For Sale, 1997 Volvo 850 GLT. 202,4xx miles. 5 cylinder light-pressure turbo, 4 speed automatic transmission.
This is a project/24 Hours of Lemons race car candiate/parts car. Dog not included.
The good: Never left me stranded in 120k miles of use, some may allege it was driven at nearly 100mph recently, four nearly new Cooper Evolution Winter snow tires, summer and winter wheels, leather seats in better shape than most with half the mileage, box of random spare parts and the OEM Volvo axles that could be rebuilt.
The bad: original turbo, original exhaust, original radiator, AC doesn’t work, headliner was removed when the glue failed, vibration under acceleration, alignment is sketchy, I have to retorque the wheel bolts and driveshaft bolts at seemingly random intervals, the clear coat has failed on every horizontal surface, the hood insulation had to be removed due to a dead rodent colony, the dashboard rattles like an 84 Cavalier, summer tires: one good, one good but has “temporary” plug, one has horrific camber wear, one destroyed due to being driven flat for several miles, plenty of other little things.
Inherited this car from my late mother-in-law, who was the second owner. First owner (father-in-law’s client) drove it one year and sold to my in-laws with ~15k miles on it. My mother-in-law drove it in the spring, summer, and fall from 1998 to 2007, and it was garaged from Thanksgiving until mid-April. In 2007 she fell ill with cancer; as her health deteriorated, she couldn’t even get in and out the car as a passenger, so it sat in the garage more and more. After she passed in late 2009, the car sat until 2012, when my wife needed something to run back and forth across southern New Hampshire for her freelance work instead of her Sienna.
At this point, the car had somewhere between 80k and 90k miles on it. I put some fresh gas in it, and drove it home to Lyndeborough from Fitzwilliam one one functioning brake. New brakes, fluids, filters, timing and accessory belts, hoses, coolant, shocks/struts, A-arms, calipers, rotors, and tires, and the car was back in action. The check engine light for the secondary air system received a diode on the ECU and a new secondary air relay, and the car could pass NH emissions inspection.
As my 2003 Subaru Legacy crossed 200k miles, I started to press the Volvo into duty for me. At the same time, my wife’s work changed from freelance to a work-from-home corporate position, so the timing was pretty good. I put a Class 2 hitch on the car and it became my daily driver in 2016.
Since then I’ve put another timing belt kit in it, done the front wheel bearings at least twice, did a PCV service, as well as new engine and transmission mounts (including an ipd lower transmission mount), new front drive axles, delta links, whatever the entry-level Bilstein shocks and struts are called (touring?), ipd rear towing springs, 3 of the 4 front subframe mounts, and a whole bunch of other bits and pieces.
My work schedule precludes me taking the time needed to sort this car for another 100,000 miles of use, so I did my part to stimulate the Japanese economy by buying a new Subaru Crosstrek last week. I already miss the howl of the turbo 5 cylinder, but now I just have to throw money at a payment instead of wondering how I’m going to finish a project on Sunday evening to get to work Monday. OK, I take that back, when I missed a hunk of water pump gasket during a timing belt service, I had to give up at 10pm Sunday night and get a ride to work on Monday morning. But that was ultimately my fault for not getting all the gasket material removed.
Asking $800.
No, I will not drop car in random out of state parking lot so you can have a buddy deliver it to you later. No, I will not accept gift cards as payment. If I Google your name and I find your career appears to be filing frivolous lawsuits against other people and corporations, sometimes in connection to low-dollar used car sales, I’m not selling you the car.
lemonsfiasco 