Time and money, items that are often scarce. Control arms first, the most important of your punch list. Give yourself a couple of hours and you can replace them - but they are not cheap.

Starter is not as hard as it looks, just make sure you pull the ground off the battery. Get one from a junk yard, 1994-2000 850/70 5 cyls.

Smoking exhaust while idling, forget about it! Most likely your valve stem seals are worn and the intake vacuum is pulling up oil fumes. Not a 'real' problem and the only fix it to pull the head. Let it smoke!

Shocks/struts. If you go the cheap route and use OEM shocks/struts, get XC90 seats, find a spring compressor, figure 2-4 hours to replace. Plus an alignment afterwards.

The AC: I suggest your compressor clutch is worn. The 'bread clip' fix really does work. If you don't have 3 bread clips, make some from an old credit card or very thin sheet metal. Just glue them to the clutch plate and you will be cold again in no time. About 45 minutes total time - take a while for the glue to set.

Dashboard mounts. Oh well, that does take a lot of time and is frustrating. A shop will charge you a lot for that. Just make sure that the two lower bolts, one on each side are tight and avoid the expansion bumps!!!

Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic