I've been looking around for a relatively inexpensive in-town commuter car and settled on a Volvo 850-V70 wagon/non-wagon a few weeks back...I have owned a couple of different Volvos including a 2006 S40 T5 that I sold over a year ago a 2002 Volvo S40 and a couple of different 740's some years back...I love the way they drove and the fact that I'm a red blooded Swede whose lived in the US for the past 20 years helps too in keeping me coming back to the Volvo brand...nostalgia is a powerful thing.

I'm okay with doing a few fixes here and there to keep it running...my daily driver is a 2004 Land Rover Discovery...enough said

I came across a listing for a 1996 850 Turbo Wagon with a hair over 100,000 miles on it that seemed a little too good to be true and just came back from looking at it...I talked him down to $2,300, but here comes the meaty part...it's a salvage car...fixed over 10 years ago from a left rear hit...as hard as I looked I couldn't see where the accident happened and the owner says he hasn't had any problems with it stemming from that accident for the 8 years that he's owned it. There's a minor oil leak which looks to be the rocker covers...I'm a very green mechanic, but I thought that I'd be able to do it myself? Please chime in with how hard the repair is, parts pricing, and how long it would take. Also the struts up front are shot and need to be replaced...difficulty of fix? price? time?

The check engine light is on too...

The test drive revealed that at least the front pads and rotors need replacing...if not at all 4 wheels...grinding noise that sounded exactly the same as on my 2002 S40 when its rotors and pads were shot. The turbo pulled strong and the car drove very straight...ALL electronics worked, windows, radio, seats, trip computer, temp, etc. Brand new Goodyears were put on about 3,000 miles ago and the fuel pump was replaced about 2 months ago. All major services have been completed, including timing belt at 70,000 miles...oil changes every 4,000 miles.

I'm going back tomorrow to bring it over to an import mechanic to have it checked out and have them hook it up to pull the codes...if nothing else is found is this a good buy?...or should I run the other direction and keep hunting?

EDIT - forgot to add that the body looks straight, no major dings or nicks, and the leather interior is decent with normal wear and tear.

 

Have the code read. It shows what you may expect to do.

I don't think the title is a big problem, as long as you can feel the drive.

$2300 is OK for such a car. I got $2400 OTD for a 97 GLT at Ford dealer, spend another $200 to replace purge valve, tune up and other maintenance.

 

Sounds like a good buy. If no problems showed up in 8 years from the accident, I doubt they would suddenly show up on you now