850 T5 manual

[Whatwhat]

Hello,

I'm looking for an 850 T5 Estate and it must be a manual. I don't have time for a project but I am handy enough when things do crop up. I am looking for a well maintained original basically with under 150k miles if possible. I would consider a V70 mk1 T5.

What should I expect to pay?

I'm new to the forum so forgive me for probably going over old ground.

Cheers

[JohnM 855 T5R]

Welcome to the forum.

Whew - to answer your question about what you should pay, how longs a piece of string. Ultimately, it all comes down to condition, condition, condition. Regular T5's are beginning to become collectable (T-5R's and R's even more so).

Biggest killer is rust starting to appear on many cars (front wings, rear wheel arches and suspension components - so rust free examples are fetching a real premium now.

Ropey T5's, fit for spares, can be occasionally found at £750 to £1000

Usable but with some rust/mechanical issues and very high miles £1500ish

For what you describe, expect to pay £4,000 to £5,500 for a good 'un and £6000 to £8000 or more for a "minter". (A really immaculate T5 CD estate manual with 95K miles recently sold for £8500 - I know the buyer personally and it's a beautiful car.)

A V70 T5 might come in a bit cheaper as values are slightly lagging, but they are catching up very fast.

There is an 850 Estate T5 manual fitting your needs up for sale in Barnstable with 110K miles - asking £4950 on Car and Classic. There is also a 1998 V70 T5 estate with 119K for £2995 in London - can't tell if it's manual or auto and there are only a few pics.

Hope this gives you some idea.
John

[Whatwhat]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply.

That is what i was thinking, you just helped to confirm it for me.

I have spotted the Green one in Dorset and thought it looks pretty nice. I was really checking if that 5k was a bit of an ask but on the surface seems reasonable.

The v70 t5 is an auto unfortunately. I sent him a message and he was pretty helpful.

Thanks again.

[JohnM 855 T5R]

The Barnstable (Devon by the way) car doesn't look a bad buy. From the pics, bumper scuffs are evident but if its bodily rust free and no major dents and the mechanicals are free of any serious fault codes or obvious nasties then £4950 is a fair starting price and you should be able to negotiate that down a little.
Things to look out for:

Oil Leaks - cam seals often develop leaks but cheap and easy to fix. Turbo seals can fail and usually this is evident by puffs of oil smoke out the exhaust if its revved after idling. Rear crank seals can fail due to blocked PCV (see below). Oil will be evident coming from the clutch housing. Gearbox out and flywheel off to fix.

If the owner is amenable, get him/her to remove the spark plug cover. If there is oil evident under it (it should be bone dry) its usually down to 3 things.
- bad seal on oil filler cap - common
- blocked PCV (a pain to fix, a new crankcase vent is around £150 for the kit and it's inlet manifold off to change it.) You can check if its blocked - take the oil filler cap off, pull a rubber glove over the oil filler aperture and make sure its a tight fit - rev the engine. If the glove inflates, the PCV is blocked - common
- failed seal between the top cam carrier and the cylinder head (a fairly big job, best left to a professional mechanic who knows the 850/V70's well - rare and often caused by an amateur who has had it apart using the wrong sealant and incorrect application.

On a test drive, apart from listening for obvious untowards engine knocks, rattles, gearbox whines and CV joint clicking or rumbles, check turbo boost on the dash gauge (V70 doesn't have one). Needle should go to about 2/3 into the white zone on full boost (9.5psi). The gauge is a bit non-linear - a quarter into the white zone is about 4psi, full scale is around 15psi.

When starting up, check all warning lights go off. Most important are the lambda (engine check) light, ABS, and Tracs (if fitted). All these can mean expensive and time consuming repairs.
Also, when switching on the ignition, make sure the amber air conditioning and air recirculation lights not are flashing for 15 to 20 secs. If they are, this indicates aircon/climate/heating faults which can be a real pain and expense to fix.
If electric seats fitted, check all functions work (seat recliners often fail) and check sunroof operation (a pain to fix if not working.)

That's covered the common stuff - good hunting
John

[Whatwhat]

oops, sorry Devon!

Thanks for all the advice. Now I need to work out how to get from near Inverness to Barnstable!

Cheers