Volvo 850 T5/T5-R/R - Viable daily?

[b3nson]

I'm currently rolling around in a 2003 Volvo V70, which I bought nice and cheap and is capable of being the most reliable car in the world being super low mileage at 74000 miles, non-turbo 2.4 petrol and manual. Obviously the sensible thing now is to look for a far less reliable, faster car to replace it with as it's just a tad slow and boring.

I like the size and practicality of it however so I'm narrowing down estates that could fufil this brief. I'm toying with the idea of importing a JDM Subaru Legacy twinscroll, however it would need me to find a little more cash than I'm probably allowed to by my wife.

So as an alternative I've spotted a few 850's that look ideal, however are they likely to cost an arm and leg to keep on the road as they're now well over 20 years old and well north of 100,000 miles? Or are they still a reliable old Volvo but with a bit of added booooooost. I also think they'd look fantastic with just a subtle drop and period set of motorsporty wheels.

[badrep]

I had a V70 T5 ex police - remapped to 320bhp

Went like a rocket, cost about £1k to buy (go for the 2.4T5 from 2004 onwards, not the 2.3T5), I put an exhaust, downpipe and coilovers on and that was basically all. Supprised a lot of other cars on the road....

It was ok to insure and I got 28-32mpg motorway and about 22 around town.

[b3nson]

May 22, 2018 15:26:09 GMT badrep said:

I had a V70 T5 ex police - remapped to 320bhp

Went like a rocket, cost about £1k to buy (go for the 2.4T5 from 2004 onwards, not the 2.3T5), I put an exhaust, downpipe and coilovers on and that was basically all. Supprised a lot of other cars on the road....

It was ok to insure and I got 28-32mpg motorway and about 22 around town.

I'd love a V70 T5 but all for sale are either ex-police (and I'm a tart so want heated seats and sunroof) or have a geartronic box which by all accounts are an expensive failure waiting to happen. I started looking at 850's as they have the 4 speed auto as far as I know so are less likely to die a death, plus most are a nice spec.

[badrep]

May 22, 2018 15:32:57 GMT b3nson said:

May 22, 2018 15:26:09 GMT badrep said:

I had a V70 T5 ex police - remapped to 320bhp

Went like a rocket, cost about £1k to buy (go for the 2.4T5 from 2004 onwards, not the 2.3T5), I put an exhaust, downpipe and coilovers on and that was basically all. Supprised a lot of other cars on the road....

It was ok to insure and I got 28-32mpg motorway and about 22 around town.

I'd love a V70 T5 but all for sale are either ex-police (and I'm a tart so want heated seats and sunroof) or have a geartronic box which by all accounts are an expensive failure waiting to happen. I started looking at 850's as they have the 4 speed auto as far as I know so are less likely to die a death, plus most are a nice spec.    

Fair enough!

I had Ex-Police and really didn't have many problems, but they can be a bit hit and miss!