I believe your prospective car with teh object of a lawsuit in California that Volvo lost. The lawsuit was over the ETM or Electronic Throttle Module that costs about $1200 to replace and and almost certainly has to be done by a dealership. When Volvo lost , it generously put this part under the warranty and remimbursed people like myself. Mine was recalled again to reprogram the ETM about a year later. The ETM bolts to the front of the engine and has a name on its yellow sticker I can't remember but whose initial is MM. Ask the owner if he as ever replaced this part and also the ABS module ($800 ) whose failure shuts your dashboard off except for the odometer, among other things. Volvo says the timing belt can last to 105K , my mechanic says 90K and I ran it to 142k with the most serious problem being the leaking freeze plug on the water pump. The tension wheel was loosing some spring. Struts and shocks won't being going on much further either. Great highway machine but painful to own at times

I have two nearly identical 1998 V70s. One a T5 and the other a base model non-turbo. The T5 has been well maintained and the other has not - what a PITA.

Two cars, same age, same mileage can be completely different from one another because of what the previous owners did or did not do maintenance wise over 9 years and 100K miles ! I would try to find previous service records and talk to the owners. Both of mine had neither, but it was clear that there was a difference. I found that CarFax was inaccurate and incomplete for one and amazingly detailed for the other showing every visit to the dealer.

May I suggest that you NEVER buy a Volvo online say at eBay. I just bought one sight unseen. And of course it is the troublesome one. eBay has "insurance" but we'll see...

I bought my 1998 3 years ago for 9K and it had 105K miles on it. You can look at KBB.com in your area to give you a sense of what it is worth. Deduct at least $500 for tires, at least you can choose what you want on there.
90K service? Change the oil. But, it is awd, so you need to flush the bevel gear.
Check the service history, the timing belt is supposed to be changed at 70K and again at 140K, this time with a tensioner. The water pump lasts 200K, if you use Volvo antifreeze.
If the spare has been used, look for another car. Using the spare tire or having different make tires front-to-back will kill the awd. You will not need snow tires, good all seasons will work.

Give me a holler if you want more info. I will be in Delaware, OH this weekend.

Klaus
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The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are a 95 854T and a 98 V70R :)

It all has to do with care over its first 103,000 miles.
90k service is fairly expensive but you are right you should be able to all of it yourself. I have the list at home; will try to remember to post it.

timing belt is due at 60k, 120k, 180k etc. (if it was not done before now and documented, I'd probably walk away.

new A/C unit...do you mean new evaporator? If so, was it flushed, cleaned etc--new dryer?

Water pump usually lasts for 120k+

check for replacement/repair of EVAP system and leaking Rear Main Seal

Also listen for air pump---about time for that to go if not already replaced.

Best of luck.