Hi everyone, I'm looking at buying a 1995 Volvo 940 wagon in NJ. This would be my first car. It has 140K miles on it, had one owner, and seems to be in very good condition. The dealer is asking for $3,500, I'm offering $3,000 and I think we can meet somewhere around $3,250. The dealer has partial service records as they have been servicing it in recent years. According to carfax, it also had a minor front-collision in 2006 but it seems to have been running fine since then.

I also found a 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon also at 140K, which was priced at $3,000 but the interior was in terrible shape and if that is any indication of the mechanical maintenance I'm pretty worried.

My other option was a 1994 Saab 900S with 160K miles for $1,500. I really like the aesthetics on the Saab, but I'm worried about its mechanical reliability. Also, it has a mildew smell. The dealer says he found the water leakage and that the mildew smell is going away, but I don't know about that. I called up a Saab dealer and spoke to a mechanic and he thought it was a bad idea. I did the same with a couple of Volvo mechanics, and they both said the '95 940 is a good car and parts are not that difficult to find.

I'm thinking before buying the 940 to have it independently inspected to make sure there's no major problems with it, but was wondering what other people think about this and if they have any suggestions for me going through this process and for maintenance further down the road.

 

Of your three choices, you picked the winner.

 

Thanks The dealer let me test drive the 940 today for the entire afternoon. I found absolutely no problems with it and really enjoyed the ride, but also took it to a Volvo mechanic and had it inspected. They said they were quite surprised by how good a shape it was in but recommended a few things:
- replacing tag bulbs $23.00 (they're currently out)
- found a leak with the power steering rack, $1141.00!
- if repair above, then perform alignment $119.95

The mechanic also reported oil under the car but wasn't sure about the cause. He thought it could be residual from oil changes, but wanted to clean oil, add dye and recheck (presumably for more money on another day).

Both the Volvo mechanic and the dealer I'm buying it from didn't think the leak on the power steering rack was a big problem, although it seems really pricey to fix. In the case I don't fix it, Volvo recommended having some steering fluid on hand in the car at all times.

The dealer said that they could probably fix it a lot more cheaply than Volvo with a used part. They seem to be pretty credible to me, since they maintained the car for the previous owner and it seems to be in good shape.

Does anyone have suggestions on this? I'm thinking of going ahead and buying the car since I like it, seems to be in good shape, it's not that easy to find one, and seems to get a good mileage if properly maintained.

Also, does anyone know what part I would have to get replaced for the leaking power steering rack?

 

First, please understand what I'm about to say is opinion...not necessarily fact. First, you're paying top dollar for the car. $3200-3300 is Kelly Blue Book for a dealer priced car in excellent shape in NJ. By definition, that means it needs no immediate work. Steering racks do not just leak for the heck of it, they leak because the seals are bad. Shop rates for the steering rack is 2 hours labor , rebuilt racks can be had for $200 or less. So, at $100 an hour for labor that means $400 to swap in a rack if you supply it. So, they're quoting you nearly triple for a repair that, trust me, you WILL need...sooner or later it will begin puking ALL the fluid overnight. Won't take long of that to get old. The license bulbs? $2 at Autozone and 15 minutes of time. I have no idea of labor costs in New Jersey...here in Dallas we charge $80 an hour and front end alignments are typically $55 to $70.
You say this is your first car and from that I assume you're relatively young...perhaps very young....and here's where my opinion comes in. If you pay top dollar for a car, you have the reasonable expectation that the car should not need repairs for awhile. Your car needs immediate repairs. I don't care how pretty a used car is. I can make it pretty according to my budget. Repairs choose their own time to come to bite you...and always at the worst time. If you are considering buying a 17 year old car, you need to either have DEEP pockets or plan on buying a manual and getting your hands dirty. These cars are GREAT cars to work on for the novice...but if you have no desire, inclination or ability to do the work yourself...I'd recommend a Nissan, Toyota or a Honda. I don't mean that in a mean way at all. I've seen too many folks get into a car for too much money up front and then not be able to afford to maintain 'em. I guarantee, no matter how well the dealer cleaned that car up...a lot of routine maintenance has been ignored for the last decade. You need to understand this car would cost you $1000 in the first year to get it back in shape...WITHOUT the bad rack. As it is...I can't imagine paying more than 1K but I'm cheap. Most folks here would say 1500 to as much as 2K.
More than anything, I hate to see young folks get taken advantage of...I was young once myself...BTDT...not much fun.

