Gentlemen,

Finally a nice 780 ('89 Turbo, 120k mi.) has come up for sale close to where I live. I went to have a look at it, liked it, and took it through the local Volvo dealer's "24-point vehicle safety inspection". I'm considering putting a bid in (it's on eBay), but as I'm new to 780s, and despite the excellent advice I've found both on this board and on Eric de la Cruz's 780 Information Site, I'd appreciate some advice on a couple of points.

1) "How much is a fair price?" It strikes me that both the Kelley Blue Book ($2500-$3000) and Edmunds values ($1500-$2000) seem low compared to what people are prepared to pay. In this particular case, three people who haven't seen the car have bid up to $3550 already. Are they just crazy or are the book values on the low side? They claim to apply to cars in "Excellent" condition, "in which category less than 5% of cars fall".

Of course, what's a fair price has a lot to do with the specifics of the car. So here goes, starting from a perfect car, this is what's visibly below that standard:

- History (bills etc.) only from second and third (current) owner, nothing from first. Garaged by current Rust Belt owner, but treatment by previous owners from southern CA unknown.
- Some paint chips on leading edge of bonnet, and a couple (<10) minor chips/scratches on the rest of body.
- Dashboard, seat electrics cover, and veneer cracks in a number of places.
- Original stereo system broken but included.
- Owner didn't let the engine idle before shutting it off.
- Big hose coming from the turbo was loose.

(and from the 24-point check:)
- Center bearing on driveshaft noisy.
- Valve cover gasket and "Ing Dist Seals" need attention.
- Right windscreen washer doesn't work.
- Broken light warning light on.
- Front strut rod bushings, shifter bushing, and rear diff bushing worn/torn/split.

Everything else seems pretty good (fully functional seats, new Nivomats, decent interior leather, relatively intact air dam), although I don't know what may be underneath the rear windows.

2) Should I be concerned about any of the items above, or are they straightforward and inexpensive to fix? Does anything set bells ringing?

Many thanks for your advice!

- Lifelong 80s Volvo fan (Matthijs)