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Any 17 year-old car will have a fair number of troubles. Many will be accessories: electrical, seat motors and switches, window motors, air conditioning, etc. These require an intimate acquaintance with a boneyard such as B&D in Shirley, Mass, otherwise the parts costs will start to quickly mount. The other troubles will be engine and tranny. If this car really has only 120k miles, then it has been driven only 7k miles per year, probably all short drives. You will have to plan on cleaning the engine of sludge and varnish (look for a Bilstein Engine Flush at a service station, and I would ask them to do it twice) and use some BG engine cleaner or similar with frequent oil/filter changes at the outset.) As John points out,if the engine is the V-6, then cam troubles are possible. You can avoid these by using full synthetic 5-30 oil after cleaning the engine with the Bilstein and BG flushes, as well as using some CD-2 oil detergent regularly. All these will gradually dissolve the crud. Plan as well to drop the tranny pan and clean it, change the screen, and flush ALL the old fluid out with fresh fluid. See the FAQ for details. Other troubles include worn suspension parts. Don't pay too much and you will make out OK. Finally, find a real good and honest indy mechanic with Volvo expertise and learn to love them.
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