850 T5

[Duggie]

Hi, need help in deciding if this is a good buy or not,
1997 850 T5 estate, 100.000mls, full leather interior, the car is red in colour but the paintwork has faded and needs machine polishing, the interior needs a good clean, there is no service history although the car belongs to a friend who has owned it for 6mths, he assures me he has had no problems with the car and knows of no faults other than the lambda sensor light comes on then goes out after driving for a while, he is offering this car to me for £1200, i need advice because other people are now interested in the car, i know its difficult without seeing the car but any advice welcomed.
Regards.
Duggie

[S60D5]

Hi, need help in deciding if this is a good buy or not,
1997 850 T5 estate, 100.000mls, full leather interior, the car is red in colour but the paintwork has faded and needs machine polishing, the interior needs a good clean, there is no service history although the car belongs to a friend who has owned it for 6mths, he assures me he has had no problems with the car and knows of no faults other than the lambda sensor light comes on then goes out after driving for a while, he is offering this car to me for £1200, i need advice because other people are now interested in the car, i know its difficult without seeing the car but any advice welcomed.
Regards.
Duggie

It's [VERY] cheap, so yeah... why not!!! (But be prepared for some possible big bills to get it up to scratch!)

[Duggie]

Hi Darren, just a few other questions:- are they reliable, expensive to run? i would be using the car mainly on motorways and finally are they easy to work on and can most jobs be carried out by competent home mechanic?
Cheers. Duggie

[S60D5]

Hi Darren, just a few other questions:- are they reliable, expensive to run? i would be using the car mainly on motorways and finally are they easy to work on and can most jobs be carried out by competent home mechanic?
Cheers. Duggie

Generally they are very reliable,but when they do go wrong they can cost an arm and a leg! (I had to do a complete engine transplant! - Somewhat extreme but it does occasionally happen!). The turbo seals failing is a common problem with T5's around the 130-160k mark which costs around £600-£700 to replace with a recon one.

You can keep costs down buy doing a lot of the work yourself, and if you are a competent "home" mechanic with a Haynes manual and all the right tools most jobs are do-able.

At £1,200, even if you had to throw £1,000 at it,it's still quite a good deal! Provided you do all the usual checks there isn't much to lose!

If you're mainly doing motorway miles, have you looked at the 850 TDI ? They cost more to buy, but with the fuel savings you'd probably make that up in no time if you do average or above average miles! Just a thought :) One sold on eBay for £1,850 last week in good nick.

[Mrsmopp]

Welcome to the forum!!

A Word of warning about rad 850's from a previous red 850 owner - the paint is a bitch!!! If you are prepared to be out there every weekend polishing it then its a great buy at 1200 quid.

For motorway cruising the T5 is in its element. Expect to to be doing a lot of prtrol stops mind you!!

x

[fraz13]

If it turns nasty its worth a lot more in parts so it sounds good to me, take it and if you dont a no it will sell on here at that money....

[stuAWD]

£1200 from a mate, I would chance being bitten.