Would you buy a 940 with 300,000 miles that is a one owner with all the records of the whole life of the car?

I'm looking at it tomorrow!!

 

Yes. I would take it for a long drive if they are asking more than $800 for it. I put over 400,000 on a 740 GLE and it was in great shape.

 

I have found lots of stories about people going over 450,000 on their 940!

How about a 460? I know nothing about them yet!

I'll be paying more than 800 for sure on the 1 owner 1993 940 that was cared for all it's life..

They also have a 960 and another 940 that I can see!

wish me luck!!!

 

Just wanted to report back that I had some good luck today and found a 940 wagon that I'm going to buy.I put money down on it and pick it up next week.

It is a 1994 940 wagon with 184,000 miles around $2500.00

It's in really nice condition inside and out.

I looked at the 940 with 300,000 miles and it was nice as well but the cd player didn't work and it was a 93 and just seemed older in the style of it somehow? Not sure if they changed between 93 and 94? but I liked the 94 better.

Here is a pic of the one I'm buying!!

 

Glad you found a car you like. Hope you enjoy it.

 

A 460? Where are you? It's not really a Volvo in my book, more like a DAF...

Hard to tell the diff between a '93 and '94 940, outside temp gauge?

And its all about the maintenance and the way it was cared for... True for ANY car!

 

I think he was referring to the 960.

 

sorry yes I meant 960 haha... all these numbers flying around my head the last week!!!

The lot I was at had a 960 but the lot owner talked me out of that quick..

Here is the 940 that they had with 300,000 on it. I decided not to go with it because I found one cheaper with less miles on it.

I like these wheels on this one in the pic though!!

Cheers!

 

I have to add my two pennies worth in right here. Regardless of the final decision that you made, I think that there are two schools of thought when it comes to buying a high mileage Volvo.

On the one hand, any high mileage car should have the price knocked down simply because... WELL DUH! It's a high mileage car. I've seen a lot of high mileage Volvos for sale at prices that send me tumbling backwards in shock. The seller will tell me all about how these cars run and run and run. Well of course, they do. But I think that you will notice that when they get up in the 300K range, they need to be owned by someone that's enthusiastic about keeping them running. If they are in the hands of someone who knows absolutely zero, ziltch, nada about Volvos, they're very likely to be frustrating to the point wanting to sell and buy something newer. Am I right on this?

The other school of thought is that yes indeed, the Volvo does keep right on running towards the magic million mark. My own 1988 Volvo 244DL has somewhere WAYYYYY up over 400K. I really don't know how much more than that it has because the odometer broke in '97 when it was showing 225K. I went for three years before I got it fixed. Then it broke again in 2008 showing the current 405K. So it has gone some six years or so with no odometer and me driving this car EVERYDAY. The car gives very, very few problems. When it does give a problem, I am so in tune with all the little sounds and symptoms that I fix it almost immediately. I work on it myself because I know that I will fix it right. And I think that this is one of the keys to success. I've owned the car since 1994 and it's been my baby for many years.

So here's my rub with people trying to sell a high mileage Volvo for too much money. My ability to keep my car running should pay dividends TO ME and NOT THE DAMN SELLER! And I truly believe that there is NO high mileage car of any marque that belongs in the hands of someone that is not either knowledgeable already or willing to learn. Anyone that thinks they can find a high mileage car that will be as troublefree as a much lower mileage car is living in a dream world.

Finally, while I am on my rant, I have to say that I also own an old Harley. As any motorcycle enthusiast will tell you, Harleys don't sell cheap even when old. This Harley phenomenon has become very pervasive and now, Harleys really command very high prices. But my question is: "Are they really selling for those prices or are the sellers only hoping and fishing?" I mean, we always see ads for Harleys that have outrageous prices, but how do we know if people are really buying the bikes for THOSE prices? I think it's the same with high mileage Volvos. There are certainly enough Volvos around that it doesn't cost me a thing to lowball an offer and, if it isn't accepted, walk out.

Therefore IMHO, I wouldn't be afraid to buy any Volvo with the redblock engine. But I would also want to spend wisely and make it work to MY advantage because of my willingness to get greasy and keep 'er running.

 

I pretty much feel the same way. When I put over 400,000 on my 740 GLE, I was willing to give it away because I got my money's worth out of it. I didn't need to get any more. I think people are selfish and greedy when they try to sell a plain jane old worn out car for more than $500. I mean, give me a break. They won't get that kind of money out of me. Now a car with some kind of collector status to it would be another issue. Like a Bertone or 850 Platinum or something produced on a limited run.

I sold my 740 GLE, that I was using every day in my real estate business (very good looking car) for $7.38 to a single mom. I sold my 262 Bertone to a guy for $138. A '95 960 for $1 to a college kid, a '98 S90 for $1,100 after totally servicing it with new timing belt, water pump, etc. to a college kid, a '91 Maxima to a family for repairs of $147 (it only had 65,000 miles on it), and a '95 Saturn for cost and repairs $1,100 (to a senior). I would not have hesitated to drive any of these cars 1,500 miles to any coast. All of these cars were in good shape, little or no body damage, and looked good (the 262 had some rust on it). There is simply no need for the greed!!!

