Hello,
I'm looking for some advice. I have a guy who is a car dealer without an actual dealership anymore. I called him the other day looking for a good used car. He has a 2003 S60 AWD with 120,000 miles on it. It's been checked out mechanically (by a local mechanic I happen to trust) and he mentioned the timing belt was recently changed. He's asking $6,500. I'm in the Cincinnati area if that helps any for pricing. It sounds like a great car. I'm thinking the price might be a little high but haven't even seen it yet so I can't dicker sight unseen. I'm looking at it Saturday morning.
So, here's my questions. Good deal? Good cars? With good luck, how many fairly trouble-free miles can you expect from a Volvo?

Thanks for any help/advice you all can give.

 

Obviously at that age and miles condition is everything, both cosmetic and mechanical. Personally I try to buy only cars I can verify the service history on so I can see how it was maintained, but if you know what you are looking for it is possible to get an idea by knowing where and what to look for. The signs can be very subtle and it is darn near impossible to tell someone how and much easier to show them. That said, get it checked by an expert if you are not familiar with what I am taking about. I am assuming that your guy doesn't have access to the service records, though you may want to run a CarFax or similar report on it to see how much service history shows through that. If it is a local car call the two Cincy area dealers to see if they have been servicing the car and will let you see the records. There is also an independent Volvo shop called Nordic Motors in the Blue Ash area. You may want to check with them also to see if they have worked on the car. The dealers will only need the VIN, but I'm not sure how sophisticated Nordic Motors is and they may need the previous owners name.

Yes, the price is really too high, though as a dealer he is probably used to people wanting to negotiate more. Somewhere between $5-5500 is more reasonable, but only if it is nearly pristine. Also take into consideration the tires. If it will soon need tires then definitely the lower end of that range. One thing to keep in mind is that we are coming into tax return time and that is the worst time to buy a lower $$$ used car. People with cash in hand drive prices up quite a bit here in just a few weeks. You guy probably knows this and may not negotiate as much because of knowing he can get more soon.

There is a great independent Volvo Only service shop on the south edge of Dayton called Tremaine's. There is typically one of these in every major metro area that service only Volvo's and they are typically far less expensive than the dealers, but since they service only Volvo's they know them very well. I haven't used Tremaine's myself yet as I have not encountered something I couldn't do myself, but I stopped in earlier this week just to see what it was like and had a very nice conversation with Gary, the owner. He has one additional mechanic as well as himself. The office manager told me his dad started the business 50+ years ago and Gary is probably in 40's so there is a ton of experience there. As we were talking about the Aisin Warner transmission in my car Gary mentioned that it was generally a pretty good transmission, but they did have more trouble with them in AWD cars. Turning more wheels is simply more strain. I didn't get the impression that it was a huge problem, just something to watch out for.

Good luck!

 

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm not sure on the service records. I didn't ask, but will tomorrow. I'll also ask for a Car Fax or run one myself if I have to. I think the price is basically a "dealer" price so it's higher than a private owner price. Since he has no actual brick and mortar shop anymore and really offers nothing a dealer could (small warranty, etc), I'm thinking the price needs to be more like something a private seller would ask. He did mention that the tires were in great shape. Thanks again!

 

I'm "second guessing" myself like crazy over this car and I haven't even seen it yet. I keep reading posts from people who say it's a great car but expensive to maintain. I'm not one to have a bunch of money just sitting around waiting to be dumped into car repairs. Sounds like there can be electrical problems and transmission issues with this car. Those don't tend to be things a shadetree mechanic like myself can fix. Based on this, I'm wondering if Volvo's are for me.

 

Properly cared for Volvo's are 300K+ mile cars and the S60 is generally a pretty solid platform. They can be a little more expensive to maintain, especially if you take it back to the dealership for everything and replace everything with OEM parts, but doing that with a Chevy or Ford will lighten your wallet too. Once you see the CarFax you will learn more about it and if it was a 1 or 2 owner car the chances of it having a good service record are much better. While this is generally true of any brand, it is especially true of luxury brands. The owners of late model luxury brands are generally not hurting for money and while they may not maintain it with the goal of 300K miles, they usually follow the basic maintenance schedule leaving a well made car in at least as good of condition as a well maintained lesser quality car.

Just approach it like you should any 100K mile car. If you are not strong mechanically get it checked before you buy it or negotiate the purchase based on it passing inspection. Take your time verifying that everything works like the windows, locks, cruise control, etc. I am a moderate skilled DIY'er and while it took me a little bit to get comfortable with the car, I've got there. Mine had 140K on it when I bought it 10 months ago and have put 20K on it since. So far I have had to replace the alternator regulator (external separate from the alternator and not too big a deal) and the rear shocks and shock mounts, also no big deal. I have also been catching the transmission up on its service since it was not done as frequently as I would like and every drain and fill gets more dirt out of it, but it is really simple too. IPD USA is a great source for parts as is Rock Auto and KOI Auto Parts (local to Cincy) is my local source.

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Thanks again! That does make me feel better.

 

BTW, there is a pristine '03 fwd S60 T5 on craigslist in Beavercreek that has been listed for long enough the guy should be willing to deal if he still has it.

http://dayton.craigslist.org/cto/4297752261.html

 

Thanks. I looked at the other one today. Very nice. Good Car Fax too but he's stuck at $6,500. Will not come down. The car wasn't perfect but was very nice. $6,500 is just too much.

 

So unless AWD was a big deal call the guy in Beavercreek and see if he still has the car. It looked really nice and he says he has ALL the service records since new. Having advertised for a couple weeks means he should consider $5500 or less.