[sibir]

My Toyota got totalled so at last I will get an 850 wagon but I only have about US$8000 to spend. On the local market I found 2 and need to decide:

1. 1994 850 wagon 92K miles, 1 owner with dealer service records: $8400

2. 1995 850 GLT wagon with 131K miles, 2 owners, last auctioned, leather: US$8000

Please advice! Both are supposedly in excellent condition. About the '95 I like the leather and that it is newer, but then it has almost 40K more miles and the auction in the title history bothers me. I doubt that there are dealer service records. Also: What has the 95 GLT over the 94 base 850? I read about the fewer valves but that started only with the 95 base model.

Thank you for any help!

 

[GrecianVolvo]

quote:

Originally posted by sibir:
My Toyota got totalled so at last I will get an 850 wagon but I only have about US$8000 to spend. On the local market I found 2 and need to decide:

1. 1994 850 wagon 92K miles, 1 owner with dealer service records: $8400

2. 1995 850 GLT wagon with 131K miles, 2 owners, last auctioned, leather: US$8000

Please advice! Both are supposedly in excellent condition. About the '95 I like the leather and that it is newer, but then it has almost 40K more miles and the auction in the title history bothers me. I doubt that there are dealer service records. Also: What has the 95 GLT over the 94 base 850? I read about the fewer valves but that started only with the 95 base model.

Thank you for any help!

Based on what I read, I would instantly go with the '94. I thought that the '94 was a better car about halfway through your post but I told myself that I better read the rest. Nothing changed my original thought! Now, the only negative about the '94 (as far as my personal taste is concerned) is that there are no sunroof or leather. If you don't care about these items (some people think the less options the better, but I disagree) then yougot a winner in the '94.

A GLT model (in 1995) signified that the car had sunroof, leather, "premium" sound system, alloy wheels, driver's power seat and remote keyless entry with immobilizer. If you want all this stuff then you should wait. But if not, the '94 seems like a goot bet with its excellent history.

BTW, who told you the story about the "fewer valves"? In North America, all 850 models came with 20 valves.

Yannis

 

[sibir]

Thanks for your reply! The 94 has a sunroof and powerseats but no roof rack. It has power locks. Can I retrofit a keyless entry system?
The valve story I found at http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bm/93-97volvo850.htm
It says
"Volvo slipped a less powerful, two-valves-per-cylinder version of the 2.4 litre engine, into the base 850 in '95 to keep the price down."

 

[GrecianVolvo]

quote:

Originally posted by sibir:
Thanks for your reply! The 94 has a sunroof and powerseats but no roof rack. It has power locks. Can I retrofit a keyless entry system?
The valve story I found at http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bm/93-97volvo850.htm
It says
"Volvo slipped a less powerful, two-valves-per-cylinder version of the 2.4 litre engine, into the base 850 in '95 to keep the price down."

If the '94 has power seat and sunroof it should have an alarm system with remote keyless entry.

The lesser valve engine was perhaps for Canada. All 850s in the US have had 20 valves.

Yannis