 

Thanks swiftjustice, that's exactly why I'm here so you can tell me things like these that I haven't considered.

I agree the official Volvo dealer is ridiculously overpriced, and I only had them inspect it and have no intention of having them repair it.

I'm a 25 grad student, and confess to having no knowledge of cars. My parents didn't own a car or ever have driving licences, and I drove for the first time last summer starting with driving school. I would be willing to buy the repair manual and do very simple repairs myself such as the tag lights. I would also be willing to buy the steering rack myself but have a mechanic swap it out. Is this the appropriate part? Volvo 940 Steering Rack at Auto Parts Warehouse

As for whether I should get the car, I'm not entirely sure which is why I'm posting here and asking for advice... these are my needs: I need a pretty cheap car for the next two years after which I might not be in the US but I also might so it would be good if the car would be usable after two years as well or re-sellable. I don't intend to drive a lot, maybe 5-6K over the next two years. I'm currently living in university housing and am on an expensive meal plan, but in September I'm getting kicked out and my girlfriend and I are planning to go to an apartment and it seems like a car is going to become even more necessary. I'm currently using a Toyota Prius Wecar (this is a zipcar-like company), but am finding that I'm spending large amounts of money (about $250/month not to mention the psychological effect of feeling hurried because I'm paying per hour, or their horrible liability policy of max $5000 per incident) so that's why I think it might be appropriate to get my own car. I also have an off-campus research location that I need to go to more often over the next year than in the past and a car would make that a lot easier.

My market is the under and around $5000 used car but it seems hard to find something well maintained in this category. I started out by looking for Hondas and Toyotas but they seem to be selling very quickly and at more expensive prices than other cars because of their reliability. I'm having a hard time finding a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla for under $5000 that isn't 2000 or earlier and at that point you also have maintenance issues.

In terms of the buying process, I've gone to four dealers and test drove 9 cars. The three I mentioned above. I also tried out a Volkswagen Golf 2003 that was in horrible shape with a creaking noise and they were asking for $5000. I tried out a 2000 Toyota Camry which was $2900 but the engine was making bad noises and the handling felt weird. I tried out a Chevy Malibu 2000 for $3800 that seemed to be okay but I would probably want to get it inspected and I personally wasn't very excited about it. I tried out a 2003 Honda CRV for $6000 which I actually liked a lot, but it's pretty expensive for what I need and ironically I don't understand why the dealer was selling it so cheaply (the KBB value for 160K miles was $9000), so I would definitely want to get it inspected before purchasing as I'm suspicious. There was also a 2002 Civic LE that wouldn't start, or a 2002 Volvo S80 that the salesman trying to upsell to me at $9000. Also, at one of the dealerships I tried the salesman just wanted to get rid of me because I wasn't looking for a new vehicle or a more expensive used vehicle (I don't know why they even bother selling them if that's their attitude).

I've also considered taking over someone else's lease on a car for two years so I don't have to worry about reliability of old cars. I think this only works out if you plan to drive at about the maximum allowable mileage and I don't intend to drive that much. Also the insurance is a lot more in addition to the lease price.

So the question is whether I should end the search and then replace the power steering rack by buying the part myself and having a mechanic change it, or keep on looking for something better. Everytime I go to a new dealer, I have to rent a vehicle for $60. So far I've spent $120 just on renting the car to go to the dealers. I've also spent $125 on the Volvo mechanic. Also, to note I've saved quite a bit from my stipend over the last three years (maybe from not having a car!) and wouldn't necessarily mind spending $3200 on the car and setting aside $2000 on repairs over two years if that's what's needed.

Anyways, sorry for going in maybe too much detail but thanks a lot for your advice. Any additional input would be welcome.

 

If that is all the driving you intend over the next 2 years, you should be fine. Oh, here's the same rack for a bit less...91-93 Volvo 940 Power Steering Rack and Pinion | eBay
A steering rack is rather important to be installed correctly. It need not be done immediately...in fact, you could add up to a total of 2 capfuls of brake fluid (no more!) to the power steering reservoir and stop the leak completely for 6 to 12 months. It swells the seals for a while and stops the leak. Just understand the car will definitely need work, both known and as yet unknown.