I went and looked at an XC90 tonight. He is asking $9900for it. I found out that he is considering trading it in on a new car so I think trade in is around 6-7000. So with that being said I think I have a lot of negotiating leverage. I have a couple questions though. He seems pretty forthcoming with a few problems that it has. He had a remote starter installed in it about a year ago, and he says since he had that installed he has had an extremely hard time getting the rear gate to open from the outside. I'm not sure if there is an electronic component to that lock or not. The handle defineately seems all mechanical. Another issue is when I was starting it the door locks were going kind of crazy, and again when I turned the engine off and got out they did the same thing. He is the original owner. He has all the service records. It has 97k. Does this sound like something to stay away from? I really don't want to get into chacing electrical gremlins, especially in winter, in the driveway.

As always any input is appreciated,
Ken
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2000 V70 XC / 2001 S60 totalled while parked :(

Anyone who has some joker add a remote starter to an expensive, modern car is nuts.

I have a friend who had one put in his S70 and it sounded like a diesel after the installers repaired it twice because it would not start. I have NO CLUE what they could have done to the relatively nice car to cause it to sound like that!

When I buy a used brick, I have my dealer run it through their certified car check. It is way too expensive to repair a Volvo that has problems.

I get a nice two page report - I think that they can tell if an ant farted in the trunk.

I pay 1 hour's labor - add an hour if you want a compression check. Probably a good idea in your case.

I f the car looks good during the test, I usually tell them to put new plugs in and save the old ones. I use them as spares, besides I like to look at them.

An interesting story -

I was buying a used car off this dealer and before our final negotiations, I paid for a certified check.

The next day the salesman called me and offered to pay for half the cost because the service department would not let him look at the results!
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'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '95 855, '95 854, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 485,000 miles put on 9 bricks

The jumping door locks could be one of several problems. The remote start could be a cause, but there are other reasons.

Owner probably means the rear hatch lock is also a problem, like the door locks. Obviously, that needs to be fixed.

The timing belt is at 105K? Depends on the engine.

Find out what the dealer is offering him as trade and offer him 7% more. That will be made up for the sales tax. Or call the dealer and tell him you will buy the car for the trade in price - dealer has no carrying/disposing costs.

Klaus
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My advice is free, so you got what you paid for...