I just bought my first Volvo - 1990 240 DL, light grey. Purchased it from a Ford retiree who put a new engine and clutch in (and new starter and crank sensor/fuses) 3 years ago (the starter is a week old).

First time owning a stick, 14 years since I drove one even a few times.

Odometer says 165k miles but it doesn't move so clearly that's not right. However, the car is in Pristine Condition. New paint job, chrome and rubber is perfect (except for the outer rubber strip under the window, that's cracked a bit), blue interior is also Pristine, the seats seem barely sat in, $1,100 JVC stereo installed by him. I'm in love.

Previous cars (POS's) were:

1988 Omni
1994 Cavalier
1996 Buick Regal
1992 Dodge Shadow (miss that car!)
1992 Dodge Dynasty
1995 Dodge Intrepid ES Sport

Only the Intrepid made it above 200,000 miles, and just barely.

I looked around for a good American used car with my 1800 bucks and found nothing but old Focus' and Taurus' all with 140-160K on them already. No thanks.

Then I saw my new baby "Bessie the Big Gray Box" for exactly the money I had to spend, and it was mine. Yes I paid full asking price and I'm very happy. a 3 year old engine and clutch with everything else pristine, yep.

Of course, three hours after I drove it, I turned the heat dial to 4 and the heater hoses blew up, haha. This is a 22 year old car, sure the belts and hoses and mountings are going to be, uh, old. Expected. 1/2 day and 231.00 later Bessie is back on the road and I'm having a ball!

I'm still learning the fine art of getting into 1st gear from neutral, downshifting, rev matching, and turning, but I'm getting there. It's a lot of fun and I'm happy to have a running car again, the Intrepid died 3 weeks ago.

It's adorable, interesting, has more bells and whistles than my Intrepid, and seems to be in pretty good shape for it's age. I need to replace belts soon, and all the rubber, but otherwise she's running great and I'm thrilled. I'm already looking for a wagon to buy (89-92)!

Bessie is my first foreign car and so far I'm highly impressed and amazed at how well the car has held up in 22 years. I plan to get the odometer fixed (or attempt to fish out that little gear myself and give it a stern talking to) so I can figure out my gas mileage.

I turn 35 in a month and this is a great birthday present. It's nice to learn something new and get exposed to a new breed of tank.

Glad to be here!

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You will find lots of good info and parts on iPd's website. www.iPdUSA.com. They specialize in Volvo's and you'll get a lot from them. That is one of the best cars ever built, not sure why it needed a motor unless something freeky happened, like over heated or something.

Have fun and you'll learn how easy they are to work on soon.