Used Car of the Day: 1997 Volvo 850 GLT Turbo Wagon
![Tim Healey](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2023/12/15/1375158_1.jpg?size=91x91)
We're staying in the Nineties today with this 1997 Volvo 850 GLT Turbo wagon.
At just a grand, the price is right. The car has been well maintained with oil changes every 4,000 miles but has been parked due to a slipping transmission -- the seller says it will need to be towed or trailered.
The radiator and ECU are new. I don't see a mileage in the ad.
Once again we have an ad in which details are light, but you can click through here if you're so inclined.
[Image: Seller]
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![Tim Healey](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2023/12/15/1375158_1.jpg?size=91x91)
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Really want to see interior pictures. This is worth a new transmission if the interior is nice. If not, probably not.
PS. Here's a more interesting old beater Volvo from the same forum: https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/1996-850-turbo-wagon-5mt-246k-miles-midnight-blue-charcoal.672236/
Finally, a beater for beater money.
New transaxle fluid should correct the slipping for anyone interested, this is the 4-speed not the AW55-5-speed-of doom.
I had a ‘96 Turbo Wagon around around 02-04. Was a fun car and really fast. Comfortable seats, but lots of issues at a time when I didn’t have a lot of maintenance money. Cooling fan quit working, causing the car to overheat (I had left the car running while I was in the house, but no long term damage.) blower motor quit working during one of the coldest winters. This of course affected the defroster as well. Had to drive 2 hours in Ohio January with no heat and no defrost. Oxygen sensors. Weird issue with the back seat seatbelt - the inertia wheel wouldn’t release. Real pain in the butt when hauling 2 car seats. Recently saw an old friend of my sons. She started talking about how cool it was that the car had a rear facing seat in the back. That was over 20 years ago when they were 6 years old and she remembered it. Lol. Fun car, but kinda high maintenance. Replaced it with a ‘96 Land Cruiser, which I regretfully also sold. Shoulda, coulda.