This may seem like a dumb question, but I'm not very experienced with the AWD world of Volvos and I only have one Volvo left anymore. That Volvo is being sold, so I risk being Volvo-less for the first time since I was 17.

Here's the issue: I found a beautiful S80 T6 AWD, 1 owner, and basically every available option (nav/blis/lane departure/adaptive headlights/executive package/climate package/does your dishes package), at a local dealer. All the service history was there too. I went out to check the car out, went over it top to bottom, and was basically ready to write a check and go home with it as everything works. The car looked like a 3 year old car, not a 7 year old car.

Then I took it for a test drive. No joke, the second I left the dealer I noticed a very unusual noise from the rear end. The thing is, this noise started when the car moved out, continued at the same pitch as the car accelerated or decelerated, and stopped only when the car came to a stop (like less than 5mph). It was faint; many people would probably dismiss it as nothing, or simply not even hear it. It was there on the side streets, main streets, highway, everywhere. It didn't change with vehicle speed. I can't blame it on tires because it was present at 10mph or 65mph. It was what I would describe as a medium to high pitched whine from the rear of the car. Pinpointing it was difficult when driving. But it was from the rear... somewhere.

For the time being I passed on the car, but it irritates me because it was as close to perfect as a 7 year old car could be. Previous and only owner is retired from a field that doesn't beat up equipment (I found out who owned it), it was obviously garaged for its entire existence, was priced right, and has outstanding dealer service history with no flags. My inspection only confirmed how well it was maintained. And, as an Arizona car it looks like new underneath.

Any ideas about what the noise could be? Is some rear end noise normal? Am I crazy?

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2005 S80 2.5T 99k
2015 Subaru Forester premium manual 11k
2013 Lexus GS 350 30k
Many past Volvos
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Phoenix, AZ 2005 S80 2.5T 92k 2015 Subaru Forester premium manual 10k 2013 Lexus GS 350 26k Many past 2/7/9 models