Hi again folks,

Heeded your advice and went against buying a 99 s70 AWD simply due to the crap VC non Haltex system, and of course the drive by wire throttle. Instead I've found a great looking 98 t5. Its only about 40 minutes from me and seems be be priced right at 3,500, wouldn't pay more than 3 out the door though.

Paint is in amazing shape for a car of this age/mileage. Underbody shows little to absolutely no rust. Interior/leather also in great shape.

Some issues:

RF Strut mount is bad, so I assume that its best to replace them both at once? (dealer says he's just doing the one).

He recently repaced the blower motor for the heater, the heat works, but it seems to be lukewarm (there is also a cold spot blowing from the upper middle vent). It also seems to be very loud, I'm not sure if this is common or if it is indeed loud...seems to really whirl/whistle, but then seems to become quiet. From what I've gathered the lukewarm heat could be a thermostat issue? While warm the car seems to be a tick or two below dead center, again not sure if this is normal either, or if its just a 160 degree rather than 180. Would replacing the thermo correct this?

The RF door doesn't open from the inside and the power lock also doesn't work fully on that door either. The door does open from the outside, however. Is this going to be an obnoxiously expensive job that I'll have trouble getting the dealer to cover?

Mileage of 165k seems to be about average, but the Tbelt was done all the way back at 71k, meaning that it should probably be done immediately so I'm out 700-1k off the bat (will try to factor that into a lower overall $ of car)

The tranny seems to shift sharply going into reverse, forward gears seem much better or normal. Have read that this could be due to a tranny mount? Also am perplexed on whether or not to flush, fluid looks iffy but from what I've gathered if its never been flushed before it can actaully cause more harm now than good...I don't think theres a way to tell if its been done in the past, so I presume I'll just leave it alone unless theres any other options?

Now the issue that has me the most worried was the smell of gasoline in the oil cap. The dipstick was also foamy, but that disapated after a longer drive most likely meaning it was just water from only being driven short distances (its been at the dealer for over a month now). The car recently had a misfire on cyl 4, dealer replaced plugs/wires/cap/rotor and it resolved problem. Could that gasoline smell be from that misfire, with fuel mixing into the oil from being unburnt? Or could this by a blow by problem related to the PCV (will need to do the dipstick/glove test).

Any info you can give me would be much appreciated, and any other things I should look for and try to get replaced prior to purchase. I've done a ton of research in the past few days, and the above are pretty much my main questions/concerns. I'm planning on putting a deposit down in the immediate future, pending any serious issues. The dealer agreed to fix all problems that may come up after the deposit has been put down, but I'd like to make sure I have an idea of what those issues are for sure before putting that $ down.

Thanks again,

Evan

 

Hi Evan: Sounds like you have done quite a bit of homework and that's good. Check www.NADAGuides.com for value. However that sounds like a good price. It also sounds like the car was garaged most of it's life, thus the good condition cosmetically.

The main reason these cars come up for sale is becuase the owner is simply tired of them and do NOT want to invest in the overdue maintenance, which sounds like the case here.

I would replace 1 strut mount. The other is likely fine. Doing both just gets them out of the way because an old one will blow sooner than later.

Blower motors do sound loud until the car gets close to it's temp, then it quiets down. If the car is not warming up to 190 the thermostat may need replaced.

If this is a Volvo dealer that has not fixed the door open problem, I'm surprised, that should be easy for them. But I guess a Volvo dealer would not have a 13 year old car with over 150,000 miles on it. It may not be to hard to fix it since the outside handle works.

T-belt is way past due. But the good news is that it's not 13 years old so you should be fine for a few miles. That would have to come of the NADA value. It is kinda easy to do with instructions here. I just did one and the hard part is getting the tensioner roller assembly off with a GOOD T-45 bit.

Those do shift hard when the mount is bad or the transmission is on it's last leg (ouch). When it's the mount you will likely only notice it when shifting from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to third. It feels like it DROPS into gear instead of a real smooth shift. I would assume the worse until you get a new mount installed. I thing you can change the fluid without a problem. That's a tough call to me.

Always, always, have I said always? run a car fax of some sort. You never know when the actual miles don't match what is on the dash. Our's was rolled back about 43,000 miles.

I don't think a misfire would cause a gas smell in the motor. I recently had a misfire and didn't notice any smells. I don't think I smelled in their either come to think of it. The foam on the dip stick worries me as well. I would have someone follow behind me and try to make it puff smoke out of the tail pipe. I have had cars sit a while without seeing foam on the stick. You can always go back tomorrow and see if there is some more foam on the stick. I would be concerned if you do find more foam after the car has been driven a day or two earlier.

It's good they offered to fix a few things. However when someone has let that t-belt go that far is a sure sign of neglect. Hope things work out for you.