The Volvo 850TDi Estate

Advantages: Reliable, cheap on fuel and great fun with the carrying capacity of a removal van!
Disadvantages: None, except perhaps getting a little old in the tooth!

...and isn?t cheap but then its expensive keeping the ark royal going and you?ll soon think that with all this versatility you have your own private aircraft carrier! Handling for a car is fantastic with little body-roll or sway and when you consider this is an estate it?s superb. Many of the first time passengers will never believe this is a diesel because this is a diesel with attitude it goes! Top speed is an easily achieved 120+ yet all these time your driving around with a car that?s doing 40mpg whew! Volvo service is excellent with helpful and courteous dealers so owning this bus isn?t unpleasant. What to look for? Well as low as mileage as possible, after all you want the benefit not the previous driver. Plus a Volvo service history with no gaps! Get one of these and you can travel the world in comfort while not spending a lot...

Bigbadbob 23.10.2002 · Read review
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Review of Volvo 850 TDI

Volvo 940 ESTATE 2.0 litre

Advantages: Good reliable car, easy and cheap to maintain. Good bodywork.
Disadvantages: Slow acceleration, but great after 60mph. Cruise at ninety all day.

...I have owned a 940 estate manual 5 speed for eight years. It had 111,000 miles on the clock when I bought it; it had been a one owner car and had all of the service details. I have just covered another 100,000 miles in it and it is still running well. Changed the clutch at 195,000, changed the alternator at 175,000, although it was still working ok. Bosch alternators are generally good for 200,000 so the change was just for extra reliability. Front discs were changed at 203,000, the rack was changed at 207,000 and that was only because of a slight knock on an inner ball joint. Not worth fiddling around for the price of a recon unit. Other than that no other problems have been experienced. I change the oil and filter at 4000 mile intervals, I can do this job in under fifteen minutes. Timing belts, drive belts, brake pads and filters are...

velocette 01.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Volvo 940

My 1994 Volvo 2.0 20v GLT 7 Seater estate.

Advantages: Loads of space, comfortable ultra-safe.
Disadvantages: Thirsty if you are heavy footed. Parts can be expensive.

...(double width). Finding a double din cd player is going to cost me about £100. The heated seats do not work, but I haven't checked the fuse yet. The rear door panel rattles and is loose, a common fault due to age I believe, although there is a repair kit on a well known auction site for approxiamately £10 so it isn't going to break the bank. This car will comfortably seat 4 adults, 2 smaller children and a toddler on the arm rest booster seat. The only concern I had was a rear end crash with the kids in the boot, I assume that Volvo wouldn't have allowed the seats to be there without stringent testing first. THE COSTS OF OWNERSHIP As I said I have recently had some work done to it, which may seem expensive but in my mind isn't bad and I'll explain why. Two front tyres were low, new ones fitted balanced. £70 the pair...

safariman72 14.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Volvo 850

Volvo 740 Estate - A Great Safe Family Car

Advantages: Safe, lots of extras, reasonable insurance, easy to drive
Disadvantages: A bit high on petrol

...We recently decided that our car was too small for our family and that an estate would be a much better proposition. Eventually we decided on a Volvo Estate and were delighted when an F Reg 740SE came into our local paper. Anyway we bought it and it is a great car. I have never driven such a big car but due to the automatic gear box and power assisted steering it is very easy and light to drive. I had never driven an automatic or power assisted car before and was a bit hesitant but it was no problem. We have a young daughter and we certainly feel very comfortable and safe in this car. It has loads of room in it and we can even put her pram in without having to take it apart. This particular model has electric windows, electric sunroof, electric wing mirrors and heated front seats! Unfortunately it is quite heavy on petrol...

elvina 31.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of Volvo 740

volvo 850

Advantages: Loads of boot space, loads of extras and excellent safety
Disadvantages: Repairs can cost, Relatively low MPG (25mpg)

...Volvo's...square,ugly old peoples cars. Well no. The 850 released in about 1994 was part of the big image change for volvo and was the first step in the V70 evolution. T The basic car an 850SE 20v was better than most of its opponents and was cheap. The 850 is built like a brick but fortunately doesnt look like one as much as the older Volvos. Some may say that it looks like a slab but what do you expect from a big estate car with the legendary huge volvo boot?. The 850 carries Volvo's reputation for being tremendously safe cars, and now with airbags in the front and between the 3inch thick doors and comfy seats, this is no exeption. The base model does about 125mph at a respectable 10.4secs or if you buy the T5 or R version, you will be burning off those sportscars, as they reach 60 in under 7 seconds. The interior is not bad...

