Hello all,

First post here, I found the forums to be very helpful and informative, so I thought I would join in.

My question is about this 1983 240 DL I found on craigslist San Francisco. I test drove the car, it has abou 113,000 miles on the odometer. Condition is good, starts up well, shifts between gears without any lag, goes 65 on the highway without noise, drives straight when you let go of the steering wheel (only for a sec, don't worry).

Any tips would be appreciated from someone who has owned this make and model. He is asking $1600 for it, which seems high, but I cant get a bluebook value for that year on kbb.com. Seems like the right ball park, but it has low tread on the tires, needs an oil change (the oil was low) and might need a couple other minor repairs. Owner says the car has had one previous owner, and gave me the "old lady driving to church story," but seemed to be honest about it.

Owner isn't mechanically savvy, but he said he took it to the mechanic anytime anything went wrong, and was pretty good about changing the oil every 3k miles.

I like the car and got a good feeling about it, but would love to hear from some other more experienced Volvo folks if there is anything else to know about the 1983 240 DL. Did I miss any routine checks during the inspection of the car? Any other questions I should be asking the owner?

I look forward to hearing your answers, thanks!

 

The main issue on a 25-year old car might be rust and corrosion. I would have my trusted mechanic put it on a hoist and check the undercarriage/suspension for rust. Also the wiring insulation tends to get brittle and flakey. Check the wiring.

The engines tend to last forever if they are not overheated or abused. A compression test of the cylinders would probably be something I would do.

 

For a SF area car rust would not be an issue, I wouldn't worry about that.The wiring, yes, check around the starter/alternator and all visible wiring around the area for flaky or separating wires.

The price is fine if it's a nice car, book values are irrelevant for cars of that vintage. I'd check into the milleage, seems very low for an '83. A Carfaxmay give you some idea as to the truthfullness of the car's history. Other than that, it's common sense checking out a car: if it looks ok, drives ok, rides ok, doesn't smoke or leak and all works, then it's probably fine...

 

Thanks tedv and blue goose, definitely helpful.

The car has lived in California its whole life, so very low rust. I will take a look at the wiring around the starter and alternator for bad wiring, good problem to note. I may end up doing a Carfax history check just for fun. I don't think the owner seemed mechanically savvy enough to roll the odometer back (to his credit), and I did make sure that it ticked past a few miles while I test drove it on the freeway, so I suspect it was garaged or used very little for a long time before the current owner had it. That would explain the low miles well enough for me.

He offered all of the back paperwork for the repairs also, so I would imagine there isn't anything that would be a deal breaker, unless there is some ominous problem this make and model is known for. So far all I have found that is major is that they need a timing belt every 50k miles or so, which seems reasonable.

 

Looks like you may have found a winner, kitty. Pretty hard to go wrong at that price.

Good point about the rust. Mine's San Diego and zero rust.

Post a pic when you can.

 

Got the car!

No pictures yet, but a great car so far. Needs tires soon, and the trunk had to be opened using a drill through the lock, the previous owner lost his key about 3 days before the sale and paid a locksmith 200+ to re-key the car outside his college where it was parked. Looks like it might have a small oil leak and transmission fluid, but after 3000 miles the oil changer said it was only 1/2 a quart low, so no big deal to top it off.

A few other little problems like the glove box being locked shut, but I am working it out. Put a new air filter in and it seemed to like that. Thinking I might just try a fuel filter also, it takes a few cranks of the starter to get going, I think previous owner might have run out of gas, which would have clogged the filter. That is just a guess, but it can't hurt to change the filter anyway.

I got it for $1400 also, since it had some problems. Hopefully it will keep going for a long time!

Any tips on keeping a good schedule of maintenance? I know there are things that need to be done at a certain mile limit, or time limit, but other than the oil changing I am not certain what they are. Anyone know of a good chart that is online, or something like that? It would be great to have some document to remind me when to get a coolant flush, rotate tire, change plugs, etc, if something exists.

Thanks for the helpful advice!

 

Check out www.stepbystepvolvo.com for a few hints on 240 and also on glove box locks.

 

Nice, that website rocks!

 

Ha ha ha. So, silly me, I didn't realize that in California the SELLER of the car must pay for and pass a smog check before selling the car. So, I ended up paying for it. I failed the first time, so I had to take it to a mechanic. Doh! The mechanic said there was nothing wrong, per-se, but that I need to do these things before taking the smog test:

1. The 15 MPH test has to be run when the car is in 1st gear. It is an automatic transmission, so it has to be on "1"
2. The 25 MPH test has to be run when the car is in 2nd gear.
3. You have to get the engine hot before running the test. I had my foot on the pedal at high rpms (no meter, so I went by sound) for a good 20 minutes, just to be sure. Burned a lot of gas, and created a lot of smog ironically.

But, in the end I passed. It was a meager victory, but it was my mistake for not knowing the rule. I got about $200 off when buying the car ($1400) but ended up paying about that much for the smog check, mechanic, and re-check. Anyone getting a similar Volvo smogged in California, be forewarned! Get the previous owner to smog it, or take the above precautionary steps, even if the car is in tip-top shape!

Thanks for all of the advice, I finally got a new grill for the car, so once I get it on there I will have pictures with me and my smiling face

 

New tires too.

 

Not quite. In California the buyer PAYS for the smog, but the car must be able to pass the test or the deal can be unwound.