1996 Volvo 850 problems
NHTSA has received 235 complaints about the 1996 Volvo 850, and 26% of them involve brakes. Next are fuel system (11%) and electrical system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 235 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 26% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 27
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 3
- Typical mileage
- 100,000 miles 57 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 9 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 13 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 8 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 9 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 6 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 57 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 100,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 97,000 miles (13 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 27 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported; 3 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 87% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the Volvo 850 with enough data (98 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Volvo's manual transmission does not in anyway provide for safety, there is no way of preventing the car from coming out of gear when not placed on a steep incline as volvo has pointed out. The rear side mirrors project out far enough to trap an individual prohibiting them from freeing themselves, resulting in death. Side mirrors are designed in such a way that an individual will lose their life before the mirror breaks free. I know, my daughter was killed by the passenger side mirror in this way.
Driving at speed 15MPH, right rear tire exploded, causing loss of control of vehicle, impact media strip, at 12:00 position, dual airbags did not deploy.
Rear middle seat belt will not extend, result in inoperable seat belts. The seat belt for the integrated child seat would not extend to allow the consumer to fasten the child in the seat.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 volvo 850. The contact stated that when traveling over different deviations on the road, the rear end of the vehicle would fish tail. In addition, the vehicle would sporadically stall without warning. The contact would have to receive a jump start in order to restart the vehicle each time the vehicle stalled. The dealer was notified who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact tried contacting the manufacturer via web mail but to no avail.