Buying advice on a 2004 S60

Nicolewantsavolvo · Post by **Nicolewantsavolvo** » 19 Apr 2012, 07:17

I am really leaning toward purchasing a 2004 S60 as it fits all my needs. It has 137k miles and it has been kept up well. Any advice welcomed.

e53turner · Post by **e53turner** » 19 Apr 2012, 08:58

I own two of them and have had no issues. Just watch the side mirrors as they do have a tendency for the glass to fall off.

Nicolewantsavolvo · Post by **Nicolewantsavolvo** » 19 Apr 2012, 09:00

In my area, there is also a 2002 V40 for sale. $600 less with only 92k. What is the better deal? I have not test drove either car yet. I need to buy a car today or tomorrow so I'm on a time budget. The V40 does not have awd which makes me kind of sad. Any enlightenment would be great. Thanks.

Post by **fazool** » 19 Apr 2012, 09:41

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... te#p232401

pdavis · Post by **pdavis** » 19 Apr 2012, 09:59

Nicolewantsavolvo wrote:In my area, there is also a 2002 V40 for sale. $600 less with only 92k. What is the better deal? I have not test drove either car yet. I need to buy a car today or tomorrow so I'm on a time budget. The V40 does not have awd which makes me kind of sad. Any enlightenment would be great. Thanks.

I would steer clear of V40's, owned 2 in the past (T4 2002 & 1.9 TD) T4 was the worst, electrical problems, ABS failure, coil packs blowing etc.. S60 is probably the better bet, but that is just my opinion - others will probably disagree

Good Luck

ChiNorm · Post by **ChiNorm** » 19 Apr 2012, 13:16

In general, its a good car. More specificly, find an independent mechanic who is Volvo knowledgeable. Pay the IM ($100.00?) to inspect the car and report on the condition. Use his report to potentially negotiate a better price or having the seller perform indicated repairs.

Good luck.

Nicolewantsavolvo · Post by **Nicolewantsavolvo** » 19 Apr 2012, 16:58

I ended up buying it. Will be picking up sometime this weekend!!! I'm so excited!

Post by **matthew1** » 19 Apr 2012, 20:49

Congrats! Let us know how ownership goes.

Nicolewantsavolvo · Post by **Nicolewantsavolvo** » 20 Apr 2012, 07:01

Actually, we are not buying the car. My husband test drove it and fell in love but the owner didn't have any maintenance records. I bought a car fax report and it showed it was a total loss vehicle May of 2011. There is another one I drove last weekend that I hope is still available. Its a little more but it only has 105k. The saying "Buyers beware" really came into play last night.

Post by **JRL** » 20 Apr 2012, 09:23

Nicole
You need to slow down a bit and do some research.
You may find a lovely car with say 125K miles and you can find a Volvo with 75K miles that's a total POS.
These cars require MAINTENANCE, if it was not done they can fall apart quite rapidly or they are in need of THOUSANDS of dollars of work.
You can't take these to the corner gas station either, you need a VOLVO mechanic to do any work if you want it to last.
You have someone working on these cars that does not know them, they can literally destroy it almost immediately

If you're anywhere in the Northeast (USA) I would be happy to find you a good Volvo and one that will be near perfect on delivery.
They old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
If one is selling too cheap you most probably will get a piece of crap!! You CANNOT buy by price with these cars.
If the car's you are looking at are private sales you need to find an owner who has kept meticulous service records and was a Volvo "enthusiast", otherwise spend more money and buy from a REPUTABLE dealer with some sort or warranty/guarantee and whatever you do, spend the $100 and have it checked out first by a reputable Volvo mechanic.

If you buy a post 2001 you need to be relatively close to either a Volvo dealer or a shop that services Volvos and has VIDA
(Volvo's computer), otherwise there are things a backyard mechanic just can't do without the computer
Jim