A trans can last awhile in those. You are apparently observing proof of that. Did they do trans services? I honestly don't know if that really even helps those, or if the survivors are only such because they're churning original fluid. What did the trans fluid look like? Smell like? Taste like? ...Okay, don't taste it.
I don't think the 'original fluid' hypothesis could work...unfortunately, that would probably result in valve body problems. These transmissions really did seem to not fail in any specific way. They just...died. They quit shifting, or one gear quit pulling, or all gears quit pulling...sometimes it was a friction member, sometimes it was a control part. I remember that GM had to restart manufacturing because Volvo was running out of casings to make remans with...can't remember why, though. Porosity, maybe? I don't think they ever blew gears out the side or anything crazy like that.
If you're really considering this car:
Turn key on and double check that all warning lights come on for self-test. This is definitely the kind of car someone would disconnect the CEL on. I strongly recommend having someone with Volvo diag software (pretty much 'dealers') check it. I would recommend an inspection from the dealer, period, actually.
Some coworkers would not have agreed, but I liked doing one-hour used car inspections. As the name implies, it's an hour of labor. I'd do a test drive and then spend 30 mins casually looking the car over. Easy money, and then there's the chance that either the owner or the prospective buyer will want to do some of the work. The $100 that most places will charge might seem kinda steep just to look at something, but it's money well spent. The service writer and mechanic are not salesmen, so if they have a bit of experience in those cars, they should be able to give you some decent advice on that specific vehicle.
The big thing, though, it hooking up with the a laptop and checking the network for issues. And to retrieve your two pages of DTC's. You actually want this; they're mostly trash codes. If it's squeaky clean, someone has cleared everything recently. It would be good that no codes immediately reappeared, but unlikely to stay that way for long.
There are a few things under the hood that you want to be sure get a look. Take the intake tubing off near the turbo outlets. Look for large quantities of oil. If present, it's coming from the turbos; the greater the quantity, the greater the play you'll have in the turbine shafts/bearings.
Oil starvation can also be a problem. ANY noise from the turbos is bad. They are tiny and do not generate much in the realm of performance 'turbo noises.' At idle, you should not hear them.
Also check for positive crankcase pressure. You should have none. If you pull the oil dipstick and put your finger over the tube, it should be a neutral pressure at worst. That means the oil trap is partially plugged. A new one WILL allow negative pressure within the crankcase, even on boosted engines.
Look for oil underneath the car. The engine is aluminum from cam cover to oil pan, and should be sealed without gaskets. It's all machined surfaces with a dab of a proprietary sealer. If they have not been fucked with, they do not leak.
The turbo oil returns, however, do. There should be improved green gaskets on the turbo flange and around the bottom of the drain tubes. They never leak. If they're black...well, you can't tell, because they're leaking. These seem deceptively simple to replace, but require removing a ton of shit and will eat your goddamned lunch.
Hit the panic button and make sure you hear the alarm siren. Not just the horn; there's also a siren in the passenger fender. They get water in them and die. It would not matter, but they can knock out the UEM's mini network and make the keyless entry and sunroof not work...that's the upper electronic module...with its own local network...a network within a network (low speed CAN) within a network (entire CAN). To elaborate...low speed modules can malfunction and dick up the entire low speed side (everything behind the CEM). Everything ahead of the CEM is the high speed (ECM, TCM, ABS, ETM) and can dick up the high speed network. This is bad; the engine and trans computers can 'go offline' and the engine goes into limp-in. The ECM is functioning, but not communicating, and needs to be...rebooted...
Also the CEM is part of both networks (fun) and the 'ETM' is basically the computer attached to the throttle body that is its own seperate entity and talks to the ECM digitally.
Oh wait, have I not mentioned throttles yet? HA!
Sorry...but yeah, you might want to look into the throttle issues, as well. And look up the warranty history on that car. That car has only been out of throttle warranty for two or three years.
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