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Help needed with buying advice after viewing an 850R

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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 12:27   #11
Dancake
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Strut mounts look as if they've had it. The oil leak doesn't look to be the main seal. You'd expect the drain hole between the gearbox and engine to be clean if it was the source of the leak. Given the quantity of oil and spread of it, I would hazard a guess that the turbo is the culprit. Not alll 850s came with pollen filters from the factory. I purchased a housing from Minty on here as my own 850 didn't come with a pollen filter.

It's around £300 or so at the minute for all the belts, pulleys, tensioners and water pump from Volvo. If the turbo is leaking, £250-£300 should be enough to have it reconditioned. The top mounts can be fixed without too much expense. If your dampers and springs are serviceable the cost will be kept down. It really depends on how far you would want to go. £1000 could easily address the main issues as well as a few other smaller ones such as the pollen filter and heater matrix. The cost of the car as it stands would need to account for the work and parts required to put it right.
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 12:53   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dancake View Post
Strut mounts look as if they've had it. The oil leak doesn't look to be the main seal. You'd expect the drain hole between the gearbox and engine to be clean if it was the source of the leak. Given the quantity of oil and spread of it, I would hazard a guess that the turbo is the culprit. Not alll 850s came with pollen filters from the factory. I purchased a housing from Minty on here as my own 850 didn't come with a pollen filter.

It's around £300 or so at the minute for all the belts, pulleys, tensioners and water pump from Volvo. If the turbo is leaking, £250-£300 should be enough to have it reconditioned. The top mounts can be fixed without too much expense. If your dampers and springs are serviceable the cost will be kept down. It really depends on how far you would want to go. £1000 could easily address the main issues as well as a few other smaller ones such as the pollen filter and heater matrix. The cost of the car as it stands would need to account for the work and parts required to put it right.
Thanks for all that info - the heater matrix has been fixed so that would remove some cost. but the wheels need a refurb and last test had the following:

Repair as soon as possible (minor defects):
Offside Front Suspension arm ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.3.4 (b) (i))
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))
Nearside Rear Shock absorbers light misting of oil or has limited damping effect (5.3.2 (b))

With the compression test results and everything else as much as i want an 850R I dont know if this is just going to be too much to take on... I always have a real fear of engine failures and head gasket issues after being stranded one to many times on the road with a steaming car...
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 13:04   #13
ITSv40
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Whenever I am in this situation, I always follow my instinct . Does it feel right or not? I get the impression you are unsure and it does not feel right. I would walk away - thre will be another one come along that does feel right.
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 13:19   #14
Dancake
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The car is getting on in years, so it will inevitably need a bit of tlc to bring it up to scratch. It's obvious that the previous owner didn't really look after the car, and they are probably relying on the reputation and prestige of the 'R' badge to sell it on. Unless it was a particularly cheap example, I would be inclined to pass on buying it. Just a thought here. The doubts you are having pre-purchase could remain after purchase, and could be further supplemented with feelings of anxious urgency until such times as the issues and doubts you have about the car were addressed. Such is the nature of buying second hand cars. It's the risk we all take.
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 15:02   #15
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Compression test worries me, sounds like piston rings starting to go (if you see no evidence of overheating). That would be quite a big bill.

PCV is neither too hard or too expensive to do. 6 or so hours and £80 in parts. Has to be kept on top of though, as positive pressure will cause issues with seals. The first ones to go are typically your crankshaft and camshaft seals. Rear main seal only goes when there is a huge amount of positive pressure over a sustained period of time. Unfortunately it typically scraps cars too, as its a subframe and gearbox out job to do - about £500+ if you decide to do clutch at the same time (you really might as well).

Those strut bearings are knackered. Good news is they are replaced in about an hour and the bearing costs £20 for a good quality aftermarket piece.

The oil leak seems rather substantial and is hard to pinpoint as a result. It does seem more turbo side than anything but would require some serious cleaning up to trace properly. Turbo oil drains do clog, and oil feeds fail. This could also mean you have a turbo in need of a refurb - which is about £150 plus labour for removal/refitting.

