Help on buying a 240DL?
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Joined: Apr 2012
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Help on buying a 240DL?
Hi gang,
Just joined to solicit a little advice from people that know a lot more about these cars than I.
I'm far from a mechanic just occasionally tinker on old air cooled VW I have, but only the things I learned from forums and a few books I bought.
Anyway. Went to look at a 1990 240DL today. (this one: 1990 Volvo 240DL 5spd) as a first car for my son who is turning 16 next week. It runs and drives great. Brakes were a little mushy and the cosmetics are not quite as nice as those pics, but not too bad at all...)
The two things that scared me were:
The instrument cluster at lights showed the bad bulb signal. Seller claimed this was just something "it did" but in fact I noticed that one of the tailights was out. so I'm hoping it's just a bulb. Second was the high beam switch was SUPER finicky took about thirty seconds of playing with it to get it to switch up and down.
I'm presuming that the high beam switch is just hardware failure, but what I'd like to know from you guys is whether I should be concerned about electrical in these cars. I've done some preliminary research and it looks like these guys just eat up tailight bulbs, so maybe it's nothing.
Making matters worse is the car is not real close to my house, (a solid 45 minute drive) so I can't just pop back over there with a bulb and see if that fixes the issue.
Any thoughts? (So for the verbose first post!)
Thanks in advance.
dm
Just joined to solicit a little advice from people that know a lot more about these cars than I.
I'm far from a mechanic just occasionally tinker on old air cooled VW I have, but only the things I learned from forums and a few books I bought.
Anyway. Went to look at a 1990 240DL today. (this one: 1990 Volvo 240DL 5spd) as a first car for my son who is turning 16 next week. It runs and drives great. Brakes were a little mushy and the cosmetics are not quite as nice as those pics, but not too bad at all...)
The two things that scared me were:
The instrument cluster at lights showed the bad bulb signal. Seller claimed this was just something "it did" but in fact I noticed that one of the tailights was out. so I'm hoping it's just a bulb. Second was the high beam switch was SUPER finicky took about thirty seconds of playing with it to get it to switch up and down.
I'm presuming that the high beam switch is just hardware failure, but what I'd like to know from you guys is whether I should be concerned about electrical in these cars. I've done some preliminary research and it looks like these guys just eat up tailight bulbs, so maybe it's nothing.
Making matters worse is the car is not real close to my house, (a solid 45 minute drive) so I can't just pop back over there with a bulb and see if that fixes the issue.
Any thoughts? (So for the verbose first post!)
Thanks in advance.
dm
Last edited by dmphx; Apr 1, 2012 at 08:35 PM.
Welcome to the forum, she looks great. 
That's the best time to take pictures and with a little modifying(hence the credits in the bottom left) no doubt they'll look better than in person.
I wouldn't hesitate with that buy, looks to be owned by a proper enthusiast. The "it did" quote by the seller is just a typical problem with these cars, bulb light failures and finicky tail light bulbs. As for the high beams, that could just be a relay, or the stalk is going bad, but you can grab one at a junk yard eventually I'm sure. If that is a factory M47, that's the more desirable and basically rare for a late model 240.
As long as your son promises to take care of that what looks to be a gem 240, buy it!
That's the best time to take pictures and with a little modifying(hence the credits in the bottom left) no doubt they'll look better than in person.
I wouldn't hesitate with that buy, looks to be owned by a proper enthusiast. The "it did" quote by the seller is just a typical problem with these cars, bulb light failures and finicky tail light bulbs. As for the high beams, that could just be a relay, or the stalk is going bad, but you can grab one at a junk yard eventually I'm sure. If that is a factory M47, that's the more desirable and basically rare for a late model 240.
As long as your son promises to take care of that what looks to be a gem 240, buy it!
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Welcome to the forum, she looks great.
That's the best time to take pictures and with a little modifying(hence the credits in the bottom left) no doubt they'll look better than in person.
I wouldn't hesitate with that buy, looks to be owned by a proper enthusiast. The "it did" quote by the seller is just a typical problem with these cars, bulb light failures and finicky tail light bulbs. As for the high beams, that could just be a relay, or the stalk is going bad, but you can grab one at a junk yard eventually I'm sure. If that is a factory M47, that's the more desirable and basically rare for a late model 240.
As long as your son promises to take care of that what looks to be a gem 240, buy it!
That's the best time to take pictures and with a little modifying(hence the credits in the bottom left) no doubt they'll look better than in person.
I wouldn't hesitate with that buy, looks to be owned by a proper enthusiast. The "it did" quote by the seller is just a typical problem with these cars, bulb light failures and finicky tail light bulbs. As for the high beams, that could just be a relay, or the stalk is going bad, but you can grab one at a junk yard eventually I'm sure. If that is a factory M47, that's the more desirable and basically rare for a late model 240.
As long as your son promises to take care of that what looks to be a gem 240, buy it!
(He's a pretty good photog right? Did a nice job making it look cherry, but it's not too far off from what you see in the photos)
Welcome more feedback, but I'm definitely leaning towards picking this car up. I'm pretty luck to have a kid that should take very good care of it so no worries there.
thanks again for the quick response.
.dm
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Well here's the follow up. We bought the car, brought it home saturday.
The good news, easily replaced the bad tail light.
The bad (and I can't believe I didn't notice this during out test drive) the odometer is not working. Woops. Fixing the light did NOT stop the "bad bulb" warning light from coming on every time the brakes are applied.
Last but not least, car showed about 1/3 tank of gas when we got on the highway, a few minutes later it was basically running on empty. Seems like the gauge is a little pesky
We filled it up and seems fine when full, so I presume things get shaky somewhere towards the bottom end of the tank.
I'll be doing some research over the next few days/weeks on working on some of the little problems once free time becomes a bit more abundant.
The good news, easily replaced the bad tail light.
The bad (and I can't believe I didn't notice this during out test drive) the odometer is not working. Woops. Fixing the light did NOT stop the "bad bulb" warning light from coming on every time the brakes are applied.
Last but not least, car showed about 1/3 tank of gas when we got on the highway, a few minutes later it was basically running on empty. Seems like the gauge is a little pesky
We filled it up and seems fine when full, so I presume things get shaky somewhere towards the bottom end of the tank.
I'll be doing some research over the next few days/weeks on working on some of the little problems once free time becomes a bit more abundant.
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Joined: May 2010
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From: Magnolia, Texas
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Joined: Jan 2012
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From: NW Ohio
1990 Volvo 240DL 5spd
Why can't ANYONE put together a listing that nice around here...
Good looking car BTW.
Why can't ANYONE put together a listing that nice around here...
Good looking car BTW.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 178
Likes: 1
Forget about the bad bulb warning,it is a common problem and if it irritates you then put some black tape over it to cover it.Odometer is also a common problem.I just let mine be.The tank gauge is another common problem.I allways have a reserve tank in the booth.And i fill up the gas often to be sure I dont o dry.These are things you can easily live with,nothing to worry about and waste time and money fixing.
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