Hello All,

I am considering purchasing from the original owner, a 2002 S60 T5 with a 5 speed manual. The car seems to have been well maintained and has 130,000 miles on the odometer. I just found out that shortly after he purchased the car, the owner had a chip installed to increase the original horse power rating of 247 HP by an addition 50 HP. The chip cost $800 plus dollars. I don’t know yet who the chip was made by or who installed it it. It appears to not have had an adverse impact on the car.

My question is: By installing a chip that increases the HP, does that cause additional stress that can lead to costly repairs, i.e. blown head gasket?, etc? The fact a high performance chip has been installed, is this a “red flag” that should cause me to look for other secondary problems that flow from the use of this chip? The car looks nice and seems to run well, but I don’t want to find out that I have to the engine replaced or rebuilt because of this chip. Thank in advance to all who respond.

Hugh