buying a 960

billem · Post by **billem** » 04 Nov 2005, 09:14

I am thinking of buying a 960 with 197k on her.
The previous owner did not change the timing belt and it trashed the valves.
Local mech has rebuilt the head, replaced all valve, resurfaced and new HG.
Its white with tan leather interior.
No cracks on daash or leather and drives great.
How much should I be willing to pay?

thanks in advance

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 07 Nov 2005, 13:36

20 views and no response.
Come one now.
From the content on this forum there is a ton of knowledge here.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » 09 Nov 2005, 00:00

I bought a really nice 94 960 w/145K a year ago from a friend who was trading it in and was offered $1600 in trade so I bought it for that amount. It had a low kelly book value of about $4K at the time. Sounds like a great deal, but I'm not sure it was. It has all the usual problems listed somewhere in this site and is expensive to work on. I havent figured out why anyone is enthusiastic about volvos. Bad neutral safety switch (PNP?), bad heat vent controls, and the AC compressor just broke the clutch so now I need expensive AC service. I'm not impressed. So if you buy it, buy it cheap! KBB.com is good resource.

Richard L · Post by **Richard L** » 15 Nov 2005, 21:51

I do not see where you mentioned the year. I would do a quick search on EBay and see how the bids are on a similar model and year. Also do some research in Consumer Reports to see what kinds of problems to expect. I recently considered a '96 850 but saw three black marks against the car I was interested in. It looks like A/C was a problem from around 95 to 99. Coincidently, a friend has a 96 850 and his A/C evaporator went bad. It is over $1K to fix it as you have to pull the dash.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 21 Nov 2005, 18:32

I am enthusiastic about volvos because: They are confortable, They have excellent brakes, they are reasonablly ok on gas milage, they are safer than tanks, most frequent repair parts are reasonable (fpc groton) whole compressor $238 i think. I have put 237k miles on mine with just regular maint Now I sold this car and bought a 2000ls miata. It was without a doubt the worst car I have ever owned in the first 5000 miles I had to replace the engine when the thrust bearings dropped into the pan and destroyed the engine. (Mazda made a bunch of bad engines in their miata and protege in 1999 and 2000.) Fix the replacement engine (it had the same problem), replace the coil packs, replace the pre cat. I have had so many check engine lights I bought a code reader and software for computer so I can diagnose. It goes on more but you get the idea.... I bought my Volvo back! I do not think I will ever sell it again! To hell with mazda.