I own a 97 s90 that has just turned the clock on 177k miles. For the most part it has been a reliable and trouble free car. Some folks have bad luck with them, I'm not one of them. I have done most of the maintenance work on it since it went out of warranty and have had it back to an independent garage twice for front end work. We bought the car with 16k on it and most of the miles were put on by my wife who used it for work every day. I took it over as my daily driver when I got her an almost new Acura TL a few months ago.

As for whether the car is worth it, I would say it is as long as there are no major items that need attention. Service records are a good thing to have. I think you would find it to be less troublesome than the FWD cars you had and the engine is definately much smoother than the 5 cyl. mills. The tranny has a reputation for being pretty bulletproof as long as you keep up on the maintenance. I always recommend having the car gone over by an independent shop. If you figure that car has a good 100k left in it and you are buying it for less than 6 grand, it really is a bargain. It is built like a tank, rides very smooth and turns on a dime. It has 4 airbags, abs and I personally like the boxier design of the older cars. Someone once described it as "The Last of the Best of the Volvo's"

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97 S90 with 177K miles still going strong