Hi

I'm looking at getting a second Volvo - moving up from the 9 series to a 2003 XC70. We'll still keep the 9 series (1994 940GL wagon) but replace the wife's hated Camry wagon with the Volvo.

I've seen a higher mileage (136,000km) example of a 2003 XC70 advertised which is coming into NZ as a used car ex Japan. (About half the cars in NZ come into the country this way)

The car is still in transit from Japan but the guy selling it gives the Vin nbr as SB5254AWL-41132686. I thought Volvo Vins all started YV.....

My main reason in asking for the Vin is to check that it is in fact a 2003 model with the Haldex AWD and the later 2.5 litre engine.

Can anyone interpret the VIN and confirm this?

The other problem is that the car seems suspiciously cheap, so I'll have to be careful that it's not a repaired accident or water damaged car. The higher mileage helps drive the price down a bit I know, as in NZ most people want below 100,000km (60,000 miles approx)

For those who are interested below is the link - the "Buy now" price of NZ$13,900 equates to approx USD9700. (Ebay got into the market too late in NZ - Trademe has 90% of the internet auction market in NZ and the NZ founder sold the company for a couple of hundred million a few years back)


http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.asp?id=173572545

John