Okay, so I'm new to Volvo's, but I've driven a couple, and they seem like nice solid cars. And of course I've heard a lot of good stories. So I bought one. It's a 1995 850 GLT wagon with 88k miles. Very nice car, except the engine rattles. I had a warranty, so I took it back and asked them to fix it. The car had what sounded like severe lifter noise at a level cruise around 60-65 mph. It also rattled loudly under full throttle. I didn't drive the car too hard when I test drove it (Mistake!) and never had it over about 50 mph.

They came back after two hours and said that they were going to have to pull the oil pan and check things out. Then they said "Oh, by the way, the car had a new rod and some work done to the engine before we offered it for sale!" I'm like, "this doesn't sound like a car I want to keep." They're willing to apply the purchase price to another car on their lot, but I'm on the hook for that much.

My question is: What would cause an engine to need a new rod at only 88k miles? The car is in beautiful shape overall, and I know that it was routinely serviced at the local dealer. Does this happen to the 5-cylinder engines on a regular basis, or is this unusual? I really don't want to keep this car if I'm going to have to put a new engine in it, but I don't want to drive a Subaru either.

Sorry for the lengthy post, and thanks for any help you can offer.