Gonzo0903- So you're gonna keep the F150 indefinitely? That should work OK, I hear they last forever.
Mr. Clean said:
Just curious...what were some of your [Volvo 850] issues and when (yr/mileage) did they present?
IIRC it was a '91 wagon, not certain about the year; it was my father's and I only drove it when I had to. I can honestly say that I greatly preferred the driving characteristics of his wife's '84 Volvo 240 wagon. When they were both gone I sold the 950 ASAP and kept the 240!
Besides my usual issues with FWD cars (crappy steering feel, torque steer, heavy understeer) it had two issues that drove me nuts on the rare occasions I drove it. They didn't bother him so I didn't waste my breath/time very much. The more important was a problem with the brakes, which I first noticed when the car was several weeks old. I had to "pump them up" to have a firm pedal! Virtually no way to exaggerate the severity of this, there were times when I'd try to trigger the anti-lock at high speed on a wet road and I couldn't get sufficient brake force to do it! The stopping distances during a "hard stop" were just awful and I got in the habit of doing the "pumping" thing all the time. The first time I drove it I thoght "catastrophic failure" and took it straight to the dealer, who pronounced it "normal". I had a number of shops look at it and they either couldn't get it to act that way (huh? whenever *I* drove it....) or they said "that's how they are". I'd have them bleed the fluid, replace the fluid, check for leaks in the vacuum assist, you name it. Never did find the problem and my father didn't notice/acknowledge/car so I finally just :nixweiss
The second problem was merely irritating- whenever it was used in wet weather (heh heh, not a huge issue if in Texas I bet!) the interior would smell like onions! As in, *really* strong, embarrassingly bad. You'd worry about your clothes picking it up and people would smell it when you opened the doors. Just happened to be a smell I couldn't stand, I can imagine some people wouldn't mind. A car magazine had the exact same issue with a long-term 850 so I suspect something used in the interior construction for a limited part of the production run.
Reading the above, I suppose it sounds like I'm sorta harsh towards the 850, but having had wagons I really *loved* (VW Quantum Synchro, Audi S6, Buick Roadmaster) and ones I sorta liked (Subaru Outback and WRX and the 240, which I modified heavily), the 850 was probably my least favorite car ever, at least of the stuff in our family.
The build quality was OK other than the above, and it did have a nice paintjob. The charcoal colored plastic trim was something to keep polishes off of, though! The interior was OK but my wife and I didn't like the seats. But again, consider that we're used to a very different type of car.
and the limited slip diff I had fitted, it was like a "great day at a driving school" every time I took it out in bad weather. Heh heh, nothing like messing with kids in much faster cars while driving a robin's-egg-blue 4 cylinder wagon- "gee, why can't I keep up with that thing?" 
but *man* do I still miss the modded 240 wagon I gave away to my in-law. I'd hate for you to look back in a few years and wish you'd just mothballed the 740T for a while, especially after all that time and miles.