Q: Advice on buying a 1997 Volvo S70 with 190,000 miles

If it’s a running car and it runs good--that’s what that car probably would go for. I personally wouldn’t buy an S70 because I work on them for a living. I’ve worked on quite a few of them and they all became super expensive as they got to be that age.

Generally, the transmissions go out, which can cost anywhere from 3500 to 5500 bucks to repair. The engines are pretty good though and the electronics are haywire and the air conditioning systems are terrible. Here in Texas, they break all the time if you don’t care about the AC. But 1800 bucks isn’t much for a car. If it runs good and you like it, you might take a gamble and lose that 1800 dollars. I would have a qualified mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, come out to the location of the vehicle and give the car a pre-purchase inspection, so that you can get a more detailed evaluation of the car’s condition.