It looks to be a good car, but I would be prepared to do some work to deal with the smoke issue. I purchased my '71 Mercedes cheap in 1988 knowing it needed work. The blowby was so bad the dipstick woould not stay in. Tore down the engine and found all four pistons had cracked / missing compression ring lands. The damage was due to too infrequent oil changes. The records indicated 2k mile between some changes, but they were over a year apart! Anyway I am very happy with my '98 V70, purchased new and now with 291k. No transmission problems, no engine gaskets or seals replaced, and original clutch. I have heard 95-98 are the good years for these cars, and 88-93 for 240s.