Control arms are £55 each for good aftermarket stuff (MeyleHD) and require about an hours fitting again. Rear suspension is Sachs OEM assuming it's not nivomat, and if it is nivomat they are very expensive to replace and hard to repair; I'd recommend swapping the nivomat out if they are shot. Good news is rears take all of 20mins a side to swap out. To fully replace all suspension components (front and rear springs/dampers, new bushings, and the front control arms) with OEM spec stuff you're looking at about £6-700 in parts alone.

I think if you get it cheap, and I do mean cheap, then it could be worthwhile. By cheap I mean around £1500 for a manual or £1200 or less for an auto). You'd then need about £1k or so to address the issues you found in your single inspection/MOT and then perhaps another grand for things you find over the first few months of your ownership. At which point you'd be in it for about what you'd expect a reasonable condition UK-spec R to be worth.

If you feel like you want the car and you are somewhat competent as a DIYer (not scared of suspension/brakes/timing belt level stuff) then go for it. If you don't have a good feeling about it then walk.

For reference I bought a nail of a T5 and had a huge amount of work to do on it. Suspension (dampers, springs, bearings, front and rear, control arms and droplinks), brakes (handbrake rebuild, all four calipers, discs and pads all around), major servicing, cambelt + water pump, entire ignition system (sparks, rotor arm, dizzy, plug leads).

The car has cost me on average £130 a month on mechanicals and cosmetic items (I bought lots of missing interior trims, seat repairs etc) to run over the 20 months I've had it. This value is dropping month by month though and after the first year of ownership its actually proved to be an exceptionally reliable and cheap car to run - excluding petrol costs of course!
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 15:08   #16
Luxobarge
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DomF1 View Post
I always have a real fear of engine failures and head gasket issues after being stranded one to many times on the road with a steaming car...
Just to add a couple more thoughts, these engines are pretty bulletproof and head gasket failure is VERY rare, unless the engine has been properly cooked due to a cooling failure, so if you look after the hoses, heater matrix and radiator (as you should on any car), IMHO it would be extremely unlikely that you'd get H/G failure. On the cooling side, the only known weak points (that I know of) are the heater matrix and occasionally the coolant reservoir can crack. Both are easy to fix, and can be spotted early if you keep a regular eye on the coolant level.

There are number of common faults on these cars, but most of them are pretty easy to fix and engine failure isn't one of them.
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 18:50   #17
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Cookeh - thanks a lot for that detailed reply, that makes a lot of sense and going through what is needed price wise and time wise does show how much work is going to have to go into this to make it worthwhile...

I'm going to speak to them, let them know what I've found and then see how I feel about it all factoring in price. I have done cambelt, brakes etc before but I don't have a garage so the thought of lying on the cold road is filling with me dread...

I think the part of me which has always wanted an 850R (the BTCC did it for me!) is slowly being surpassed by the more sensible side...

Really great to get the forums opinions and views. Another reason why i miss Volvo ownership.
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 18:54   #18
DomF1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ITSv40 View Post
Whenever I am in this situation, I always follow my instinct . Does it feel right or not? I get the impression you are unsure and it does not feel right. I would walk away - thre will be another one come along that does feel right.
That's a good way of looking at it and something i have tried to follow in the past, I remember when i didn't and ended up with a BMW estate that spun me out on the motorway after it driving home and the drive shaft broke... I knew i shouldnt have bought that one!
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 21:15   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DomF1 View Post
Cookeh - thanks a lot for that detailed reply, that makes a lot of sense and going through what is needed price wise and time wise does show how much work is going to have to go into this to make it worthwhile...

I'm going to speak to them, let them know what I've found and then see how I feel about it all factoring in price. I have done cambelt, brakes etc before but I don't have a garage so the thought of lying on the cold road is filling with me dread...

I think the part of me which has always wanted an 850R (the BTCC did it for me!) is slowly being surpassed by the more sensible side...

Really great to get the forums opinions and views. Another reason why i miss Volvo ownership.
check for rust on wings a well known problem on 850s and mileage counter on the speedometer
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Old Nov 7th, 2019, 21:27   #20
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