I am strongly considering buying this car: http://www.AutoTrader.com/ATCarID/AT-F25279B I drove it today, and it ran great. The owner of the dealership has been driving it every day, and I can tell he's not lying because he's racked up more than just test-driving mileage since the October 30 entry on Carfax.

I'mreasonably confidentthat $9995 is a good price, especially considering that it's hard loaded, but I'm still going to try and talk them down a bit as it's been in their inventory for at least a month, and they should be wanting to move it. I suspect that's because people around here just don't tend to be Volvo drivers. Luxury car buyers gravitate to the more popular brands - there's certainly no shortage of BMW/Mercedes/Infiniti/etc. around here. I'm just wondering if there are any known issues with this model year that I should be aware of. Since it was first registered in 2003, I'm assuming it's a 2004 and not a 2004.5. Is there any ridiculously expensive scheduled maintenance approaching?The current mileage is~73k, and with my driving habits I expect to be around 100k by the time the note is paid off in 4 years.

I also would like to keep it for a while after it's paid off. I'm generally not the type to get a new(er) car every few years...for the most part, I try to get as much mileage as I can before getting rid of one. I'd probably still be driving the car I had before this one - a hard loaded 1993 Nissan Maxima with nearly 300k - if some *&!(& stupid kid hadn't hit me and totalled it. That forced me to buy the car I have now - a slightly-better-than-base-model 1998 Nissan Maxima with about 150k - in March of 07 because it was the only decentcar I could afford at the time. I hate it. It's not that it's a bad car...it's perfectly adequate...but it's never felt like MINE. I suspect this is mostly because it's not loaded like I'm used to. Luckily, Dad's going to buy it from me to give it to my nephew.

Anyway. Thanks for reading, and your input is greatly appreciated!

 

should be fine, you won't need to do any major maint. until about 105k, timing belt, fuel pump, fuel filter,etc... mine has 80k on it and it has been doing ok, a few things popped up, but it's expected for the mileage i have on mine (82500) yours is an 04, they redid the body style and made an 04.5. The price seems fair, maybe drop another 500-1000 would be a good idea. Let us know what you decide on.

 

I also found this one, which is about an hour's drive away from my mom: http://www.AutoTrader.com/ATCarID/AT-EFBCAC0 Given that NADA "clean retail" for this one is only $13400, I fully expect that my mom could negotiate them down to $11k. Or, if she were here, she could probably get them down to $8500 on the first one without even breaking a sweat. Anyway, I like that this one has 30k fewer miles, but thedealer lists virtually no options. I can't decide whether that's because it really is practically stripped, or because they expect people to know what the standard options are.

Also, am I understanding correctly that the first one can't really be an LSE, because it isn't a 2004.5?

 

Well, I bought the first one. $10695 including a 2 year unlimited mileage extended warranty that covers virtually everything except normal maintenance items. But this is the downside of using my employee credit that's closed today...can't get it till Monday. Oh well, it's worth it for the 5.74% interest!

 

the price on the newer one isn't bad, talking down a grand or so is expected... the 2004.5 isn't bad, go to KBB and check standard options for this model to see what all it comes with.

the first one isn't an LSE, in 2004 they made and LSE to keep sales up. Mine is an LSE, options include the front,side and rear body kit. spolier
as well as a Sunroof, and some other options. in 2004 they did put some of these options on base models, but that didn't make them LSE models. This dealer is selling it as an LSE and it isn't one, point this out when you go to check the car out. check MSN auto's to get an explanation of what the LSE model entails.
hopew this helps...