Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum, but I am thinking about buying an 88 volvo wagon as seen here.

1988 VOLVO WAGON "The Brick" 117K Miles!!

here is what he says about it...

"Yes--it's registered and current stickered,--we drive it all the time,,,she passed easily!
Important and expensive things like transmission ,motor , front end , brakes, body are fine,,,,,,, Little things like a torn seat,---mechancals like odometer gear, temp guage intermittently working are all $2.00 parts and an hour labor. Some rust on rear deck....After all she is 25 yrs old.

you'll see I'm the 2nd owner-bought it from an older gentleman who gave up his license due to health reasons..........he took pretty good care of it. Timing belt and water pump done at 75K, I put in new battery,new transmission lines, Michelins."

what do you guys think? what should I look out for when I go to look at it tomorrow?

I've heard volvos run forever, and everyone thinks I'm crazy for wanting to buy such an old car.

also, 2500 seems a bit much, no?

 

Odometer gear means a broken odometer, means miles are UNKNOWN. Rust holes are visible in picture (rust is like an iceberg, 90% is underneath).

 

The car looks good,hope it runs good as well. Bargain and tell him you have a lot of work to do on the rust back there. Maybe you have to change the rear door completely as I see some rust at the bottom edge too. The Odometer and temp gauge fixing is not a 2 dollar part and an hours labour. You never know where the problem lies. If it was a 2 dollar part and an hours work then he would have fixed it himself long ago to got a better price. Tell him that. Also tell him that repairing and repolishing the front seats is going to cost you.Give him 2000 at the most.You can find other better and cheaper cars

 

those Corona alloys aren't at all rare on GL's from the late 80s, early 90s. they were just the stock alloy volvo put on them instead of the default steel wheels. they are nice enough wheels, but the center caps have a nasty habit of rattling something fierce, and falling off if the retainer springs aren't in kept in good shape. our 87 sedan has the same wheels, we're down to 2 hubcaps. oh, ours has 250K miles on the odo and about 400K estimated total, and the body has zero rust, but we're on the left coast.

 

BUY BUY BUY ..... it's freaking nice....body decent enough to keep you motivated and you can worry only on the mechanical aspects of the wagon...I feel if you like what your eyes see, you are motivated to work through some of the know Volvo problems....if you showed us a picture of a rust pile with dings and holes and broken head lights etc, I would not recomend it, but this one is sweet.....I like those mag wheels are old enough to be nice but not too generic to be boring.

 

check those wipers in that front picture, I don't think they should be like that at full extension. if they need R&R, its rather painful as the mechanical leverage is all under the dashboard, and only part of it is accessible from behind the glovebox.

now, maybe just one of them needs the nut tightened that holds the arm on the shaft... or a new arm, cheap enough.

 

It looks nice enough, but one of the front fenders looks like it's a lighter color -- no accidents? You should check the usual 240 potential rust spots: underneath the tailgate/under the back bumper, spare wheel wells, floor at the front (have a poke around under the front seats from underneath the car using a screwdriver). Also the bottom of the windshield, sills and rear arches are all rust-prone.

 

$2,500 seems steep to me for a Volvo that vintage and on the mainland...If the pictures showed a showroom floor wagon, it might be worth it The way it is...I'd talk him down a grand. Sicnarf is right...the seller is not being honest with you.