Well spec'd 850R auto.. How much?

**jamesy12345** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 11:11

Originally Posted by Doingitsideways

At least it came back from me in one piece!

Lol

it did that! You even sorted the low idle

(hopefully no-one will find me out pretending to give cars away and really getting work done on them.....speaking of which, have you finished with that 460 turbo yet...

**Doingitsideways** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 11:32

Originally Posted by jamesy12345

it did that! You even sorted the low idle

(hopefully no-one will find me out pretending to give cars away and really getting work done on them.....speaking of which, have you finished with that 460 turbo yet...

Currently trying to decide what to do tbh.

The 480 has had it, so will be going, and I don't think Ray will take another hard winter as Louise's daily.
I'm seriously looking at getting her a C70 ragtop (she likes her old man's coupé) and taking the 460 off the road for some serious work.

**Tim Williams** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 18:10

I know from personal experience it's a hard decision but as long as you don't make a rash one you will always be able to change your mind later. If you're parking the car up whilst thinking about it why not remove the cylinder head as it's only 2-2.5 hours work without rushing and then you will know far better what might be needed to be done?

An 850 engine as a replacement is a poor idea as the Mahle pistons cause a lot of bore wear. An engine from an S,V or C70 would be far better with the AE pistons. If it did need a bottom end for only slightly more money you could gov2.4 or 2.5 which would suit an auto box very well.

**LiamT4** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 18:29

People seem to forget that these cars are rare now, so they don't have standard value anymore. The fact it has a knackered engine isn't as important to me as the actual bodywork, interior and chassis being in top condition.

I can say for definite that if Andy decided to fit a standard engine, sold the AP's, then put the car for sale at 4k, i'd drive all the way down south and give him the money tomorrow.

Its in my favourite colour, the bodywork and interior are A1 and its auto, thats exactly what i want.

Many people would laugh and say an old, auto, saloon volvo (that isn't yellow) is worth nowhere near 4k, but to me it most definitely is.

**Jamest5r** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 19:14

Originally Posted by LiamT4

People seem to forget that these cars are rare now, so they don't have standard value anymore. The fact it has a knackered engine isn't as important to me as the actual bodywork, interior and chassis being in top condition.

I can say for definite that if Andy decided to fit a standard engine, sold the AP's, then put the car for sale at 4k, i'd drive all the way down south and give him the money tomorrow.

Its in my favourite colour, the bodywork and interior are A1 and its auto, thats exactly what i want.

Many people would laugh and say an old, auto, saloon volvo (that isn't yellow) is worth nowhere near 4k, but to me it most definitely is.

Well said

**LiamT4** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 19:22

Originally Posted by Jamest5r

Well said

I can say that because i've been looking for 6 months now and an auto saloon in excellent condition are very, very rare.

What i'd give for an auto s70r, in silver, in good condition................

**Ettienne** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 19:24

Originally Posted by LiamT4

People seem to forget that these cars are rare now, so they don't have standard value anymore. The fact it has a knackered engine isn't as important to me as the actual bodywork, interior and chassis being in top condition.

I can say for definite that if Andy decided to fit a standard engine, sold the AP's, then put the car for sale at 4k, i'd drive all the way down south and give him the money tomorrow.

Its in my favourite colour, the bodywork and interior are A1 and its auto, thats exactly what i want.

Many people would laugh and say an old, auto, saloon volvo (that isn't yellow) is worth nowhere near 4k, but to me it most definitely is.

I wouldn't laugh sold my 854 (man conversion) for £4500, Andy's bodywork is in much better condition as well.

**Jamest5r** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 19:40

Originally Posted by Ettienne

I wouldn't laugh sold my 854 (man conversion) for £4500, Andy's bodywork is in much better condition as well.

It's not always about the money though, I sold a half decent t5r for a grand because I knew who it was going to i could of made more money

**stribo** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 19:42

Originally Posted by Jamest5r

It's not always about the money though, I sold a half decent t5r for a grand because I knew who it was going to i could of made more money

But you knew he'd never beat you on the strip.

**Ettienne** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 20:27

Originally Posted by Jamest5r

It's not always about the money though, I sold a half decent t5r for a grand because I knew who it was going to i could of made more money

So did I lol, I doubt I'll sell anymore swap is possible, I can't be arsed to worked on them, so it would have to be something mechanically sorted or a bike possibly

**AndysR** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 21:49

Some interesting points there to note.

In answer to the value question here's my take...

The car owes me more than I care to consider, that's not what it's about. I bought the car because I always fancied one and I liked the look of it, as it happens it's unoriginal painted bumper tops were the thing that made the car catch my eye. It was a great car and I instantly knew I had to have it when I went to view it, like all used cars it had its issues and here we are 9 years later and a list of faults much much shorter than it was when I bought it, namely the engine. The car's been a project for me and I'm not finished with it.
Since I've owned it the values of a reasonable 850R have gone from £3,500 down and back up again.
There was a point when a reasonable 850R could be had for £1,500, it would then need plenty of things sorting on it with a healthy cash injection to make it a good useable/reliable car and something you could hope to get more power from. Of course you could forget all that, bang a £20.00 bleed valve on it as soon as you bought it and kill it in minutes then moan that Volvo's are unreliable heaps of crap. That of course depends on your attitude towards cars.

Anyway now you can't get a reasonable one for that cost, you can however get a wreck... When they come up for sale now it's rare to see them for sale for less than £2,000 and a good one, when it does come up for sale, is a lot more. So why's that? Because people bought them for £1,500 tried to make them go faster for less that £50.00 and killed them when you could still get another one £1,500.00.
So now thanks to that type of approach to cars there's a lot less left and that's because people like me made the investment and looked after their cars.. So in away I've spent a lot got a lot out and seen the backside fall out the car and then start to come back again. It's not been pampered in the true sense of the word, it's been used and enjoyed in the way I enjoy a car, that's clean looking, well maintained, subtly tweaked and with all features of the car in fine working order. It's done in excess of 20,000 miles since I've owned it and for a 2nd car used for social reasons only I think that's not bad mileage. To add to that I've no idea what power it was kicking out but I do know it outperformed many 300 HP manual T5's prior to its engine build and was even quicker after that, in fact I believe it still holds its own on the 1/4 mile board, not bad for an auto running 277hp as it was in its old state of tune!

Having got to where it is now and knowing the value to get it to this level I know getting another one like it is to put it bluntly impossible for £4-5k, and that's with the engine running on 1.5 cylinders. So I guess from that point of view the car is worth more to me with a dead engine sitting in the garage than to sell now and try to find another when I realise I've made a mistake a sold the car I worked hard to get to the level it's at now.

**Shinsplintz 101** · Tuesday 30th June 2015, 22:21

You're right to keep it. You'll NEVER get another as good as this one, not without sinking the same money in all over again. Which seems a little wasteful. I agree with all he above points. R's are now pretty rare, good ones even thinner on the ground. Investment or no, if you want a nice one get your wallet out & prepare for a little pain. It'll be worth it as pound for pound I can't think of a better performance car, that doesn't make you look like your having a chronic midlife crisis. I am biased, but this is a Volvo forum!