Looking at 90 240 Wagon low kms

HI all,
I'm shopping for a wagon. Would prefer getting a Camry wagon (92-96)
but they are quite scarce around here. Found a 90 240 wagon being sold
by a dealer who picked it up at an auction. Just over 100,000 kms!
Body was rust-proofed so is quite good, no major rust showing anywhere.
Interior is quite clean (dash is cracked in two places). The driver's
seat doesn't feel very comfortable, maybe I'm not used to Volvo seats
(feels like it's caving in or something). Drives well. ANyway, the
dealer would sell it for $5500 cdn and I'm wondering if that's a
reasonable price for a car with this low mileage. No A/C
unfortunately. Power windows and door locks work, and it seems to have
heated seats.
How reliable would this car be? I need a commuting and general
all-around car, and like the flexibility of a wagon. I am handy and
can do a lot of repairs myself, with a good manual.
Thoughts?
Anything I should look for in the 240 wagon?
Oh, on the dash there is a row of indicator lights with symbols, and
the rightmost one (an arrow) is lit. Not sure what it means...
THanks,
--Robert

 

That is a good vintage of a sturdy car. The interior will probably limit the
useful life - at 235K miles (about 380K km) our '85 760 turbo wagon is
reliable but the interior has cracked into a hundred pieces. I'm no expert
on the price you should expect to pay, though.

The driver's seat sounds like it is broken - I've never done a repair myself
but I'm sure others here have. If that arrow is the orange "up" arrow, it
means the overdrive is locked out manually. There should be a button near
your thumb on the side of the shifter that toggles that on and off, but if
it stays on when you push the button you have a minor repair ahead of you.
(The dealer probably doesn't know it's minor - if you point out the
overdrive isn't working you may bring him down a bit: like $5500 if he gets
it fixed or $5000 as is.)

The worst news is the fuel economy. The saying that "nobody ever bought a
Volvo for fuel economy" applies to the 240.

Mike

 

Hi, and thanks for your thoughts. Other than the cracked dash (black,
so probably cracked from the Sun) and the possibly broken driver's seat
(another way to talk the price down! assuming I can later repair it or
get a replacement in the junk yards), the interior is quite good and
clean. The rear seats are very comfortable.

Thanks for telling me about the toggle button for the overdrive, that
must be it. And if it stays on, like you said I could use that to
negotiate him down.
You mentioned fuel economy as being not-so-good. I just checked on the
EPA site http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/8983.shtml and it gets
24MPG combined, which I don't find too bad with a car of this size. I
don't put a lot of mileage on my cars, so that wouldn't be too much of
a factor for me.
My main concern is reliability - not having a car that's going to
require me to be fiddling every weekend trying to fix this or that.
The low mileage indicates that the drivetrain should be relatively
trouble free anyway. I assume that older Volvos are probably plagued
with electrical problems and such...

Anyway, it's a much different car than a mid-90's Camry Wagon (which is
roomier, more comfortable, quieter) but there's something appealing
about the utilitarian nature of a Volvo wagon. With some TLC, this one
may last me for quite a few years, if I can keep the rust away from it.

If anyone else has tips of what to pay particularly close eye to when
inspecting, I'd like to hear. I've heard the heating fan is tough to
replace, and to make sure that it works well (seems to). The rear
windshield washer/wiper works well too.

Since it comes with no service records, I may negotiate the dealer to
replace the timing belt as part of the selling price.

I'll mull it over some more, and may go have another look at it and
test drive on Monday. I got my girlfriend to go have a look at the
outside today, and she thought it looked very good.

Cheers!
--Robert

 

These are generally very dependable cars that will go a long way and are
very easy to work on. Plenty of them are running around out there with
250k-300k miles or more on them. The seat is probably broken, they should
normally be very comfortable, fortunatly this is fairly easy to fix. If you
take it apart (not too hard) you'll probably find that the basket under the
foam has come apart and some of the springs are falling off. The wire may
also be cutting into the foam, more common in hot climates or when the
previous owner has been a large person. You can usually put the basket back
together and put the springs back on, then if the foam is damaged what I
usually do is cut a piece of lexan, aluminum flashing or anything else thin,
somewhat flexible and reasonably strong and somewhat flexible. Set it on top
of the wire basket and use duct tape or something similar to hold it in
place. If the foam is beyond recovery then get a passenger seat from a
junkyard and take the foam out of that, it's interchangeable. If the seat
back is caving in then the lumbar support is broken, IPD sells a kit to
repair this or you can look in junkyards.

