Hi everyone.
New to the Volvo world after buying a 90 740GL sedan. We are parking our Boxster for the winter, and my wife will be driving my ML320 this winter. So.. I needed a winter car.
After about 2 weeks of looking at this company and that manufacturer.. I settled on a Volvo.
I come with a background in older Alfas, BMWs, and Mercedes. (Just took a foray into Porsche this summer with a 98 Boxster). I do all my own maintenance and repairs. I come from the old school of auto mechanics. I tear down the old part and fix it before buying a new one. Sometimes it saves me money, sometimes i find what killed the part and end up buying a new one anyway. LOL
About the car..I bought it from a used car dealer. When i stopped to look at the car, he said that he just took it in on trade and knew nothing about it.
Look hard at this car. While doing a walk around, i looked in the trunk. Slammed the trunk lid and the car bounced for 20 seconds. Shocks for sure..(adding up the repair tally) Move to the front and shoved down on the pass. side fender. Same thing. Go to the driver side.. No bouncy. 3 out of 4 shocks are roasted.
Start the car up, which took a few attempts. Idled well, seemed a little lax on the throttle input. Turn the wheel, and OOF! no power steering. (add new item to list) Put it in reverse and it rolled back with no clunks or noises. Put it in drive same thing rolled around the lot and stopped well.
I started haggling. The dealer haggled back. I haggled again he says no. I say "It looks like I dragged that tow dolly all the way here for nothing. Any place to get a sandwich?" By the time i got back to my truck, he relented.
I have picked up a near new rack and pinion because the one in the car leaks so bad when i filled it... It was empty before i started the car. (both ends of the rack). New shocks came in yesterday, and i bought a Haynes manual on eBay yesterday. Need a few parts as i go so the search continues.
I downloaded an owner's manual and tomorrow I will be wrenching and getting the 740 ready for winter.

PS.. Anyone else from North east Ohio??

Tim Timko Warren, Ohio