As for what it's worth... The good thing about this is that you can figure that out by going to websites like www.NDADGuides.com. They use actual registered sales records to determine the value of these cars. There are 2 things that sque these numbers: 1. People reporting low sales prices to avoid paying sales taxes. 2. States and counties exempting mileage on a car because it is over 10 years old (I really hate this one).

Now back to what people should charge and pay... This is a free country so we can ask for what we want. As stated, I wouldn't personally pay much for any car with over 200,000 on the clock, there is just no way of telling if that motor or tranny will make it another week. Now the rest of the car can be checked out pretty easy. I do think that it's easy to get a car into shape so that it can be expected to last about 4 years. It has better be in good shape for that to happen. New brakes, good seats, new timing belt, good tires, no leaks or abnormal consumption, just about any car can make it 2 to 4 years. And for my last bit of value... I don't think it's unreasonable for a car to cost someone $400 per month. So if you pay $1,200 for a car, be glad that it got you somewhere for 3 months. I also believe that any car that doesn't have any body damage and can start and drive 500 miles is worth $1,500. So I'm not really bent about somone paying $2,000 for a running car, but I think it's pretty nutty for someone to pay $2,500 or $3,500 for any car over 10 years old with more than 200,000 on the clock. Those are $500 - $800 cars to me.

 

woodenyouknowit and rspi have some very good advice (as I'm sure they know), and I won't rewrite their posts.

I will disagree respectfully that any car should cost $400/mo. While you shouldn't be offended by any little repair (there are some people who think their car is unreliable, because it needed a battery after 5 years, for example), I do try to keep that cost lower!!
I also disagree that any car that can make it 500 miles is worth $1500.

I'd definitely lowball. If it has 300,000 miles, buy it for $300, and expect to put some real money (or real time on your part) into it. That's not lowballing at all. By the time you're done, you could easily have a $2000 car in good shape, with 300,000 miles on it.

I'm younger, and have been into cars for less time than most here.
My two experiences are with my own 1990 mercury colony park, and an almost identical (radical dash changes) 1989 mercury colony park I later got for my sister.

My own car I got for $1800 with 108,000 miles on the dash and a rebuild transmission, 2 years ago.
It ended up needing a lot. I wasn't too savvy 2 years ago, either. Tires, front brakes & rotors, shocks, 4 window motors died in the first 5 months and the last (5th) died last summer, the water pump began to leak once I started driving it, two separate cooling hoses burst. There were oil leaks and a power steering leak to take care of. A clogged radiator.
To tell the truth, I had a lot of fun learning and fixing it up. But I spent a lot on parts, and a lot on time, and if I'd gone to a city shop (labor rates are $100/hr, even at independent shops), the bill would have been maybe $3k. No joke. As it was I spent $1k in parts, I think. There was a lot more I ended up doing before I was through, to really bring the car into like-new shape.

Fast forward to last october, when my sister hit a deer and needed a new car. She liked mine, so we found a 1989 colony park wagon in PA. Guy wanted $1500 at first. We talked him down to $1000, and when I saw the car, talked him down to $850.
It was in good shape, really good shape, for what it was (a 23 year old car). Just 84,000 miles on the dash, single-owner, engine ran GREAT, transmission shifted smoothly, all the gauges worked, all the lights worked.
Had a dead window motor and 2 dead lock actuators. Power antenna broken.

We gave it the royal treatment. We assumed that no one had done any routine maintenance (beyond oil changes), and took it from there. $1200 and 45 billable hours of labor, by book time (and that included some underestimations too), we had redone the entire cooling system, a couple leaky oil gaskets, water pump (which was bad), heater core (partially clogged), the window motor and actuators, the antenna, a full tuneup, new tires, new shocks... the list was long frankly.
Even for a car that was low-mileage and adequately maintained. The spark plugs turned out to be relatively new after I pulled them, and the rear shocks had been done once before, for example. Pulled the valve covers, and it was clean: oil changes had been done. A coolant flush had been done at some recent point.
But it still took $1200 in parts and 45 hours of work to bring it back to pristine, to where I felt my sister could drive it safely 900 miles back to college with no risk of breakdown, and pass any state safety inspection, or go to any shop, and leave the mechanic shaking his head, unable to upsell a single thing. That's the standard I wanted; but, that's kind of how any of our cars should be. I don't want a car with bald tires, low brakes, sometimes-stalling issues, a check engine light I just blindly ignore, and a dead lock I just have to open manually. I don't want a POS, and I didn't want a POS beater for my sister, either.
So for $2050, she has an old car that should need nothing beyond old changes for the next 30,000 miles. Good deal. But the 45 hours of time we put into it needs to be factored in, too, and we needed more room in case we discovered more wrong (and we did-- we didn't expect to have to do the water pump, or remove the heater core). Because we only spent $850 we felt better about it. Had we spent $1500, we'd definitely be grumpy about it!
The worth of a car is bracketed by scrap weight on the low end ($300), and the cost of book value- repair cost on the high end, which could get very low indeed.
I've got a friend who can't give away his 2002 V70, because the cost of repairs will be around $6000 :-) Therefore it's worth $300 to a scrapyard. It has 202,000 miles, but again, it needs that much work... No one will touch it.


