2002 XC70 w\ 94k miles for $12,000?

[cbrose]

Hi:

A friend of mine who is a car wholesaler picked up an '02 XC70 with 94,000 miles on it. I could have it for about $12,000. The car is in great shape both inside and out. These must be highway miles. I have no idea what has been done to the car in the last 3 years (Carfax is clean). Should I take a chance on this vehicle? Or, is this the point where a lot of things start going wrong? I've been reading the forums and I'm worried that I'll be shelling out a lot of money for transmissions, turbos and electronic components. When he gets the title, I'm going to try and contact the previous owner. What questions should I be asking?

Thanks,

B. Rose

[CTXC70]

At first blush that sounds like a good price. I would look at an average 2002 with average miles and get the price. Take the mileage difference and price difference and add in any expected repairs or maintenance and you could come with a comparable cost per mile to figure out if it’s a good deal or not.

[al_roethlisberger]

There is a 2002 with only about 26k miles on eBay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volvo-XC-Cross-Country-Turbo-Wagon-02-XC70-WAGON-AWD-3RD-SEAT-P-ROOF-26K-MILES_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ31880QQitemZ45933 69346QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW


The going price so far is about $12k, although I don't think it has reached its reserve. You might ping the seller and see what the reserve is to get a feel for what a lower mileage 2002 might go for.

My opinion? ...unless you have the ability to have a couple thousand $$ repair fund available "just in case" or have an extended warrantee, 94k miles is pretty high to be getting into one of these cars. $12k isn't a lot of money for a car anymore these days I guess, but it is still $12k.

However, all in all, $11-15k seemed to be around the right price for many of the 01 and 02s I looked at when I was shopping.

Al

[RedXC]

The XC should be fine at that mileage, when every maintainence is done. MY02 is still at 27k... :rolleyes:

[Chrisd]

12,000 is a dealer value for this year, depending on visual condition, it's sellability...it's a good price depending on the future performance of the car. Which is diffucult to determine...as a condition of sale I highly recomend having it pass all trbl codes at a post dealer inspection. Different from the purchasing dealer. Since the "Blue Book" values have become so widley avalable most dealers are more than willing to show you the blue value...at this point it is a meaningless number and much more of a marketing tool for dealers than anything else. Carfax only reports selected info, ie you have to take steps to enter information into the data base, most insurance companys and dealers have a vested interest in that they don't want any info listed, keep this in mind when looking at carfax and other auto history reports.
For the most part...without intending to start a flurry of relability debates...they are trouble free for most owners regardless of what they look like...but psychologically speaking when one goes bad everyone hears about it and the wrong impression is that they all could go bad which is far from the truth

Chris ;)

[Dr Fonta]

Just FYI. I got 17K for trade in for my 01 V70XC, w 42K miles, from a Volvo dealer. They turned around and sold it very quickly (they listed it at 24995, but I don't know what they actually got for it). Mine had cold weather, versatility, and rear seat, and was very clean. (I only had it for a year, and it was certified when I bought it so it had new tires etc)...I traded it in for an 06 XC-90, at a very good price, 2K below invoice.