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All right guys I know you will be interested to know the story about what happened to that '92 960 wagon I wanted...
So my father and I arrived at the dealership (Rensselaer Honda in Troy, NY) at around 10:30 this morning. The Volvo, as expected, was parked way in the back where no one could see it- and it was the only Volvo on the whole property. I went inside and asked for the keys to the car, and my dad and I went out and fired it up. Sure enough, it fired up on the first click. Now since my dad and I are extremely anal and vigilant when it comes to car upkeep, we gave this 960 a thorough lookover before starting out on the test drive. What we found was: All the electrical accessories are in perfect working order- however, the A/C was a little weak on all fan speeds, and I'm guessing it probably needs a recharge.
The drive was where my dad really started to have doubts about the health of this Volvo. Both him and I drove it for a length of 16 miles, with me driving half the distance and he the other half. The car really had great pickup, not bad at all for a vehicle with 130k miles on it. However, I noticed that the shifter vibrated a small bit on normal 0-30 acceleration and at idle, and the 3rd to 4th upshift was really harsh and noticeable. I'm guessing this tranny probably needs some major TLC soon. Braking concerned both of us as well, as the pedal went a little lower than we expected when trying out emergency stops. I suspect that will also need to be addressed.
It was the pricing, though, that ticked me and Dad off. After the test drive, and filling out the necessary information paperwork, the dealer gave us a quote of $4900 for the 960. $4900!?! And that's for a car that hasn't had any cosmetic or mechanical work done to it yet. I checked the Kelley Blue Book average trade-in on a '92 960 wagon with 130k miles and it came out to $1400. I'm guessing that's what the previous owner received when she traded it for her new CR-V. My dad said that was way too much for a car with a few cosmetic and mechanical issues. The salesman said to make them an offer if we weren't satisfied. Dad said $1000- nothing more, nothing less. The guy then talked to the general manager and said that they couldn't sell us the car at that price because the car hadn't been through their shop and that it was a requirement for all used cars to go through the shop in order for them to be in roadworthy condition. Well what do techs at a Honda dealership know about Volvos, I'd like to know? After that episode my dad and I walked out of the showroom in disgust. We're guessing that the car is going to stay in the back of that lot for a few more weeks before they get desperate. I'm sure that those guys will call us and offer to sell us the car for much less than that $4900.
But $4900 for a '92 960 that's basically driveable and in great condition- I take great umbrage with that. All your comments would be really appreciated at this time.
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