My story involves 2 old cars that had solid engines and transmissions, and 108k and 86k miles respectively, that still needed a lot of other work.
At 300,000 miles, unless they've got all the records and you can seen that the entire powertrain and suspension and several accessories have been replaced in the last 100k, anything is up for grabs.
Offer $300-$500 if you intend to pass state inspection (if your state has a rigorous one), and plan to put a lot of $$$, or time+$, into it. And don't cry if the trans starts slipping next month, because it was cheap.
But if you overpay... that could be your sob story.


Looking at a 108k 840 tomorrow, immaculate interior, and sound mechanically (just had a timing belt, booster put on; drives smoothly) for $700. It's a good deal... but I want to leave myself room financially in case anything brakes a month from today, as well it might on any old car. I'm hopefully going to get it for $500 even.

 

First of all, what is a 840??? Never hard of that model. And please don't compare a 24 year old American made car that was designed to last 12 years and 150,000 miles to a car that was designed to last 20 years and 400,000 to 500,000 miles, just not apples and grapes.

When I made mention to spending $1,500 for a car, I really was saying that any car that you can start and drive, that doesn't appear to have any real issues is worth $1,500, and I stand by that. Any car that you will pay less than that for will likely need work with a week.

I have gotten my hands on all kinds of cars from $1 to $1,500. I have also sold cars for $1, $7.38, $138, a 13 year old Volvo for $4,500, a 16 year old volvo for $5,900. It's all about what the car is worth to you. The car I sold for $1 was driven 425 miles away and beat for about 18 months before it died due to a radiator leak/over heated. I picked up a 960 for $500, put about $300 into it and drove it 500 miles and sold it to a guy that will likely drive it for 4 years with no problems. Yes it would need tires soon, heck that alone could cost $650 (for the tires I usually purchase). The car had no body damage and the interior was like brand new. I purchased a Saturn for $500, put about $300 into it and drove it 950 and sold it to a senior for what I had in it plus travel expenses. She is still driving it 6 months later with normal repairs needed.

The facts are, if you purchase any car that is older than 10 years old, it will need repairs like any other man made car that is out of warranty. The only real difference from a car that is 10 years old or 3 months old is a warranty and sticker price. Between NORMAL maintenance and repairs, any car is likely to cost you $75 per month. Tires, brakes, oil, door latch, bad battery, etc., cars cost money to get on the road. It's not bad to spend $5,000 for a nice 15 year old car if it's in good condition. A 850 Volvo with 200,000 miles on it can easily outlast a 2008 Hyundai if it's in good condition when you get it or if you are willing to put a little money into it.

Yes I do know that any 13 year old car that you purchase will likely need $2,000 to $4,000 in repairs/maintenance, but the truth is that a lot of that work and be put off and done a little at a time. I believe in taking the retail price and subtracting the cost of needed repairs and maintenance and paying that for the car. That's the only smart thing to do. But really the bottom line here is, once someone has made their purchase, and dropped their money on a ride, all you can do is congratulate them and wish them the best. If they run into some issues with the car, offer any help you can give and move forward.

 

I think that the $400 per month spent on a car referred to what it would cost if we were making payments on a newer car. In that case, $400 might be getting off cheap these days. LOL. Many times, I've thought about how I am saving money by keeping my old DL alive and I've always thought in terms of $400 per month.

I know that the 850 is front wheel drive. Personally, I am afraid of FWD cars due to the complexity of the drivetrain. If the car needs transmissions repairs, that entire power unit needs to come out of the car and that pretty much places the car beyond the abilities of most DYSers. At least I know it sure does me.

Years ago, I bought a brand new 242GT in 1980. Volvo gave me a subscription to their magazine named "Via Volvo." It came out every two months. I remember in one issue, there was an article about why Volvo did not build front wheel drive cars. They had some very good solid reasons and I remember that one of those was that the major advantage of FWD was that it cut manufacturing costs. The design allowed the factories to set the entire drivetrain into the chassis in one operation thereby cutting time. The trade-off was that the car became more expensive to service. This also played into the factory's plans because it pressured customers into bringing their cars back to the dealers for repairs. The old guard at Volvo at that time, stated plainly that this was not the kind of car that they wanted to build.

I fully agree with this and can say so based on personal experience. My wife loved her little Honda she was driving when we got married. But when the car reached around 130,000 it developed a metalic grinding noise in the transmission. We could not find a replacement in a salvage yard that would fit and to repair the original actually totalled the car. Sadly, the rest of the car was in really good shape.

Then the very same thing occurred years later with my wife's Nissan Maxima. Again, it developed transmission problems and the cost to rebuild the trans was absolutely outrageous. Scratch one more Japanese car. That was twice that this happened to us but it has never happened with our rear wheel drive Volvos. Just food for thought.