Because it was branded a lemon law buyback car. The disclosure said it was bought back in California because customer complained of noise vibrations (Not really true) and the problem no longer existed per Volvo and the buyback was due to promote customer loyalty, not because of a lemon law settlement. However the truth was not quite like that, the car had water leaks in the windshield and the windshield and dash creaked and groaned, the dealer could never seem to install or reseal it right, and subbed the repair to many shops.
Enough times (over 5) that with separate repair orders, the car qualified as a lemon law buyback and we hired a lawyer to accomplish this task, which he did.

So if the problem is fixed someone got a great car really cheap to resell for a profit or to enjoy. It was our first car, and no pets or smokers or kids abused it in fact no one ever even rode in it except me and my wife. We even had weatherguard floor mats in it so even the factory floor mats never had human feet on them while we had the car, which we very carefully broke in and drove and had a mere 7700 miles on it (within a week after we bought it we had our problems start so we never really used the car very much at all, knowing full well it could be repurchased and mileage charges deducted.) The car still smelled brand new when we gave it up. If ever there was a mint car, this was it. It was our first new car together, and undoubtedly our last. We paid $42,000 ($42k) out the door for it. Just imagine after a year to get knocked down on ebay with 7733 miles for just $24.9k. Unbelievable. So, now Volvo is going to discontinue these lovely cars. Aside from heavy torque steer under hard throttle, these cars were wonderful cars, a delight to drive, a dream to sit in and handle, and economical (30mpg highway, not bad for a full sized Volvo) and I feel sad it is gone and to know we will never have another. Maybej this car will even be a collectible one day, at least a minter from the last year of production. They are nice looking cars for sure, except for the FWD and poor rear view vision they are so good there is little or nothing to improve. (Except lose the super donut size spare). It was fun to get to papmer one from brand new, it seems that maybe the dealer was the lemon and not the car, because the dealer kept subbing the windshield reseal to different glass shops and no one could get it right. I heard the 98-99 C70s actually had the most problems.

Jim
San Francisco C70less but still keeping the trusty 91 740 and the 91 Mercedes Benz 560 SEC coupe (last of the "good" handbuilt ones like a tank...)
Keep on rolling everyone.