1995 Volvo 850 Glt Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

Advertising:

VIN: YV1LS551XS1192833 Year: 1995
Number of Cylinders: 5
Make: Volvo
Model: 850
Trim: GLT Sedan 4-Door
Drive Type: FWD
Mileage: 120,579
Options: Sunroof, Cassette Player, Leather Seats
Exterior Color: Gray
Safety Features: Anti-Lock Brakes, Driver Airbag, Passenger Airbag
Interior Color: Black
Power Options: Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows, Power Seats

Condition: Used: A vehicle is considered used if it has been registered and issued a title. Used vehicles have had at least one previous owner. The condition of the exterior, interior and engine can vary depending on the vehicle's history. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections. ... 

Volvo 850 GLT Non-Turbo

VIN: YV1LS551XS1192833

Links:
Auto Check report (same as carfax)
Gas mileage
Kelley Blue Book

Summary for those who won't read all this:
- Engine is well-maintained and is in great shape
- Drives great and should last long time if maintained
- Odometer is broken but I have kept track of the miles
- Has a bunch of little annoying quirks
- Some suspension work will need to be done soon
- The only thing that I know will fail inspection is the horn

The Good:
- Engine has been well-maintained and runs super smooth. I have used synthetic oil since I bought it five years ago and I give it Techron fuel injector cleaner every oil change. 
- Just done 2 weeks ago: New front brakes, rotors and calipers. Synthetic oil change.
- Timing belt, serpentine belt, water pump replaced at 95k. (timing belt good for at least another 50k)
- Battery is 15 months old.
- This is from the series of Volvos that were made in Sweden and whose engines have a record of lasting forever.
- Surprisingly good on gas: about 25 mpg highway. 
- Handles great in the snow.
- Super-safe car. Dual airbags.
- I am the second owner. Previous owner was an old lady who only drove the thing about 7,000 miles a year. I have all of her maintenance records, stamped by the Volvo dealership.
- I have most of the receipts for maintenance since I've owned it.
- No accidents ever. Car has never hit or been hit, even on bumpers. 
- Power windows, power door locks, power mirrors all good
- Sliding power sunroof all good
- A/C & Heat all good
- AM/FM stereo / cassette all good 
- Theif-proof radio (requires code for re-activation after disconnection from power). Remind me to give you the code if you buy the car since you need it after battery disconnection.
- Keyless entry
- Leather interior
- ABS brakes
- Clean title in hand. 

The possibly good:
- Supposedly there's an alarm because the first owner gave me instructions for disabling it, which I will pass along to the next buyer. I have never heard the alarm go off. There is a little red light in the car though, and when burglers broke into my other car last year, they didn't dare touch the Volvo even though it had better stuff to steal in it.

The Not-bad:
- 3 tires have about 15k miles left. One newer one which I had to replace has about 30k miles left.

