I found another one. The guy is asking $1,000 obo. It has about 190,000 miles on it. The turbo is acting up. says it cuts out and smokes a little. Says if he turns it off sometimes it works perfectly. Said everything else worked fine. Id have to drive it home and its about 700 miles away so either it would have to make it home or id have to fix it before I left.

 

If he turns off the car? Do you have mechanical abilities? Just asking because if your unfamiliar with Volvos, do you think you want one that is going to need quite a bit of work? Unless your mechanically inclined and that isn't a problem. If he has a car that's smoking, there could be more to it than a turbo.

 

he said if he turns off the car and then turns it back on, sometimes it works just fine. It has way more miles on it than I want, but, if its a simple fix then for maybe less than $1,000 its a good deal

I am your basic backyard mechanic. I have lots of tools and have done lots of different jobs on different cars over the years. I have never worked on a volvo and have no experience with turbos.

That being said, I am a master at finding the problem and solution using these forums. My next door neighbor is a mechanic and that has helped in the past.

Unfortunately this car is far away so I cant go look at it.

 

Personally, I wouldn't ever buy a car that have the problems that you are listing. I can deal with needs a new altenator, or PS pump is going out, or it needs a full tune up. That's no big deal, but I don't think I would buy a car that you have to restart it in order for it to work properly, or when it's cold there's a secret code you have to punch into the transmission in order for it to work properly. It could be something small, but it could be something big that will in turn cost you dearly.