I had several points earlier in the day while I was thinking about the car. One was...why would someone pay $21k for this car in the first place? I was able to rationalize it by thinking that there were no long term reviews of this car and people bought it for the name (as discussed in another thread about high schoolers wanting older Volvos) and reputation for being an exceptionally safe car. If Volvos are supposed to be luxury cars, then my roommate's 83 Honda Accord must be a super luxury car cuz the only major problem it's had so far is fading body paint.

People do give away perfect cars. We were given an 87 Toyota Camry LE 4cyl auto. It has 120k miles on it. The only thing wrong w/it was the 2 lowest a/c settings don't work, but that's was easily corrected by heading over to a junk yard and paying $5 for the working part. Unfortunately, my bro has that car. The good thing is, he's getting another car around June and I'll get his Camry.

We were given a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 190e 2.3 auto with 150k miles. That car needed it's water pump replaced. That was cheap. Then we turned around and sold the car cuz we didn't need it at the time.

Comparing my bro's Camry to mine, I'd prefer his. It's super reliable and in awesome condition. The original owners used it as a family car, then gave it to their son in high school, then gave it to their daughter for high school. It's been thoroughly used yet still in better condition than the Volvo. The best part is, the sticker price (new) was only $12k.

Ok...I'll step off of this soap box. I'm sorry if I offended anybody. As always, these are my findings of the Volvo (and some generalization) and it's not intended as a flame. After all...I own one now...