I'm picking up a 740 wagon Saturday, and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on rear end damage - specifically, the bumper being pushed in about 1" on the passenger side and the quarter panel area being slightly folded in. It looks like the force of the impact may have pushed the metal up and frontwards, since the door gap gets slimmer towards the bottom and I didn't see any scuffing on the dent itself. Is there any realistic hope of repairing it by replacing a panel or doing any rope+tree+accelerator style bodywork? Before the trunk latch stopped working, it did close nice, and there's no signs of leakage along the weatherstripping on that side. I'm hoping that means nothing structural is out of whack, but I have no idea how these cars are put together. Being that it's got near to 300k on it and was free, I'll take what I can get, but I'd like to at least make an effort at getting it nice for the 100-200k the engine seems to be looking forward to. No pictures of the folded metal, but below is a shot of the bumper. Yes, it's a gem.

Thanks

 

junkyard. part it out for good engine parts, IF you know the thinhg was well maintained before it was wrecked.

once the unibody is tweaked like that, its a lost cause.

my wifes 1993 960 wagon that got tweaked when a mercedes slammed into the back of it in 2001.... she drove home, the benz was flatbedded off.




that was a NICE car that only had about 80k miles on it

 

You should remove the bumper to get a better idea. No body panel to replace back there, all is unibody welded except for the bumper. The tree-rope pull is impossible with Volvo structures (personal experience) but you may have some success with a big sledge hammer to get that door latch to close.

 

Dang, that's about what I expected. It's not as bad as that picture, the body lines are still straight and the door gap is very slight. I'll yank the bumper and see if anything can be done. The trunk still does line up except for the frozen latch, and it's mechanically decent, so I may just drive it as is. My Subaru outback is in its death throes, so this will probably be a beater wagon replacement anyway.

 

any door frame thats even a little bit tweaked will likely let rainwater in, dooming your car to hidden interior rust, electrical problems from persistent condenstation, and mold growth.

 

It's been sitting for 3 years uncovered and the only signs of water I could find were from clogged sunroof drains. Shockingly, the power sunroof worked fine, but the seal was dry rotted enough to keep it from sliding back. Floors and underside were all solid too, and the only rot was a tiny patch in the front subframe/wheel well. It is a very slight gap misalignment, I looked it over a few times and missed it until I ran a finger along it. The sunroof leak has definitely lead to some funky smells, and I definitely will need to track down a new sunroof seal and some window weatherstripping, but I've lived with much worse.

 

RE sunroof leak. Make sure the front drain holes are clear, the back are hard to get to. The sunroof "seal" is not a seal, more of a dust/debris shield. If the front holes are clear but the back ones are clogged you can park facing slightly down slope, that takes care of the water intrusion from the sunroof tray.

 

Thanks, that's what I figured. I'll do my best with a wire and air compressor, hopefully I can manage the back two.