Hi, I am looking to buy my first s80. I want to know what you guys think about this one. Its got about 185k kilometers (115k miles). Asking $5000 USD.
Smart purchase or its just too old at this point? What should look for on the car , common issues, etc. Also can you tell me what engine model this is? thanks in advance.

 

They are nice cars, more softly sprung than previous and later Volvos but great road cars and very nice town cars as long as you don't live somewhere with tiny, sharp twisty streets.
2004?05?06?No obvious damage from what I can see( Not much) Driven in a country setting from the looks of it, engine bay is pretty dirty. I am not sure those are stock wheels but I'm no expert on that. Price seems reasonable for the mileage, not a great deal or unrealistically high from a dealer, but it is top dollar from an individual.

Smart? Ehhh, very few old cars are "smart". If it is in good repair it will provide excellent comfort, safety, power, and a fair amount of style despite it's age. It is not going to provide you with a 100,000 miles of trouble free, low cost motoring.
Look for service records if you can. If possible, find out where it was service and ask them for a history. That is number 1.
If not, invest in a few bucks for an assessment from an independent Volvo mechanic.
Should have already had a timing belt, water pump replacement. if not, don't drive it without doing that.
Check the oil, if it's filthy then it likely wasn't changed much in the past.
Mechanically they are reliable cars, electrically is anothet matter. The car was one of the most advanced (pronounced 'complicated') cars built when it was released in '99. and it took a while to get the bugs out. By late in the model run06, they were much better. But, like most modern cars, little crap is constantly failing. If you don't mind fiddling with it a few times a year you'll be able to do a lot yourself, if you hand it over to a mechanic every time it hiccups you'll be broke soon. Find a good independent VOLVO mechanic. Develop a rabid fear of dealerships.

The venerable 2.5T

 

Three water leak related things - Clean the sunroof drains, clean the cowl drains and I recommend replacing the heater core. It will go bad someday and likely before 200,000 miles. When it does, the insulation and carpet will be full of coolant. Big PITA to dry and you still have dried coolant in everything.

And a oily mess thing - remove the plastic trim on the top of the engine that says "VOLVO". Oil in all the recesses? Look at the rubber hose near the oil fill cap. They break (it's like a PCV hose on most cars but I think Volvo calls it something else). It was really crappy rubber when new, Volvo has replaced it with one made from better materials. A bit tricky but you can replace it yourself.