WHAT DO I DO? i love this CAR and it is a one owner all ORIGINAL.

HELP! i want to offer 5,000 but it might be too low... it is in great condition save very few scratches and the trunk lid is a little off (higher on one side than the other). But dealer (a volvo dealer) guarantees no accidents.

HELP HELP HELP

I was looking to spend much less (2-3 grand) but with much higher miles... i want to keep a car for 10 years.

Thanks

Go to www.kellybluebook.com then make your offer based on an average between the trade in value and the retail. Take off the oil cap. Is it clean and shiny inside? Is the trans fluid nice and red and does it have a sweet smell? Or is it brownish red and smell burnt? There is an excellent article on this site. Hints for buying a used 240. Ask the BB and someone will find it for you. Any flaws you see make a list of them and how much it will cost to fix. Start deducting. This will help you justify your offer or counter offer.Use your poker face! Good luck!

Mark

In some areas that price is more or less right.

If you are wondering about accident damage, forget checking body gaps and such things. Someone could've rammed the trunk full of something and forced it shut, bending the lid (common).

What you want to do is pull the carpet in the trunk and look at the frame rails. They'll be bent if it was rear-ended badly enough to even think about. Also look at the gas tank since it might be dented as well (from the muffler). If the car was rear-ended above the bumper then you'll certainly find some sign of that inside the trunk as well.

Additionally, look for tack welds along the perimeter of the rear wheel arch (from the outside). That would indicate new quarter panel(s). Then look in the trunk along the same areas and look either for primer or paint, or something to indicate that it was stitched together from that. Check for overspray on the rear springs or suspension. Remember that just because a car got a new quarter panel, it doesn't mean that it means much. Many of us drive around with new quarter panels, doors, etc., that have gotten killed in minor fender-benders.

If the car sat in a salvage yard within the last five years, 95% the title will read "rebuilt salvage" or "insurance claim paid" or some such indication.

I have a problem finding cars (in the north part of the US) that haven't been in some sort of accident at one time or another. Never believe the "no accidents" statement. Do your own work. I've had my car rebuilt after a pretty large accident and I honestly could care less. In fact, my 87 240GL was rebuilt three times, two front, one rear. And it finally got killed on the fourth wreck, which did something like $8500 of damage. The frame was stretched three times already and the damage exceeded the car's value by twice, so I cashed it in. I should've fixed it again; it would've been better than most even to this day.

Something's fishy.

It's been in a crash, why else would the trunk lid be higher.

Get that guarantee in writing, see how friendly they are now.

Inspect the body. Look around the tail lights, look for marks (paint over lap) left by masking tape. Open the trunk remove the tail covers and peak inside. Look at the hinges. Use a plastic magnet card and see if it sticks around the tail and edges. Get underneath the rear end and look at the inside of the rear bumber. See if it has any junk yard labels on it (eg 92 volvo in yellow pen, as me how I know). Take a look at the bolts underneath, does the under coating look smeared on them. Here's another tip, tail lights sometime have labels where they were made, ie france or england. Make sure both match.

Listen I've been to dealer auctions, for trade ins and leased cars. I've seen early 90's 850's go for $5k. I've seen 91 740 go for $1.5K. The dealer is making money on this. I've seen 00 Honda accords go for 12K-14K. You can not imagine how many frame damage and unibody cars there were, being sold next to nothing!

Hagle hagle, hagle. Just waste a lot of his time. Then make him a 5K offer. See what he does. Just get nasty with him. He'll come around. If not, don't worry about.

"Here's another tip, tail lights sometime have labels where they were made, ie france or england. Make sure both match."

My car will make a good example for this. The taillights have the year stamped on them, and the ones on my car don't match (I think '84 and '92). The left rear quarter panel on my car has some flaking paint around the edges. I just recently noticed that the gas tank has a small dent in it that lines up with the muffler. Luckily I've had no problems with my car resulting from whatever damage that happened to the rear. A few months ago someone hit the left rear of my car, so now I've got a chance to fix the poor respray.

it isn't likely to have problems from a rear-end hit unless it was REALLY bad. Especially in the sedan version. Like the trunk caved into the back seat. That kind of "bad" accident. I wouldn't worry at all. The old myth of "never the same after an accident" isn't really true. It stemmed from the old frame-mounted vehicles, where one method of repair was to cut and splice pieces of the actual vehicle frame in, wherever it was bent.

People are often more afraid of the little damage that shows, rather than the BIG damage that they overlook. If your car took it hard, chances are they would take a rear clip whole, and put it on. You might miss every bit because the welds would be symmetrical, the taillights would match, and the gaps would be perfect too.

Usually when a single quarter panel is replaced, that's when it shows the most. That's where you'll find the mismatched lights, etc. Although if you back up into something, you might have a repaired quarter panel and a mismatched light.

In your case, the damage is different. When the muffler hits the gas tank, it's usually slightly worse. However that isn't a reason for much concern anyway, since it really doesn't affect much back there. Again, if something like an Eclipse or a car with a low front hits you back there, you'll get a dented gas tank without much impact at all.

My 91 has no uneven gaps, no mismatched lights, etc. I assure you, however, that the entire front clip was crunched and replaced. Only a fine-toothed comb will reveal that. it is very obvious in some ways, though.

Kelly Blue Book lists the trade in value (i.e. the absoloute most a dealer would pay for that vehicle ) at between $5415.00 and $6245.00, and retail (the price just about all dealers will try to soak you for same vehicle after a quick detail job )at $10,060.

My question is why is a dealer only asking $7500, knowing he's allowing room for haggling,he hnows he's not going to make anything off it, unless there is something bad wrong he's not being up front about( I've never known brand dealers to price that far below bluebook unless they're trying to yard something out to someone who is not going to check it out carefully....... like a trunk lid out of whack?...that didn't happen from being left out in the sun. just because there may not be a car-fax accident report doesn't mean it hasn't been nailed , and repaired privately).

You would be wise to have it looked over with a fine tooth comb by an independant Volvo mechanic .( hey , if it has been nailed and you still want it you can probably talk him down a couple more grand :-)

Good luck-----------Robert

Don't hesitate to make your offer of $5000. He may not accept it or he may surprise you and go for it. It depends on a lot of things including how long he has had the car on the lot. If he should say he will accept your offer make sure you have the money lined up (including a sizeable cash downpayment on the spot) to seal the deal quickly.

He might refuse your offer and counter with one of his own (say $7000). Again you don't have to accept his counter, but remain friendly and tell him you would like to own the car, but that you don't have that much to spend at this time. Go back in a day or two and (talk to the same salesperson- he's your guy now) tell him your grandmother loaned you $500 and you can now pay $5500. Haggle, haggle, haggle- you like this car but actually there are a number of good low mileage cars out there for you. Don't pay more than you want for a good car. Don't forget you will have additional expenses to cover in taxes, fees, etc. Find out early on if they have some hidden cost such as a "docking fee" (usually a $100 hit at the time of paper signing- just one final squeeze the salespeople give you!!) Remember to be friendly but also remember this guy IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! Enjoy the game. Like any other game the more experience you gain the better player you will be. Have fun.

Randy

Try to get the price down and buy it. Ok, the price is high but you want the car for ten years and it'll last so overall our cost of ownership will be reasonable. Make sure everything is on the up and up.