As for the arrow on the dash, that means that overdrive is locked out.
There's a button on the side of the shift lever that should toggle this, if
the arrow won't go out then the overdrive relay is bad. It's located behind
the dash just to the left of the glove box under the center vent. You can
either replace it or if you can solder, just touch up the heavy solder
joints and you should be good to go.

 

Thanks for the tips about repairing the seat. It was disconcerting to
consider buying a car with an uncomfortable seat, no matter how good
the mechanics/body may be! I also noticed that both the driver and the
passenger front seats are slightly turned in (ie, the center part is a
little further back than the outer part). Is this part of the design,
or an indication that they need to be adjusted positionally, maybe
using the mounting bolts underneath? Thanks.

 

I have a 90 240 sedan and it has 300000 km. You still have lots to go. I get
500 km to a full tank on cruise. Seems a bit pricey even in Canadian
dollars.

 

Sounds like some rather large people had the car at some point and probably
warped the seatback frames, I've heard of it happening though never had it
occur myself. It's also possible that the foam simply deteriorated to that
point. If you get the car you might have to get some replacement seats to
fix it, but if the upholstery is in good shape you can transfer it to any
'86-'93 240 seat and same goes for the plastic trim bits so you don't have
to be picky about the color of replacements.

Oh and also don't forget to clean or replace the flame trap, that's the
number one overlooked mechanical bit on these cars which is easy to deal
with but can cause a lot of grief if you don't know about it.

 

I need to think about this. I just sold a 90 Corolla with low kms
because I found it too small and wanted a roomier, more versatile car
(ie. a wagon). I had my sights on a mid-90's Camry wagon (came close
to buying one which had a few issues so I passed, they are rare). THen
I went to look at this low kms 240 Wagon and got thinking about another
alternative. However, the 240 does not have A/C, the seats are
probably broken, and there is uncertain maintenance history. Do I
really want to get off my Camry wagon search and take the plunge with
the old Volvo wagon? Will I be happy or frustrated with this car?
Will it become, like many of the posters here, the best car I ever
owned? Buying used cars is a lot like crapshoot, no matter how well
prepared you are and how well you get the vehicle checked out. Still,
there's a certain attraction to the thought of a 240 wagon ownership -
the sheer longevity and toughness of the vehicle, which I suppose
offsets some of its quirks and idiosyncracies. How does one compare
that with the reliability of the "boring" Camry? Have to think about
all this...

 

The 240 doesn't have A/C? I don't think I've ever seen a post-'85 240
without A/C, but then maybe up in Canada it was available that way.

As with any car, it's a crapshoot, you may get one that'll go another
300,000 kms without anything major breaking or you may be tinkering with it
constantly, only you can decide whether it's worth it.

 

That car isnt worth half that price no matter what its condition. As far as
interiors go the 240 seats are said to be some of the most comfortable of
any car ever made and the plastic pieces etc usually last longer than the
rest of the car unlike the piece of crap interiors in the pre 1990 740's.

 

What is a late model 240 wagon worth these days? Around here they're in high
demand and short supply so the price sounds pretty reasonable, I haven't
actually looked for one lately though.

 

Bob: which part of the continent are you from to say the 240 isn't
worth half that price? You realize those are Canadian dollars.

James: indeed, supply and demand plays a role here. Not too many good
240 wagons around it seems, and this one *is* very low mileage, so that
would be worth a premium, as long as I can ascertain that proper
maintenance was done on it during its life.

If I could get the 240 about 20-25% less than the asking price I'd
probably go for it. Fix the seats and I'd be all set for a few years.

Anyway, I'll go back and have another look at it tomorrow. Today, went
and looked at a 1991 740 turbo. Body in fair condition. Loads of rust
underneath (never undercoated). Ran good (229kms) though a few things
needed to be fixed on it (sunroof sticky, radio didn't work, etc.).
This one has had good maintenance at a reputable local Volvo repair
shop and is owned by someone who knows cars. Selling price a bit lower
than the low mileage no rust 240. So where does one lean to: more
mileage, less pristine but good maintenance records, or less mileage,
more pristine, but no maintenance records?