LimpBizkitUK 01.07.2001 (04.09.2002) · Read review
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Review of Volvo 850

Volvo 440 1.7 automatic

Advantages: Performs well, very reliable, comfortable, practical, roomy
Disadvantages: Not as well built as some Volvos

...Nearly 7 years ago I bought a nice Volvo 440 1.7 automatic from a fireman who was selling it for something bigger to accommodate his ever growing family. I saw the car for sale in the local press and went to have a look at it. I was very pleased with the car, it had a lot of creature comforts you would expect (central locking, electric front windows, electric sunroof, power assisted steering and a height adjustable front seet - which is very important if, like me, you have short legs !). Driving the car was a pleasure - very comfortable, and although the car is quite low to the ground this was not a problem as you could raise the drivers seat. The car handled very well and because these Volvos are quite light, it was very nippy too. I was also pleased with the insurance costs too. I cannot recall the exact figure but I do know...

Buenosdias 20.11.2003 (13.12.2003) · Read review
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Review of Volvo 440

Amazing family estate car

Advantages: cheap to tax, insure & fuel, comfy, loads of boot space
Disadvantages: annoying indicators, nowhere to put my spare coins

...Situation - My husband and I needed to buy a new car, We have a nearly 1 year old son (and all his associated junk), We do fairly high mileage so needed an economical vehicle to do regular journeys in and to make visits to relatives etc, taking lots of baby stuff with us all the time. My husband has pretty much always had Fords and is besotted with them and needed a really good arguement for another vehicle to make him change his mind, I however have had all sorts from a Renault Clio, and a Laguna, to an Audi and even a Volvo, and I have whatever is suitable at the time, so it didn't matter to me. After lots of investigation and research, followed by test drives and attempting to get a buggy etc in a selection of vehicles, we settled on and purchased our second-hand Astra at 2 years old for about £6500, It is a 1.7 CDTi 16V Club...

bneleh 27.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Vauxhall Astra Estate 1.7 CDTi

1992 Volvo 480 Turbo (1721cc)

Advantages: Quick, fun, cheap
Disadvantages: Some niggles, interior quality

...Having owned my Volvo 480 for a little over a year now, i feel its about time to write a proper review for it. Having been a member of the invaluable online owners club and forum (www.volvo-480-europe.org) for some time before buying i felt infromed as to what to look for and had already walked away from a couple of cheaper / worse condition examples. Hard though it may be to do, its the only way you're going to enjoy your 480, read up before you go and let someone else buy the cursed ones! I bought mine for £671 from a forum member through an ebay auction, which i still think was a bargin. There are cheaper 480's out there but to get any car with a full years MOT and some tax for that price has to be excellent value. Especially since there is no depreciation to cripple you, you should be able to sell a 480 on without any loss...

owen080808 27.04.2007 (12.04.2007) · Read review
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Review of Volvo 480

Estate or supercar?

Advantages: Cheap to buy, space, comfort, performance, ability and what a q car.
Disadvantages: Little on the thirsty side but this is far outweighed by it's advantages.

...Bought my T5 estate second hand a couple of years ago. Very good condition and only 150000 miles. Had it RICA'd to 304 bhp soon after. Since then it has been across Europe a couple of times and covered 10000 in Eastern Europe. The roads there, are atrocious, but the Volvos legendary build quality takes it all in its stride. MPG over this period has averaged just over 25, considering the performance, load carrying ability and the fact that the majority of the miles were covered under load, this figure is incredible. Servicing can be expensive but specialists are a bit cheaper than main stealers. Mine has cost me the grand total of £411 since I have had it. Nothing has broken and this includes a couple of tyres. Which by the way can wear quickly at the front if you don't take a bit of care. The car is a constant surprise at the traffic...

geoffstone 15.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of Volvo 850

Is the T5R the best estate car

Advantages: You can burn off a Porsche 911, or load it up for a summer camping trip, either way a very useable car!
Disadvantages: Some problems on some models are possible, eg Turbocharger can suffer from severe driving.

..., and the car is an estate! It drives superb and very fast. The report saying that the T5R is the volvo for hooligans, is totally right. You can enjoy racing the XR2's, XR3's and the Ford Escort Rs Turbo's. But ofcourse it can beat them all. The amount of power is quite obvious when trying for a 0-60mph time. The low profile rubber (new tyres at the moment) lose grip in second all the way up to 40-50mph. The car can get wheelspin at 70mph in third, and in fifth down the motorway it cruises along happily. Basically I would say that this must be the ultimate Volvo. Volvo's are not just for old men... The Garrett T5 Turbocharger, the R stands for Racing...etc An edit for NEALXS ------------------- Mpg is usually about 25, but it is drove enthusiastically. It has been able to return 45 miles for a gallon of petrol, but that was...

andy5000 15.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of Volvo 850