My first car (and current daily driver) was a '93 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. I've had it since 2000. I bought my car with twice the miles that are on the car you're looking at. It has been very reliable, though (that's why it's still my daily driver).

It's not fast at all. If your Volvo is 3300 lbs and making 190 hp, this is a big drop off, as you're almost only looking at a power loss (they weight difference isn't much). My turbo 1g weighed about that much and made the same kind of power - there's no comparison.

The best gas mileage I've gotten has been 21 mpg. I wouldn't consider that good gas mileage. Maybe you do. That's driving at about 30% throttle and shifting at 2.5k RPMs. That's also driving at 55 mph in 40-50 mph zones and 70 mph on the highway.

I think one of reasons the car has been so reliable (besides the rigorous maitenance schedule I keep - I have records (including receipts) of every oil change, coolant flush, brake pad replacement, spark plug replacement, etc. as well as repairs and modifications) is my driving technique rivals that of an 80 year old woman. I almost always drive at ~ 30% throttle and shift at 2.5k RPMs (this is probably why I've never needed to replace my clutch). You'll be faster if you wind into higher RPMs, but that will be at the expense of gas mileage on a car that doesn't get great gas mileage (relative to compact four cylinders) as it is.

The only major (internal) repair the car has required is a transmission rebuild. And, again, the car had significantly more miles on it than the one you're looking at. Other than that, everything has been regular maintenance (oil change, coolant flush, brakes, tire rotation, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, timing belt, etc.).

As far as I know, there's nothing on this car that you should expect to fail earlier than it would on another car. The timing procedure is the same (more or less) as a turbo 1g - that might scare you (IDK).

So:

- these cars are generally good, but the gas mileage isn't great (18-21 mpg)

- no known problems of which I'm aware. The transmissions can be finicky, but if yours isn't, and you drive nicely, it won't be for a long time.

- the car is slow (I think high 16s in the 1/4 mile). Mine has a 2.25" cat-back and an intake with a K%N filter. It has these mods for cosmetic reasons only (the exhaust had a leak and I had access to this catback with polished SS muffler, so I had it welded on...the intake pipe and K&N filter were $30 and look prettier than the stock setup, so I swapped). I'm sure I gained power in an RPM range that I hardly ever reach, but it's not much. So, it makes 135 hp and weighs ~ 3200 lbs. You figure it out.