At least, having driven both the 240 and the 740 made me realize the
740 is a more comfortable ride. This one also had leather seats.
However, many of the plastic internal things were cracked or broken,
whereas the 240 was in better internal condition. The A/C didnt work
on the 740, said it needed hoses.

 

I hate to tell you this, but the Camry will be a better buy in terms of
being problem free, but the Volvo will have a longer life by far, IMHO.
The price is **INSANE**, in general never buy a car from a car dealer--look
at www.edmunds.com for an idea what the car is worth on this side of the
border.

Ever consider a Subaru Forrester, or a Ford Taurus S/W? Forrester is just a
great vehicle, I do not know what they go for in Canada, the Taurus is being
GIVEN AWAY, you can get a 04 Taurus sedan here for ~$8-9000 US from a
dealer!

We had good luck with our Taurus, and when some bozo driving his girl's
Miata almost hit me head on it was the sturdy side impact beams that are
allowing me to write this today!

 

If it has rust, don't even think about it. Rust is evil, it's cancer and for
every bit you see, there's a bunch more hidden rot. A bit of surface rust is
ok but any holes means the car is rotting out.

 

Decided to pass up on that local 90 wagon. With Carfax, I was able to
confirm that the mileage is indeed what it claims (108,000 kms).
Unfortunately, the local dealer which sold the vehicle originally no
longer sells Volvos, and they have not kept any service records. So I
can't trace back what was done on it. Went back to look at it and the
body is very good, and it has been undercoated a few times so not much
rust underneath at all. That leaves mechanical condition to verify.
Plus it will likely need new tires, has no A/C, the seats are caving
in, and the dealer is asking a high price for it. So it's likely best
to pass on this one, in spite of low kms and good body, or wait until
the dealer (inevitably) reduces his price significantly.
Cheers!

 

I have to wonder if it was undercoated to *hide* the rust?

My '83 245 has ~230k miles (370kms) on it.
Similar condition to the one you describe... interior cracked, lumbar
support broke, good body, (but ~3 times the miles) when I bought it.
Paid $1500.00 US when I bout it, spent all of ~$1500.00 US in the last 8
years to keep it going.
$400.00 a year, the car's a bargian.
ymmv...

 

No, the undercoating has been on there for some time by the looks of
it. It's the Ziebart kind of undercoating (thick sticky stuff), which
I don't like as much because when it dries/cracks/peels off, water can
get underneath and cause rust. I much prefer the liquid/creeping rust
treatments (Krown, Rust Check, etc.) that gets applied annually and
creeps into all the cracks and crevices.

Sounds like that 245 of yours has been a veritable bargain indeed!
Keep it going!

 

Rastlouis:

The dealer is asking an insane price for the car--even in Canadian
dollars.

Converted to US dollars at today's exchange rate, he's asking
$4,524.95 USD..and that is way too high for the condition it's in.

I looked up the car on NADA guides and used Canada as the country of
location and 108,000 km on the odo.

Low dealer retail is $1,725 CDN, Average is $2600 and high retail is
$3,250.

From the way you have described the car, it certainly is not in a
condition that would qualify it for anything but low retail, if that.
I am suprised this dealer didn't send it to auction, but if demand is
high for these cars in your area he may be betting on finding a
sucker.

Regarding the lack of AC. I could be wrong but see that two models
were offered in the Canadian market in 1990--the 240 and the 240 DL.
My guess is that the 240 was the more basic model and had no AC.

The DL's had AC. I had a Volvo without air when I was living in
Ontario and Quebec and it was miserable when we had hot summer days.

Guess it's my age, but I'll never own another car without AC.

Now, regarding the 740. Anything other than surface rust and I'd stay
away from it. And...don't ever believe someone when they say all the
AC system needs is an inexpensive hose or a recharge. If it was that
simple why did they not take care of it? A recharge is $40 here
locally at a few places, and a dye test to check for leaks is $16.

Hoses and other parts can be very expensive, as is the service if you
don't have the skills and equipment.

Also, no matter how good the car looks I'd have it checked by an
independent shop. Have them get it up on a lift and check it out from
stem to stern. That usually runs $50 to $60 here and is well worth it.

Good Luck!