Just recently picked up a 1985 740T 4-speed manual with overdrive sedan with 217k. Synthetic oil has been used for at least the last 80 thousand miles, and the prior owner claims to have had no particular turbo issues, nor much in the way of problems with the car in the seven years he's owned it. As I look through his pile of receipts I note the following:

2000: At 149k the timing belt, front engine seals, engine oil trap, dist. connector housing, and cam cover gasket were replaced. The timing was also reset. at 155k the clutch slave cylinder died and was replaced. later on at 159k the car had some exhaust system issues; after some other troubleshooting steps the mechanic "TOOK APART AIR ASSY TO INSPECT. AFTER THE AIR ASSY WAS PUT BACK TOGETHER THE CAR RAN GREAT." The tailpipe and exhaust were replaced 4 days later, with "NO MUFF. PER CUST. RQST." I presume that in a turbo the less backpressure the better, right?

2001: then there's miscellaneous receipts for oil seals and hoses, a thermostat, an ignition coil the prior owner didn't need and that I still have spare, etc, etc.

At this point apparently the prior owner stopped keeping receipts; he said that owning the car was pretty trouble-free for the past three years. He did replace the clutch right around 200k.

From what I can tell, this car has been used but not abused. The engine sounds pretty good to me, but I'm no car expert. It does make a kinda backfirey sound when I let off the accelerator sometimes, but that could be due to the lack of muffler.

So what should I look into? What are major concerns likely to be if I want to try and break 300k? And can anyone recommend a good Volvo mechanic in the Seattle/Tacoma area?