Going to view a car!!

[soopersuds]

Im hoping to go and view the an 850 CD t5 estate today (if its still for sale)with details as below(photo attached),

1996 VOLVO 850 T5 CD,
P reg. AUTOMATIC Estate, 2 owners, full service history, 139k, all old MoTs & Hpi report, all keys, invoices, books etc, fully loaded, very fast, well looked after car. £2,995.

its in the bristol area, any handy advice would be great fuly received

Soopersuds

[nikgallagher]

Have a gander through the General Technical Help forum and look at all the problems people have posted on there. That should give you a good start for identifying common problems, things to look for, and possible questions to ask to vendor. Good luck!

[Martinr]

Make sure the underside of the engine is free from oil. Leaks can prove to be expensive to fix.

Ask if the Heated Seats recall has been actioned, this is FOC action by Volvo dealer so it should have been. If the owner plays dumb it might be a bargaining point. Remember it won't cost you anything to get it done if it hasn't been actioned.

As it is an auto check the fluid for level and colour. This must be changed regularly and should have been part of the dealer service schedule.

See if the engine is completely cold before starting her up. Blue smoke can occur on start up form cold that is related to valve seals, if it does this when warm might also indicate a turbo related problem. there have been lots of posts on here related to this issue.

Ensure that the air conditioning is functioning as it should. This could just be it needs re-gassing but there are other more expensive reasons why it may not get as cold as it should. Again there are a lot of posts on here and the VOC forum with relation to aircon problems.

When I bought mine none of the interior lights worked. I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem but it is worth checking the function of the interior lighting as replacement of the unit is approx £40 in parts. It is an easy DIY job so don't be tempted to let the dealer do it as they will charge a min of 1/2 hour and it takes less than 5 mins.

Other than that look for the usual things that are important when buying any used car.

One other bit of good advice. As it is in the Bristol area avoid Weston Super Mare!! Parking is awful and you will be lucky to see any water

Hope it's a good un.

[mailee]

Try to knock him down a bit. I have the same car but 1997 and manual and I got it for £2000 by bartering. It actually sounds the same as yours with full history and refinements and it was from down that way too. Certainly looks a nice car.

[Andrew]

Is this the one that was on ebay ?

[Goof]

£2000 for an estate would be a bargain!
Make sure it's nearly perfect - repairs can cost!
Don't buy it because it's the first one you've seen - there will be others...