There is a 2002 v70 xc for sale that I am considering purchasing. I have owned three Volvo cars in the past and currently own two. Both of which are RWD 700 series cars. I am nervous about owning an AWD Volvo simply because I have no experience with them...I'm not scared to do the maintenance on them as I have plenty of great resources but I guess its the unknown and that these awd cars are going to require more attention and have more electronic components than I am used to. And I'm not made of money...

This car in particular has 111,000 with a Volvo timing belt done at 103,000 miles... That is literally all I know about the car other than a tree branch fell on it, broke the windshield and created a small dent on the drivers side windshield post. The car was totaled and sent to auction where a buyer picked it up (probably for cheap) Replaced the windshield and is now selling at a small car dealership. I drove the car and it seems to check out very nice mechanically, has very nice undisturbed interior and exterior other than the small dent. But...After test driving on the highway and around town I popped the hood and could see a small leak of what I believe to be power steering fluid coming from the pressurized hose. Is that hose a buggar to get to? There doesn't seem to be much room to work o there cars as they are quite a bit more compact under the hood compared to RWD Volvo's.

Dealer is asking $3,200 I feel as there is a leak in the P/S the price is negotiable on my end and the fact that the car has been sitting on the lot since July as that is when I first noticed it....what are these worth in non-Volvo areas? There are only three Volvo's in my town of 5,000 that I know of. So yeah, I'm o my own out here...

Should I run or are these cars worth the trouble? I live in rural area so I am not an aggressive driver...I think this helps transmissions last longer as well as other major components along with regular fluid flushes etc..

I guess I just would like some advice on whether that hose is a doable job in my garage with average tools and descent mechanical skills. (Been doing all my own repairs since age 14...now 43)

Thanks.. Its a pretty car, i guess I'm just ready to move on and try something new...Maybe. Unless I hear negative reviews on this series of Volvo..