2002 S60 - worth it?

[robburrito15]

Hi Again,

I check craigslist for cheap S60's in my area every day. My family owns a 2003 that they picked up in mint condition, my sister drives it and every time I drive the car I fall in love with it. I currently own a beat up 97 Corolla that gives me lots of trouble in the winter. I found this 2002 Volvo S60 in my area. The craigslist post was very transparent, and the owner seems to be knowledgeable about the car. The car has 126k miles and the owner is asking $2250. Here are the highlights from the owner:
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This Volvo s60 is my girlfriend's vehicle. She recently got a newer car and we have no need for it anymore. She has owned this car for a few years now. This Volvo has been religiously maintained by us and its previous owner. We have almost all of the maintenance records to prove it. We have regularly changed the oil every 3000-5000 miles using Mobile 1 full synthetic. This car was babied!

As with any 13yr old car, it will not be perfect. There are scratches, dings, and minor mechanical problems all of which will be listed here. However, the car starts up every time and is in great running condition, and is virtually rust free. It will last a long time if properly taken care of.

Work besides typical maintenance that we have done to it:
- Timing belt and water pump at ~100K
- Battery replaced
- Transmission fluid change
- Ignition coil replaced
- Struts, strut mounts/bushings, and strut bearings all replaced within 10k miles
- Thermostat replaced and coolant flushed
- Sway bar links
- Trans-axial motor mount replaced with up-dated version (old ones prone to failure)
- Hood release cable updated (old ones also prone to failure)
- Parking brake/e-brake shoes replaced
- Front passenger side wheel bearing/hub assembly
- Two new front tires (bought in august)
- Just replaced the tail light bulbs this week

The interior is in amazing condition with no cracks, or tears in the dashboard or seats. There is some wear on the driver side door handle, and the cup holders are loose.


Now onto issues with the car: known issues:

-Brake pads and rotors should be replace soon
-Driver side window can be finicky during colder weather
-AC does not blow cold. It needs to be recharged with refrigerant.
-There was an engine code P0442 evaporation system small leak. There was a small evap hose that had a small crack, I sealed it and cleared the code three weeks ago and drove it for a week, and I still drive it some days (60mi/day commute), and it has not come back. I'm not sure how long my seal will last though. The hose may need to be replaced in the future. This does not affect any driving or mechanical operation of the car. It is explicitly for emissions.
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On the surface, this is the most thorough post I have seen from a private sale in my month plus of looking. How big of a deal are the AC/Window/Evap hose issues? Would you all recommend the car?

Thanks!

[Vovo_merz]

I say its not a bad deal biggest issue might be A/C as if its not freon that is low you might have a bad Ac compressor or a leak somewhere like ac condensor, if you can do the work your self it's a good buy for sure then you have the Evan hose I would ask the seller to show which one it is so when the code does come back you know where to look for it. Good luck

[oragex]

I'm not easy when seller says it's a perfect car driven by a woman. Ask them if the transmission shifts butter smooth once warmed up. And if the throttle body was already repaired.

[robburrito15]

I'm not easy when seller says it's a perfect car driven by a woman. Ask them if the transmission shifts butter smooth once warmed up. And if the throttle body was already repaired.

The owner wasn't sure if the throttle body was repaired by the previous owner. He was going to let me know tonight. If it was not, would that be a deal breaker? Even if the car is showing no symptoms?

[abscate]

Rob....the 2002 S60 has the Magnetti Marelli throttle body which typically fails at that mileage. Fix is about 600-900 usd.

Take a look at the Forum Dons ETM room down below. Take a pic of the label on the throttle body tomorrow if it has been replaced.

While the P80 crowd likes their mechanical throttle body the later systems are pretty good other than this one big ticket item.

At that price and recon, that's a nice car. Have a compression test done so you know the engine is solid.

[vtl]

I'm not easy when seller says it's a perfect car driven by a woman.

When my wife was asked why she is sitting in the car with a running engine, transmission in Drive and brake pedal depressed, she said her husband told to do so in a cold weather, so she does it

[regent]

I'm not easy when seller says it's a perfect car driven by a woman.

When my wife was asked why she is sitting in the car with a running engine, transmission in Drive and brake pedal depressed, she said her husband told to do so in a cold weather, so she does it

Wives do that...
Let us assume that any reference to colour of eyes and/or hair would be unintentional and completely coincidental

[oragex]

I'm not easy when seller says it's a perfect car driven by a woman.

When my wife was asked why she is sitting in the car with a running engine, transmission in Drive and brake pedal depressed, she said her husband told to do so in a cold weather, so she does it

Wives do that...
Let us assume that any reference to colour of eyes and/or hair would be unintentional and completely coincidental

Wasn't Eve the first one to do so ? Wait, it was Adam Actually that's how I warm up too a bit the transmission fluid at start up in the morning

[regent]

That's right, the bilbe does say it was Adam who blamed God for giving him a wife who had made him eat that apple.
I could't find where it says their car had an automatic transmission though...

(A good example of a paradigm shift)

[vtl]

My honey actually has a better degree than me, can program in assembler and she is also a certified Linux engineer She just does not care much about how the wheels rotate, but if I explain her why it's better for the car, she gets that.