The Annoying:
- It's 18 years old, so it's the little things that are starting to be a problem:
- You have to press the "Shiftlock Override" button to the right of the gear shift every time you take it out of Park. 
- Dome lights don't work. I stuck a tap-light up there which is good enough for me (comes with the car if you buy it!)
- Slight scratches on windshield (This was due to my idiotic move with a shovel this winter. Only slightly noticeable and will not affect inspection)
- Left wiper arm is slightly bent too much. I think this happened during the 3-feet-of-snow storm a few years ago. This sometimes causes a slightly bouncing wiper except in heavy rain where it's wet enough to be all smooth. A new wiper arm (or a skilled hand in bending it) should solve it. Or live with it like I have been. 
- Driver seat incline is controled by power switch. Seat moves forward and back fine (legroom adjustment no problem), but if you want to recline the seat back, the part that you sit on moves with it. So I just keep it kind of straight. The button that reclines the seat-back by itself is not working. (No problem with passenger seat which is manual.)
- Remote starter only works when it's not cold out (and, at least for me, I only want to use it when it's cold out)
- When you activate the windshield washer, there are two little wipers on the front headlights that also turn on. The one on the right is busted and it gets stuck with its little wiper motor buzzing. It will buzz like that until the next time you get out of the car and give it a couple of flicks which move it back into postion and shut it off (there's probably a simple, permanent fix for this that I haven't bothered figuring out.)
- Now for awhile, the following happened about 5-10% of the time. I replaced the ignition switch 4 months ago and thought that would be the end of it, but it has happened twice since then (about 1 in 100): Pull the key out of the ignition, and the car stays on. No amount of playing with the ignition gets it to stop. I want you to know what happens because if it does occur, the following information will be of comfort: this car automatically shuts itself off after a set period of time in park (I guess about 15 minutes). Lock it up, walk away, and you're good (depending where you are). If you really must have the car off, unhook the battery. Again, this has happened twice in the past 4 months and I start it 3 times every work day. 
- Kids drove by one day and threw eggs at this beautiful car. One of them hit the rear-left light fixture and cracked the plastic. I was able to crazy-glue it back, and between that and some red transparent tape, it's functional and has passed two inspections. If you buy, keep an eye on it. It might need a re-glue at some point, otherwise you could be in for another 200 to replace it. 
- There are buttons for heated seats which no longer work. 
- Ceiling lining is falling down in the back. 

The Bad:
- Car is due for some suspension work in the front. If you come for a test drive, you'll probably notice a bit of a crunching noise in the front right. I have an estimate from Lake Region Tire & Auto in Monroe for $253.95 for front links and $642.06 for struts. For the amount I drive (about 450 miles in a full week) I would need to do that very soon. Depending on how much you will drive it, you might be able to stretch that out for awhile. 
- I neglected to keep the transmission service up to date. It's overdue, and my mechanic said he would check it again next time but that there's a chance it's too old to flush it. I don't understand this, but I just know I should have done it and I didn't. On the good side, the transmission has always shifted great and never slips. 
- Rear brake pads have about 25% of life left on them
- Trunk has a leak. There are no dents, so it's probably just the rubber lining that needs replacing. Since it's my commuter car, I have neglected this and it's gotten pretty wet in there. If you care about storing stuff in your trunk, you'll need to get that sealed up better. The jack has gotten a bit rusty because of this.
- The donut is shot. 
- There's some rust on the exhaust system. Last year the tailpipe needed to be welded back in place and has held fine since then. 
- Leather is ripped on the driver's seat where the butt goes.

The Ugly:
- Odometer is busted. Unfortunately this is a common problem with this model. It's stuck on 77,655. I found this out on the way home after purchasing it from the original owner 5 years ago. Odometer checks on Carfax history indicate that it stopped very shortly before I got it. This has been my work car which has made it very easy to keep manual records of the miles for maintenance purposes. In fact, I have kept an ongoing email to myself with all the records of how I got to the current mileage of 120k. I understand you have to take it on faith and I realize this decreases your resale value, but I can go over it with you if you want. 
- Horn does not work. 5 months ago, it got stuck on one day until the fuse blew. When I popped in a new fuse, the horn was blaring again. Pull the fuse and the wipers didn't work (why wipers and horn on the same fuse, don't ask me). So I disconnected the wire connection to the horn. Repair would involve either a horn repair kit ($250 and risk of airbag to the face) or total steering wheel replacement. I went with no horn.
- Paint on the hood is awful as you can see in the photo. No rust, but it looks like it got scraped up with a shovel.

Why I'm selling it:
- If I still just drove to the train station and back, I wouldn't. But I drive 45 miles each way to work now, and between the age of the car and all the little things that will need fixing in the next few years at that pace, it's time for me to go with something newer and even better on gas. The brake/rotor/caliper job I just did for $600 convinced me that it's time to pass this along to someone who either doesn't put the miles I put on it or who is willing/able to maintain it. 

Priced below KBB fair price due to odometer. 

-Rob