Hi all, my name is Bill. I've been a Saab owner for years now, but my 900s died, and I am thinking about switching over to Volvo. I have a down payment on a 1991 Black 740 Turbo. I've never owned a Volvo before, so be gentle. The car has 146k miles, and appears to be in very decent shape minus a cracked taillight. I know there is plenty of life left in this thing, however I'm concerned that if the turbo unit went, it'd be a very costly repair? In the event that this happened, how much would a repair cost?

Also, are there any other things to look for for this particular year/model?

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

 

I own a 91 740 turbo with 135k on it and it is great. Still very quick etc. If the turbo fails you can get a new or used one for 200-300 bucks and put it in yourself its not too hard i dont think. Hard to say when a turbo will go, but test drive the car and see if the turbo kicks in right away, if it does it probbably has a lot of life left.

 

Sorry for the short answer before. The 740's are a great can and will run for a long time if you maintain it well. The turbos are quicker then you think with 161 **** power new. You say that you may buy one with about 150k on it. Thats a good number i would say because its getting harder to find older volvos with "low" miles. I bought mine for $2500 and it is in great cond. The seller had it painted by maaco and its a ****ty job, but still looks good. Im a college student so money is tight as you know, and volvo parts are kind of pricy but new parts are not needed that often. The problems i can tell you to look for is the fuel pump relay...it just goes bad and can make the car not start but its just a $25 part. Lets see what else...
aside from regular maint. its a solid car, of course with every make of car there are some lemons so watch out. These cars are good because they dont rust for a long time, well i havent seen one rust so that is good. There much like your saab just with a better tranny lol. I say do it and less then 3 grand would be a fair price, but of course if you can steal it then your really making out. Good luck and i hope i helped.

 

thanks for your reply. i think i'm going to get it if everything checks out ok... its a steal at only $900.

anyone else have any experiences with their 740 turbos... i know there's gotta be some high mileage owners out there... how long did the turbos last in your cars?

 

with all Turbo models, all I can offer to keep it spinning is change oil, change oil, change oil, change oil.
2500 miles and avoid store brands. Mine has 160+ and purrs.

 

I have a 1991 740 turbo wagon and it just rolled 150,000. We have had it regularly tuned up at the dealer for the past 15 years and it has been running great, the starter is going out just a lil, and for a while it was stalling (once on the freeway, not good). We have never had trouble with the turbo. O yea, dont push them to their limits (130+mph) ours overheated and never has been the same. Great Car, work horse!

 

I have a 1990 turbo. The engines (single cam) are great! They will go for hundreds of thousands of miles if the oil is changed regularly. Also, if you do run into problems as you will with any older cars, there is a real wealth of info here on the web; moreso than with other makes it seems. Volvo people are a dedicated group it seems.

 

740's are cheap, cheap, cheap to maintain. Hugely strong aftermarket for replacement and performance parts, heaps in wreckers, easy to work on and repair.
One of teh main reasons I went with a745t was the strong aftermarket parts availability, plus they're a lot of car (and not just in size)for the money.

Regards, Andrew.

 

My 740turbo wagon has almost 250,000 miles and it still is running strong. the only trouble i had was a blown head gasket.