!
I'm at royal holloway, so just outside west london, but I commute home at the weekends to south east london, and I work all over london.
Mods wise, I'm still finding new stuff, but so far the list is as follows:
T5R Gearbox
Rica 304 remap
Iridium plugs
k&n cone filter
ferriter exhaust with decat
polyurathane engine mount
red silicon turbo and coolant hoses
T5R Interior
Vented and grooved front brake disks and brembo pads
The seller also told me that the gearbox and engine had been moved back slightly to help weight distrobution. Haven't confirmed if that's true yet though.
Ecurie Ecosse said:
Looks great, OP. Nice to get respect from the coppers too!
Definitely! Love your T5 btw, reading your posts was a major factor in my purchaseGooly said:
T5s, Mondy STs and Accord Type Rs are all remarkably reasonable on insurance for what they are. Next renewal (Will still be 18, but with one years NCB) I can get one of the above for about 1900 for a years quote.
Yes, it's surprising what you can find if you shop around, I guess cars like those don't get crashed as much, so the insurance companies are a bit kinder to their owners.shouldbworking said:
op said:
The seller also told me that the gearbox and engine had been moved back slightly to help weight distribution. Haven't confirmed if that's true yet though.
That's whats known as the 'heavy front end shunt' mod 
Thanks!
That's a great list of mods, and they themselves are worth more than the car cost.
The T5R gearbox has a form of viscous coupling diff, so that's great!
Sounds like you have everything sorted. My brakes were poor so I upgraded them to the 302 brakes, but it sounds like your's should be fine.
I recently got a Ferrita exhaust too, and really like it. A great sound.
On a practical note, look out for the cup holder arm rests from the later V70 cars, and also a load cover for the boot which is handy.
And definitely get a genuine Volvo front strut brace. One of the best mods, they really sharpen things up and are only about £40 from the Volvo forums.
Feel free to drop me a PM if you've got any questions.
That's a great list of mods, and they themselves are worth more than the car cost.
The T5R gearbox has a form of viscous coupling diff, so that's great!
Sounds like you have everything sorted. My brakes were poor so I upgraded them to the 302 brakes, but it sounds like your's should be fine.
I recently got a Ferrita exhaust too, and really like it. A great sound.
On a practical note, look out for the cup holder arm rests from the later V70 cars, and also a load cover for the boot which is handy.
And definitely get a genuine Volvo front strut brace. One of the best mods, they really sharpen things up and are only about £40 from the Volvo forums.
Feel free to drop me a PM if you've got any questions.
Edited by Ecurie Ecosse on Thursday 15th November 20:35
shouldbworking said:
That's whats known as the 'heavy front end shunt' mod
Wouldn't be too surprised if it had been crashed at some point in it's life, the handling takes a lot of getting used to. Engine bay looks fine though.HughG said:
And as presumably the wheels haven't it will be worth keeping an eye on your CV joints! Have been considering a cheap/leggy V70 T5 as a sensible load lugger myself. Enjoy it.
Will probably be replacing the CV joints all round as the seller said one of them needed doing, and there's a slight knocking coming from the OSFEcurie Ecosse said:
Thanks!
That's a great list of mods, and they themselves are worth more than the car cost.
The T5R gearbox has a form of viscous coupling diff, so that's great!
Sounds like you have everything sorted. My brakes were poor so I upgraded them to the 302 brakes, but it sounds like your's should be fine.
I recently got a Ferrita exhaust too, and really like it. A great sound.
On a practical note, look out for the cup holder arm rests from the later V70 cars, and also a load cover for the boot which is handy.
And definitely get a genuine Volvo front strut brace. One of the best mods, they really sharpen things up and are only about £40 from the Volvo forums.
Feel free to drop me a PM if you've got any questions.
That's good to hear, I did try to plan for it all going bang, and worked out that I wouldn't lose out if I broke it for spares. Glad my man-maths was accurate That's a great list of mods, and they themselves are worth more than the car cost.
The T5R gearbox has a form of viscous coupling diff, so that's great!
Sounds like you have everything sorted. My brakes were poor so I upgraded them to the 302 brakes, but it sounds like your's should be fine.
I recently got a Ferrita exhaust too, and really like it. A great sound.
On a practical note, look out for the cup holder arm rests from the later V70 cars, and also a load cover for the boot which is handy.
And definitely get a genuine Volvo front strut brace. One of the best mods, they really sharpen things up and are only about £40 from the Volvo forums.
Feel free to drop me a PM if you've got any questions.
Edited by Ecurie Ecosse on Thursday 15th November 20:35
The brakes are good enough, but I'll probably change them when I do the wheels and tryres. I've already got a load cover but will look into getting the cup holder arm rest, sounds useful.
Lots of people have told me to get a strut brace, so that's on the list. PM incoming!
Synchromesh said:
Nice buy mate. Love it.
By my count, that makes four of us on here who've had T5s before while we're still in our teens.
You mention you're at uni in London, do you mind if I ask which?
Also, tell us more about these mods!
By my count, that makes four of us on here who've had T5s before while we're still in our teens.
You mention you're at uni in London, do you mind if I ask which?
Also, tell us more about these mods!
Here was my legendary beastie I had at 18 :
Great cars.... Lighting up at 70mph does get a little anoying when trying to get some where quickly though
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