it's my neighbor's car with California plates but I'm in Texas
the car has 155K

it has Volvo dealership service records up until 1 year ago.

it looks relatively clean considering the age and the fact that it just sits

the tires are only 1 year old

I test drove it and it was fairly smooth. the oil was low but more was added when i noticed

It felt fairly solid and stiff. maintenance seems well kept

the gas gauge doesn't work

general interior wear and tear. ( leather interior )

there was a fair amount of grease built up around the passenger side of the engine. could just be some spilled oil or a little leaking around the gasket.

the owner said the bellows were re-routed to only the top bellows ( i'm not entirely sure what this entails but I believe its a vacuum line issue)

asking price is $650


I'm not very familiar with these models and I'm looking for a little insight. I'm looking to flip the car but I'm more acquainted with s40/v50's

should I go for it? anything I should know if I do buy it? anything to look out for?

 

960's are rather nice cars that have terrible resale values. if you can't self maintain, upkeep gets expensive. the early years had issues with timing belts, but hopefully every one still running has the updated parts and belt. if the belt breaks, the engine is probable toast.

the electronic controlled transmissions (aisin-warner, basically toyota transmissions) can be very expensive to repair if something goes wrong.

the updated 960s (1994+) and S90/V90's have different suspension than all the other 7/9's, and there's a very limited selection of after market shock absorbers (Monroe only, to be precise). the updated wagons have transverse composite leaf springs in the rear and IRS. earlier sedans had IRS too but not the wagons.

also, the 960 is a quite different car than a 740/940 even tho they share the chassis. I'm going to move this thread to the 960/S90/V90 forum.

 

thanks for the response. i was thinking I could clean it up a bit, mostly just interior stuff and then try and sell it under 2k. considering that this car would only cost me $650 I thought it was a pretty reasonable flip. I just didn't know how these things sold or if there were any major mechanical things to avoid.

 

I think the resale value is more affected by the fact that the 960/S90 just wasn't that well known. Reliability-wise, they are just as good as any other Volvo out there if they are maintained well, but you are far more likely to see an older 850 on the road than you are a 960.
I own a 960 that is in pretty good condition, and before someone mashed my front fender, I would say I could get about $1500 for it here in Dallas. Maybe a bit more if I could get all the nagging little things working. Drive-train wise, it's strong still with only 139 K on the clock.

 

yeah, its all the ****ling little things. 20 year old flakey power seat switches, tired wiper motors, that kind of thing. they get lousy gas mileage and are not that fast.

To the 960's favor, its a quieter/smoother riding car than the otherwise similar 940 (there's more sound proofing in the body, more reinforcements in the chassis), the 2.9L DOHC straight 6 is turbine smooth. I personally prefer the 92-94 body style to the 95+ post-facelift body, especially the wagon. The 'sport' mode on the electronic transmission is nearly worthless, the car just drives better in 'E' (economy). The W winter mode is very good in the snow/ice, it drops engine torque way down, and starts in 2nd gear, shifting quickly to third. most 960's have limited slip (lockup) differentials which also help in the snow.

the post-facelift 95+ bodies have different suspension bits such that there's a much smaller choice of aftermarket upgrades/replacement parts.

oh. many 960's, especially wagons, have 'nivomat' self leveling rear suspension. this is done via extra-weak springs, and special shock absorbers. when the shocks wear out, the back of the car drags if you put any substantial weight in it, and you HAVE To use nivomat shocks to replace the originals, if someone puts cheap shocks in one of these cars, they will bottom out far too easily.