volvo 240 gle price range

hi,

I'm wondering about the average asking price for '93 volvo 240s.

I'm interested in purchasing a '93 volvo 240 gle which seems
to be in exceptional shape. They are asking $10,800. Cdn.
It has 108,000km on it. Absolutely no rust, all service records,
Very very clean.

There are few volvo 240's (in decent shape) to compare it
with. Does this seem like a reasonable price? I'm hoping that
it will last at least 5 - hopefully 10 - years.

What are the things which typically go wrong first?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Ryan

 

I don't know what will go wrong (240s are very reliable cars).
However, the airbag in this car will have to be replaced or
disabled in 2008. Replacement is expensive (~$6K US), so you
may wish to take that into consideration in the purchase price.

 

I just did a search on Autotrader.com and got 3 pages of hits on 92-93
Volvo 240's. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/2odbb. You could compare
with these. I didn't sr any GLE's, but for similar mileage GLs, the price
was within the range that the others were going.

 

why does the airbag have to be disabled or replaced then?....

http://macconsult.com/diaperboy/

 

The car is a 1993. The recommended replacement schedule for
the airbag is 15 years. Even "expired" airbags should NEVER
inadvertently deploy. Nevertheless there have been several
reported incidents of this happening. Take a look a this
article posted to this group from just about three years ago.

Would you want an expired airbag to accidently deploy in
your face?

Beverly

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Subject: Air Bag deployed while sitting in parking lot & car off
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Wonder if anyone has had this situation. My 17 yr. old daughter got in her
1988 760T Volvo sedan to open the windows. We were selling the car &
arranged to meet the prospective buyer in a parking lot. She opened drivers
door, sat down, put the key in the ignition and turned it towards the on
position to operate the windows. BAM, the airbag went off in her face. Long
story short, we rushed her to the hospital where she was treated - possible
broken nose, major bruising, cuts, abrasions, blood every where from her
nose, numb face, her neck looks like someone tried to strangle her her with
a rope as her necklace made a 6" long abrasion. I've contacted the local
Volvo dealer & Volvo USA and both say they have never heard of this. But
I've found 3 incidents similar on the internet just today. Volvo USA is
sending a rep to look at the car this Friday. We're told it could cost $1500
to repair whatever caused the bag to open and to install a new bag. Needless
to say, the guy that was interested in buying it is no longer interested.
Our car insurance won't cover the repair since there was no accident. Our
health insurance will probably cover most of the hospital bill and I think
my daughter will heal OK. So, what to I do now? The Volvo dealer said there
is no recommended maintenance on airbags, but Volvo USA also said "You
haven't been having your car serviced at a "certified Volvo repair shop"
so.........."
I'd sure be interested to hear from anyone thats had this problem or has
suggestions! Please email me directly. Thanks!
Teri

 

Thanks for all the help.

The car is actually for my mom. She has a limited budget, but would
like a safe reliable car. I've never owned a volvo, but the safety and
reliability is very attractive - even in an old one. She was in an accident
several years ago in a Mazda Precidia that got munched by an SUV.
I have been encouraging her to consider an older volvo instead of a
newer honda, toyota etc. Although they may have better km's and
look newer, they will likely not last as long or be as safe. I hope I'm
right.

Thanks again, We'll have to look into the airbag regulations. The
dealer is a Volvo Dealer, so they 'should' give us a good answer on
that. ($6000 US) is practically the price of the car.

Ryan

 

The '93 240 is the best and last year of production of the 240. For
it's last year, Volvo installed a driver side airbag. Converted the
A/C from the R12 to R134 and added a panel to protect the driver's leg
in case of an accident. Those three improvements are lacking on the
'92 240. The '93 240 also has ABS, I don't recall if it was new for
'93, but it's possible. (Maybe the bitch posting in this forum can
correct me).

The air bag is good for 10 years. Have a look at the sticker. Even
the 1998 Volvos have a sticker stating the date the air bag(s) need to
be changed and it is 10 yeras later, not 15. After Volvo was sold to
Ford, then it was decided by some sort of magic that air bags that
were previously only good for 10 yrs were now good for 15 yrs.

With it's record for safety, would you trust Ford???

What most people do is disable the air bag. It can be done in 10
minutes and is explained in Haynes.

Rust is usually a problem is you live where winter means snow and salt
on the road. It is a non-interference engine. Parts are relatively
cheap and is easy to maintain. If you can, switch to synthetic, Mobil
one. Averages ~ 20 MPG (combined).

 

Boy, we're going to enjoy your help in this group.
--

Stewart Hargrave


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name

 

Did you really expect anything more from "Sammy"?

 

Your mother may also wish to consider a newer Volvo like a '96 - '97 850
(those were the best years for the 850). In the market that I am in - US
midwest, I have seen several of these cars advertised for between
$8000 - $10000, with about 60K - 100K miles (and I see similar prices on
ebay motors). They have the advantage of having a more powerful engine,
front-wheel drive, TRACS, driver and passenger airbags, and side impact
airbags (standard after '95). I've owned a 240 and an 850, and the 850
is definitely more comfortable to drive and ride in. The annual service
costs on our 850 are between $500 - $700. The 850's fuel economy is also
better than the 240 (we get about 20 city, 26 hwy, EPA says 22 city,
29 hwy).

I could well have been wrong on the price of the airbag, so it is a
good idea to have it priced by the dealer.

Beverly

 

Average means little. Condition and maintenance mean everything.
That's about $8000 USD. I sold a '92 240 wagon w/ slightly fewer
miles last year for that amount. (Wagons worth about $500 more.)
The car was worth it. If I found a '93 wagon w/ good
mileage/condition/maintenance I would pay that. Pay to have it
thoroughly checked over by experienced Volvo specialist looking for
EVERYTHING. Have records reviewed for what has been done, and what
will need to be done in future$$.

 

To put it mildly...

 

Yup, that price was a dealer quote for two airbags on a 760, plus labor.
Each airbag alone was about $2600 - five years ago.

 

If it is a "classic" and has every option, it's still
a bit overpriced.

re: airbags:
Disabling the airbag is actually a straightforward procedure
as it's really only a backup for your seatbelt, and Volvo has
great seatbelts. You can't sell the car with a disabled
airbag, but as an owner, you can disable it(and drive it
forever)

 

The engine is good, but at this age, a 850 Turbo isn't a good choice
unless the turbo has been serviced. OTOH, you *can* get 850s with
dead turbos for a steal and get it fixed easily.

As for FWD, it's mostly hype and only truly helps the tiniest of
cars. Airbags are debateable as well as to whether or not they
really help in the U.S. as they are designed to be primary
restraints and often do more harm than good(as opposed to
the half power ones sold elsewhere that require the use of
a seatbelt.

Yes, they are fun to drive, though.

Yikes. My 240 cost me half that. It was dirt cheap to keep
running. Of course, I had a manual and massaged a half-dead
clutch 20K.(still worked when I sold it, btw).

Anyone can disable any safety feature on their car as long as there
isn't a law preventing it(like mandatory seatbelt laws). You
can't resell it, though, without re-enabling them. Me? I'd
disable the old full-force airbags and enjoy the car - it's
plenty safe.

 

This is a very good point. A new turbo is expensive. However, even
the normally aspirated versions of Volvo's 5-cyl engine put out about
168 hp, which is more than the normally aspirated B230 in the 240.

But this engine coupled with an automatic transmission is not very
interesting at all.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the B230 engine is easier
to work on than the 5-cyl engines - in favor of 240/940.