'95 960, 186k miles. Good: Rear main seal appears dry. Exhaust is quiet (no sound coming from a leak at flex pipe) Sunroof, windows, locks, mirrors, AC all work. No rust. Bad: paint is awful. Original radio w/ trunk CD changer- sound cuts out, fiddling with volume knob sometimes helps. Loses AC upon acceleration, runs fine unless I stomp on it. Doesn't quit, but 'bogs down'. Timing belt age unknown, but I think I can change it okay. I've done it on a B230 and I'm hoping the job is similar. Headlight wipers work about 20% of the time. Car appears all original. Asking $1600 negotiable. Am I interested in this car?

"Loses AC upon acceleration, runs fine unless I stomp on it." Common problem with all the 7/9 series and an easy fix if you are lucky, an easy hack if you are less lucky and one of the worst jobs on a RWD Volvo if you either want to do it "right" or you are very unlucky.

"Timing belt age unknown, but I think I can change it okay. I've done it on a B230 and I'm hoping the job is similar. " Yes and no...It is like saying replacing a light switch is similar to wiring a 3-way switch circuit while standing in salt water without turning off the breaker. They require the same tools and both involve the same pieces and skills...on the 960 there are lot more of them and the results of a mistake are much more catastrophic.

"paint is awful" walk away. The only reason, in my mind, to buy a 960 is because they are newer, smoother and have a nicer interior than the last years of the 940. You have a described a a neglected car (960's do not bounce back from neglect as often) with likely expensive hidden issues.

Mechanical skills are something you may have across the board but if your skills are limited to what you learned working on a red-block RWD Volvo, not as many as you might hope are transferable to the 960.

Many thanks for your common sense advice!

Sounds like a good 300.00 dollar car.

One more 'bad' thing. Left turn signal does not cancel.

I wouldn't. Overpriced, not too mention its the much maligned 6 cylinder.