You're welcome
Assuming the dealer isn't hiding anything major about the car, I can't see any reason as to why it would be a money-pit. The biggest expense I can see is the rear arches will need welding in order to preserve the car. That will probably free you of several hundred £££ depending on the body shop. Volvo 480s have an unfair reputation for being somewhat unreliable. However, most of the problems people experience are to do with the electrics (such as the pop-up lights and Info centre) or water ingress through the rear glass hatch and rear lights. While the 480 has electric everything pretty much, they're simple enough that most things that do go wrong will be easy fixes, such as dodgy connections or bad earths. Mechanically speaking, 480s are very solid. The running gear is related to many 90s Renaults such as the Laguna and Espace and are very reliable as long as they are well maintained (lots of service history will be useful here) While for the price it should be a lot better, it's in a much better state than a lot of 480s. The no-advisory MOT is a sign of that.
I can relate to your concerns about not being mechanically minded. I'm 19 and I bought my 480 as my first car just over a year ago. The few electrical issues I've experienced have been relatively minor (and quite therapeutic to fix
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/laugh.gif)
) and I haven't had any significant mechanical issues so far (the routine timing belt and water pump change is a bit of a pig). In truth, my biggest battles by far have just been seized bolts and screws. I have learned a lot about mechanics along the way, though. It's been a great learning experience.
Peacock Green is quite a rare colour, as it was only sold for the last 3 model years (1993,94 & 95). If you're really set on that colour, it doesn't hurt to go down and look at the car and see how much you can get the dealer to budge on price. Although the days of being choosy about the colour when purchasing a 480 are long gone due to their rarity.
It's certainly not a bad example - far from it - the issue really isn't the car, but more the price.