Time for another car ... Volvo 960 or Volvo 850?

it's time for another good used car .... am after an estate this time round, but will be buying for cheap (£1200 budget) and want a good 'workhorse' that can be used as a family car aswell as load a few lawnmowers and garden tools

I have seen a few Volvo 960 and 850 with just over 100k on the clock selling for approx £1000 or slightly cheaper ....

has anyone here owned one of these?

 

My dad swears by volvo or audis for cars Dim
Dont drive myself though pal so cant really say much else...

 

I've had 5 Lagunas and, apart from the last one, had no problems. I used to do Computer Fairs and loaded up to the roof.
If you can avoid the one with the Electronic Key Fob, then these workhorses are a lot of car for the money - they never did keep their 2nd hand price so were always a good deal.

 

thanks for that ... will have a close look at the laguna estate .... my 1st car in the UK was a renault scenic 1.9 diesel monaco ... was light on diesel, lots of space, and I never had any probs (but was bought new)

so far, I have my mind set on the Volvo 960, 2nd choice is the volvo 850 and 3rd choice is a Ford Galaxy

The volvo estates are not the lightest on fuel, but are comfortable, reliable and have huge space (I have seen a double wardrobe loaded in one of those)

I have also been looking at the Skoda estate, but the good ones cost more than I am planning to spend

 

I've always fancied Audi aswell, but feel that the Volvo will serve me better if I need to load lawnmowers and tools etc

 

Apparantly volvo are ment to be very safe if you have a crash...which is a good thing if you have a family too. Audi tend to look nicer though i think. That really is as deep as my knowledge on cars goes haha i think you can get a good car cheaper than you can get a good van though too?? not sure though....

 

prob with a van is that it's good for work, but if you have a wife and 2 kids, it's pretty useless if you want to use it when going somewhere together (unless you buy a 4 seater) ... or leave one child at home (or have a van and a car)

I want something cheap and reliable that can act as both a family car and van .... and that I can comfortably drive on a long journey if I decide to go on holiday (I've always owned big cars such as BMw 740i and Mercs) .... I have also owned vans (my last one was a Ford transit high top)

the Volvo 960 is going for cheap as they are 3 litre engines and many are selling them due to the cost of petrol/diesel ... I don't do lots of miles, and don't mind paying a bit extra per week for petrol or diesel ...

the 960 has all the bells and whistles, and if you compare it to a similar brand new car with all those features, you will pay thousands ....

wife is not too keen though (she says it looks like a herse)

 

lmao! yea they do look a bit like funeral cars. Looks like you must choose, your wife or the hurst?

 

I agree with your wife, just don't buy a black one!!!!!!!!

Val

 

I had a 940 estate, and loved it. Most of my mates mocked me for it, that is until they'd had a go in it and realised that contrary to the farmers car image, they are quite luxury. Big armchairs for seats, very quiet, smooth engine, and a lot more muscle than you might expect.

The 960 is the poshest end of the 900 series. They have 6 cylinder engines as opposed to 4, and are more powerful, being either 2.5 litre or 3 litre. The 940s on the other hand come in 2 litre and 2.3, both with several turbo options (mine was the 2.3 normally aspirated one).

As a family car they are great. Very spacious and comfy, and supposed to be safe (although I can't say as I never crashed mine). The 940 is also a lot more fuel efficient than the green brigade would have you believe. On a motorway run in my 17 year old tank, fully laden (which takes some doing for a 940 estate) she did 38 mpg. Compared to the 'on paper' 42mpg from my horrible 1.6 Laguna that I have now, I think the tank did pretty well. Town work is a different story though. You're looking at 25mpg around town.

As a work horse, fantastic. You lift the tailgate and there's just loads of space. Put the back seats down (and they fold right down flush, unlike some estates) and it may as well be a van, with floor space comparable to a SWB transit, but of course lacking the height. In terms of carry capability, I've had mine chock full of freshly cut logs, packed up to the level of the head restraints (I'm not mental, higher than that I'd I'd get buried if I had to break hard). As I was driving I forgot they were there, the car just didn't bat an eyelid at all the weight.

The 960 is the posher model, but it has a common (and expensive) problem. The rear suspension is some pioneering self levelling technology thing, meant to make sure the car stays level regardless of how much weight its carrying, but unlike the 940 which mostly stays level because the back suspension is a bit firm, the 960 is supposed to stay level but at the same time consistently smooth regardless of load. The trouble is the expensive shockers are prone to fail by the time the car reaches the age that they all are now, and replacements are not cheap.

The 850 is an entirely different beast. Where the 900 series were Volvo's 'luxury workhorses', the 800 series were aimed more at the trendy market. I can't say much about them, as I've never owned one, but they are front wheel drive (as opposed to rear wheel drive like the 900s), and are supposed to be slightly lesser build quality. They are also supposedly higher maintenance, but I can only say that maybe that's because everything is higher maintenance than a 900 series, you pop a 940's bonnet and its like a cartoon engine. Its like 'How to build an engine, Book 1 for Beginners'. You can just recognise and get to everything.

Another thing going for the Volvos, is that they have a very active and friendly community forum. When your Volvo misbehaves, they'll have you fixing it yourself in no time, not that very much ever goes wrong.

 

thanks for that! .... much appreciated ....

I may be looking closely for a 960 in a couple of weeks time .... there are some really good ones for approx £1000 with under 100k on the clock with FSH ....

 

This one's easy, buy Japanese...

 

A Lexus maybe for later :WINK1:

most reliable car I ever had was a Toyota Corolla ... I was a student and always skint .... drove it for 4 years without even changing the oil (had to replace brakepads though on a few occasions) .... sold it for more that what I bought it for

 

I had an old Toyota once. It was a Carina estate, 2 litre turbo diesel. First the radiator exploded (literally). So I replaced the rad, and then a few weeks later the coolant pump failed. I was going to fix it, but in the short time it took me to drive it across town to get my mate to help, then back again, then reverse onto my front garden where I'd planned to do the work, she overheated and a blew the cylinder head. Its the the only time ever that I've seen steam oozing from the exhaust manifold gasket, which can only happen if the head is so badly warped that coolant is oozing into the red hot cylinders and the head is so warped that it no longer couples flush to the manifold. She was well and truly dead. Steam was coming from everywhere and the noise she made was most un-engine-like.