Well very sadly it is time to go for my faithful friend, a 1996 850 tdi estate with 194,000 miles. It has ferried me and my family around for the last 7 ish years, through sun, rain and snow. It has taken us to foreign shores with kayaks and camping gear, weekly shopping, commuting to work, fits my bike in without taking it apart, runs to the tip with garden rubbish - you get the picture, these cars are just amazing!
It is good spec with electric heated leather seats, sunroof, roof rails, tow bar (not used by me).
I have had it since 119,000 miles and it has only let me down once when the Volvo battery died.
The good bits are
- MOT to Dec 2018
- it has been regularly serviced at the right intervals using Volvo filters etc
- Most of the usual 850 bits fixed including:
- Cam belt and pump belt changed (contitech kit)
- Water pump (genuine Volvo)
- Damper pulley, auxiliary belts and tensioners
- Delta link bushes
- Front lower wishbones
- Drop links
- CV joint boots (and joint on OS)
- ABS ECU repaired
- Big Bosch battery
- Discs, pads all round (a while back but still in good shape)
- Oh and aircon recently recharged and still working!
I have receipts and records for all the above
The not so good bits are:
- Clutch is slipping
- Clonk from NSF driveshaft (didn't seem to be CV joints but haven't looked further)
- Front tyres nearing end of life (are all seasons)
- Remote locking hasn't worked for a while
Seems too good to scrap and I would spend a weekend sorting but we have another T5 (for 14 years!) and kids have grown up, so wife would prefer me to spend my time doing other things. Car is located in Leatherhead, close to M25 Jn9.
Open to offers in the next week.