Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 1997 record →
WHEN DRIVING THROUGH PUDDLES ALL OF THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS COME ON AND POWER STEERING DEACTIVATES,STEERING IS POSSIBLE BUT DIFFICULT. DEALER INSTALLED SOME TYPE OF SPLASH GUARD TO CORRECT PROBLEM, BUT THIS HAS NOT RESOLVED SITUATION. VOLVE INSISTS NOTHING IS WRON GWITH VEHICLE.
PERRELI (205/45-17) TIRES BLEW OUT, THE DESIGN AND SIZE FOR THIS VEHICLE IS INAPPROPRIATE.
DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT RETRACTOR LOCKS UP.
GAS ODOR AFTER DRIVING SHORT DISTANCES.
OWNER STATES THAT HIS VEHICLE DRIFTS TO THE LEFT WHILE DRIVING AND THAT DEALERS HAVE REPLACED RACK & PINION BUT PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. OWNER IS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. *AK
VEHICLE HAD WRONG SIZE/TYPE OF TIRES. THE TIRES ON VEHICLE WERE DESIGNED FOR ON RACETRACK DRIVING. *AK
THIRD BRAKE LIGHT IS NOT WORKING, BLINKERS DO NOT COME ON INTERMITTENTLY, AND DASHBOARD LIGHT DOES NOT COME ON TO WARN HER THAT THE THIRD BRAKE LIGHT IS NOT WORKING. CAUSE UNKNOWN, *AKTOOK TO DEALER TO CHECK AND REPAIR. RESULT, TAKING TO DEALER TO CHECK AND REPAIR.
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 1997 Volvo 850 → · Every 850 year → · How the figures are calculated →