Hi, I am going this afternoon to look at a 1990 Volvo DL 240.

I am getting a GREAT price at $600.

However:

The listing reads as follows:
1990 Volvo DL 240-blue/blue auto sterio needs battery and brake work.Clean interior-new tires -tags just expired. Clear Texas title. This model Volvo is probably is one of the best family safety proven cars ever built.

The guy selling the car told me that it has been sitting for a couple years. He said it has no gas in it but that he put in a small amount and it started and that he does not know if the AC works.

I don't know anything about Volvos (or any other car for that matter).
I need an incredably cheap car that will take care of me and my 3 kids for a year or so with very little $$ into it. I do have a friend that can do minor work on it for me.

Is ther anything special I should look for when I go or anything specific I should ask?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!
Wendy

 

Unless it's in good nick, I wouldn't trust a $600 car. Not if you want a trouble-free daily driver. Especially if it's been sitting.

If you don't know much about cars and want a worry free daily, yes, I would go with a 240, but maybe look for one that's been running, if you can, get full service records, etc. I bought my 245 in alright condition with full service records for $700. So far, it's died twice, both times, thankfully, in my driveway.

So if you can afford it, spend a little more coin and get a better one. But 2xx is definitely a good choice. If you don't care what model it is, though, I'd go with a 7, because they're roomier and newer, so they'll probably (not always, though), have lower mileage, and that generally means less problems for now.

-Mike

 

Thanks!!

 

You're welcome.

All of that is, of course, if you're not willing to get your hands dirty.

If you are, 240s are wonderful cars to do it on because everything is so simple. I haven't spent more than a half hour fixing any one thing on my 240.

 

Both the 200/700 are fairly easy to work on. It can be a great learning experience for the kids ( depending on their ages) lol.....

Find a good running one. you will love it. Turbo model if you can spare a few extra bucks for maintenance.

 

Do parts tend to be expensive?

 

OOOhhhh what about gas milage? Good?

 

I got 44 parts (everything from filters to gaskets to seals and distributor parts) from FCP groton for $188.

maintenance parts are cheap. either get new ones from FCP groton (iPd is overpriced for maintenance parts), or go to the junkyard and get parts (tip: junkyards will often let you haggle the price down, and are generally pretty cheap to begin with anyways).

Not to mention, there's a lot of good resources out there for 240s should you need to fix it. here's a few:

http://www.k-jet.org/
http://www.turbobricks.com/ (a bit more performance oriented, however there's lots of people there who know a lot of good maintenece stuff about these cars)
http://www.brickboard.com/

just to name a few.

IF you have some basic hand tools (mostly metric... they are european cars after all) and a willingness to learn, it's not too hard to fix. Assuming you don't have electrical problems.

 

Depends on how you drive it and what shape it's in. Drive conservatively and have a good condition one, and you can hit 30mpg freeway. Drive like I do and have a car that's poorly maintained, and you'll get really bad mileage (I get 14mpg for instance).

a manual tranny will do better for mileage, too. Ease on the throttle, don't gun it all the time, and just watch your speeds and you'll be fine.

 

When they run good, they are very, very good, but when they run bad, a good Volvo mechanic is expensive and the bad ones are exorbitant.

A solid dependable (low miles) 90's 240 is worth $1500 and up. Sellers can read the autotrader just like the rest of us. When a seller can only brag about how safe his Volvo is, there's a red flag. (Of course it's safe, it's busted, sitting in the driveway). If you're not a collector or a gear head, I'd pass.

 

This is true, but seriously, a $100 hand tool set with metric wrenches and sockets, and a cheapo torque wrench is all you'll need, tool-wise, to fix a 240. Throw in a haynes, chilton, or bently manual (or Volvo Greenbook if you can find it -- though k-jet.org has scans) and you can tackle anything. So long as you don't mind getting your hands dirty.

It's on whiteblock cars that it starts to get difficult.

 

omigoodness Yes Wendy!

Like any other car, the 240 brick has quirks in its personality too. Here is a quick list of the things I've run into with mine and what you should do if you decide to buy this car:

First, learn to locate and identify the flame trap. This is part of the crankcase ventilation system and is basically a filter of sorts that is in the rebreather line. (did I say that right?) It can become clogged with sludge over the years and if not cleaned or replaced, causes a blockage and buildup of crankcase pressure. When the pressure builds up enough, there is a camshaft plug on the back of the cylinder head that will work its way loose and starts leaking oil like it thinks you've got an unlimited supply of the stuff. The oil will leak out and drip right down onto the exhaust pipe where it smokes so badly that people come tearing up behind you in traffic yelling: "Dude, your car's on fire!"

A new flame trap can be purchased for the coins you can find under the car seats and actually takes very little more time to replace than it's taking me to type this post. So I'm not talking rocket science. Buy this at the Volvo dealer and one of the parts guys might even put it in for you. In spite of my wife being 51, she looks 35. She is amazingly good looking and I sent her over to Volvo to get a flame trap. No fewer than 5 guys stumbled all over themselves to put it in for her.

Ok, so if the previous owner did not know about the flame trap, he most likely doesn't know about the cam plug either. If the cam plug is already leaking oil, it will appear to be a huge mystery to those that don't know the Volvo engine. This can actually be the reason the car is up for sale so cheap and you can use this knowledge to score a great deal on a great car. Fixing the cam plug is just a little more involved than the flame trap. It takes a block of wood and a screwdriver. You put the block of wood between the cylinder head and firewall. Then using it as a fulcrum you push the cam plug back into place with the screwdriver. However, it may just work its way back out and if that happens, go to IPD and get one of their retainer plates and a new plug. Have your mechanic friend put these in. Even a first timer should have this task accomplished in not more than half an hour and the parts from IPD will cost less than $25.

If the car has been sitting long enough without being driven, there's a pretty good chance that the gas in the tank has turned to varnish. Our beloved 240s have 2 fuel pumps, one in the tank and the other is underneath the car about even with the back seat floorboard on the driver's side. There is also a filter there. If the gas has varnished up, that filter and fuel pump will clog and simply needs to have the gunk cleaned out. Non Volvo folks do not know this and you can also use THIS info as a bargaining chip. If the pump in the tank clogs, you can remove it by taking out the carpet in the trunk. You'll find a retaining ring over the gas tank and you can remove it by gently tapping the ring in a counterclockwise direction with a hammer and screwdriver.

The air conditioner compressor and the power steering pump run off the same belt. If the compressor has siezed up, you won't have any power steering and you'll build up your arm muscles driving the car. I've never had this problem. It's really rare.

The radiators used on 240s were also used on many other models of Volvos. Each design has it's hoses routed differently and the radiators will have these plastic block-off plugs to fill the holes that another car would use while your 240 won't use. Sometimes the plugs will get old and start wiggling around and fall out. Then the radiator shop will want to charge you around $400 to replace the radiator. Don't do that. Volvo will sell you the new plug for less than $3. Just pop it in the hole and you're good to go.

Yesterday, I bought another Volvo 240 that was on the local Craigslist. The price was ridiculously low and so I called and asked what was wrong with the car because the photos showed a really nice straight body. The guy was actually honest and told me everything that he was having trouble with. I went to look at the car and we discussed every problem that I described above. This poor guy simply did KNOW Volvos. Every problem he told me about, I told him how to fix it and in the end, I even asked him if he wanted to keep the car. I offered to help him get in good running order. But he was not interested in that and I got the car for $400.

If you buy this car, just get connected with the local Volvo enthusiasts and they'll get you on the fast track.