Used Cars: buying a used volvo vs a toyota or camry, volvo 940 wagon, volvo 940

Question
QUESTION: I can only spend about 5k and need a good used car. I'm leaning towards a  '95 volvo 940 wagon with only 95.000 miles, what do you think?? It's hard to find a toyota or honda wagon for sale with less than 150,000 miles on them.

ANSWER: Well I think if you are paying $5k for that Volvo, you are paying all that it is worth.  Not saying it is to high because fact of the matter you have to choose from what is available, and apparently the honda and toyota wagons are not as plentiful.  I think Volvos are excellent vehicles, and very safe vehicles, but I do not think they are that much better than a Honda or a Toyota.  I think the Volvo will cost more to maintain than the other two, but you just have to go with what is a available to you.  Regardless of what you decide on, I would make sure and run a carfax report, and have it checked out by a mechanic of YOUR choice, with an unbiased opinion.  In a nutshell if everything checks out well on the Volvo, I think it would be a good choice, but make sure and find out all you can about the past maintenance, and future maintenance.  I would imagine that a timing belt is coming due for the volvo, and pending where you have it done, that can be rather expensive, because you really need to do the water pump, when  you do the timing belt.  Good luck, and I hope all goes well.

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QUESTION: do Volvo's tend to break down more often? I've heard from some people that yes, they do. Secondarily   I met several people selling Toyota with nearly 200,000 miles on them ...can this care go beyond that kind of mileage???

Answer
Well understand that I really do not have a lot of hands on experience with Volvo's, but what I have heard over the years, seen on a few occassions, and read about pretty often, Volvos are really good cars and do not have a reputation for breaking down, if there were situations that they did, I would blame it more on improper maintenance than I would volvo.  They are very, very particular about maintenance.  And YES, YES, YES, Hondas and Toyotas, when taken care of, will blow by 200k miles.  I have seen many of these with 300k to 400k miles on them, but again, must be maintained to do so.  Would I personally buy a Toyota with 200k miles on it....ABSOLUTELY....but I would want to know the maintenance history on it.