Think about this for a minute - he has is listed at $4900, and maybe a private sale should be $3-4K. The car has been Volvo serviced. Unless the car has some significant problem, $2000 is a lowball offer and an insult. Maybe this is how you bargain, but it sounds pretty odd to me. If you were to look him in the eye and say "I thought you would be motivated to sell because you lost your license," he would probably ask you to leave. If he were that motivated to sell, he wouldn't have listed it at $4900.

Maybe the car is in better than average condition? I paid quite a bit over book for a very nice S70 a few years ago.

You need to see the car to know how much it is worth to you. I would try to forget why the seller is selling and how desperate you think he is. Do enough research to know what the value is, and go from there.

This is the only thought I had - I was pretty upset when I saw you planned to offer $2000, and I think the seller would be also.