Hey guys, I bought a 2013 Corolla S so I will be leaving the Volvo world. I've had my 1990 Volvo 240 DL for about 5 years and after putting in 6 grand into repairs for it, I decided it's best to leave it. I would keep it for a hobby car but if it sits at my apartment it will probably go bad so I am going to try and sell it for 3 grand. As nice as they are, I don't think I will ever own a European car ever again because of reliability.

I want to thank ya'll all for trying to help me with all the issues in the past with it. It was a worthy try to go the old car route versus new car route.

 

Cool, that ought to be a good car to have.

$100 Per month for 5 years is not bad, a little high for a 240 but heck, the car was 18 years old when you got it. I wonder how a 18 year old Corolla would have held up. You ought to write an article on your experience and post it here. People will know what you went through.

As always the big thing is whether or not the car was a dependable mode of daily transportation. There is nothing worse than having a daily driver that you're afraid of. My friend has a very nice '03 Lexus GS300 that he has put more than $4,200 into for repairs in the past 12 months. Over $350 per month. He was about a day away from getting rid of it when he told them what I told him $2000 prior to finally fix it.

Do enjoy your new ride.

 

And dont forget,the Lexus is a Luxury Toyota.
Wish you all the best in the Toyota Forum!!!

 

No doubt that if one is looking for a transportation car, a new Corolla, or a Camry, or a Civic, etc., is a way to go--there is a reason why Camry is the best selling car. I'd buy a Camry before I'd buy a new Volvo...

I personally love Red Block Volvos as a hobby, I have several, and the thing is not about getting from point A to point B, or having a reliable transportation you make payments on...

This is supposed to be an "enthusiast" forum, too bad that in many cases it is "I got a $200 Volvo, I need it to run for awhile..."

 

Ya, I think the higher up you go in luxery cars the more chance they will break. This mechanic told me that the Corollas have the least maintenance...but when going up the chain like a Camry or Lexus maintenance increases.

If I had a house I would keep the Volvo 240 and restore it as hobby. But I have a one room efficiency...lol.

The 240 was my only mode of transportation for 5 years....I would have to say unfortunately it was the worst car I ever had in terms of dependability. I like that car alot, but as far as things breaking on it(150k miles when I bought it) it was nightmare. The transmission and engine block stayed good though Everything else just went to plunk....and I literally mean every part.

 

You really spend $6,000 on repairs on a 1990 240?
I can't imagine what you could have replaced for this kind of money and still come out with a bad 240. That's hard to do!

I routinely get 740s/940's for $400 to $1,000, and with a couple of hundred bucks they are good to go. Of course I do the work myself and scavenge junkyards...

 

$1000/year maintenance is not atypical for a new car driven moderately high mileage (say, 20K/year) and brought to a dealer for all services (including Tires, brakes, etc).

 

Damn 6 grand in repairs.....!!!!!!!!! more like 2 thousand in parts and the rest in labor. I don't think all mechanics are bad...cut it out now...with that kind of money, I would have a freaking new Volvo 240...I don't think you did any of the work yourself....ARE YOU A JAPANESE SALES MAN TRYING TO SELL US KUNG FUIE DEALS? 2013 Corolla? hey if you can afford car payments, you could of afforded a couple of bucks on your 5 year Volvo....VOLVO FOR LIFE...!YOU DIG!!!

 

I have been very curious to know how and why dman777 spent 6000 on repairs so I went through all his threads from April 2008 when he bought the car. First of all he gave 3900 for the 20 year old 1990 volvo 240 car in April 2008!! Thats way too much! Googled prices for the car in that period and I saw it was 2700 for a 240 in imaculate condition. So already its 1200 too much.That car was newly painted and looked clean inside but the engine was crap.The car was a junk piece! He got cheated completely! 3 weeks after he bought it the gas pump,waterpump and transmission seals were leaking. And he spent 730 on fixing it. After that his problems did not stop and in 2008 he had to change starter,freon fillup,overdrive el and door speaker problem. Then in 2009 oilsump replace,radiator,windshield leak,oxygen sensor problem,steering wheel problem,new battery and new hoses. Then in 2010 was the worst. Rough idle problem,oilleak,newcoils,suspensions,oil pump,door handle problem,new battery,got rear ended with back got smashed upp,car overheating and bad headlights needed replacement . Then in 2011 it was new dashboard,idle problem on wet mornings,new wheels at discount tyres,brake problems and all 4 needed a change according to Firestone,overheat and radiator leak,refill freon,blower fan problem and finally air mass sensor problem. And now in 2012 he had problems with brakes and brakelight before finally giving upp. Personally,I feel he was cheated on purchase as the car was surely smashed upp in a accident or pure junk and then painted for sale in 2008.

 

Good job on the research Sicnarf!
He surely did pay too much to start with, the car must have had 500,000 neglected miles to need all that! But then, NEW DASHBOARD, NEW WHEELS at Discount tire? Brakes at Firestone? Then, brake problems a year after that? I could have pulled the guts of a decent junked 240 for a tenth of all he spent.

You know, I have been in the car biz too long a time, and one thing I have learned after seeing and hearing a million stories, IT IS 99% ABOUT THE OWNER! I love Volvos, obviously they are great, superior in many ways, but one can spend a ton and still end badly if one lacks, well, knowledge, for a lack of a better word. Forums help, but they presume a certain level of skill and sense and time which many today do not possess. I don't mean to dump on the guy, he did spend too much in doing his best but having and nursing an old car is not everybody's cup of tea--if you don't have something that makes you want to mess with an old Volvo besides just the idea of having a "bulletproof tank" (I hate this misnomer) for cheap, then you are better off with many other choices for your automotive needs.

 

WOW...THAT WAS A LOT FOR THE RIDE...! I can see it now..."Hears good stories about Volvo's durability and safety"...motivated by his honest side, decides to shell out a left leg for the car. The Black Plague sets in at a constant pace and his wallet never sees a dime for the next five years. All confidence, trust, hope in Volvo's is annihilated with a six thousand dollar blow. Deprived of ownership and with a slight twitch on his left eyelid, he sees a long legged, silky hair and skin woman calling him for a test drive. She runs her hands on the stick shift engaging the gears as she explains that his suffering is no more, signature required, hands him the keys and decides to insult the forum he once belonged to by stating..."I will be leaving Volvo's"FRANKLY MY DEAR....I DON'T GIVE A DAMN...! The end.
JOKING ASIDE...I DO FEEL BAD FOR HIM CUZ YOU STUCK WITH IT FOR A LONG TIME AND THAT'S COMMENDABLE. BEST WISHES ON YOUR NEW PURCHASE.

 

For me it will always be Volvo, I like the way they drive and feeling safe. Good luck with your new toy! My stepmother is a Toyota driver and they are not trouble free cars out of warranty. Her current Toyota has eaten her lunch at least 3X worse than your 240, but she will not trade it since it is a 99 convertable celica. I have never had your experience with a Volvo, not even my V70 which I hear is Volvos worst car for repairs. I think you just got a abused old car. The key to old cars is to pick a clean original. Things like repaint, rebuilt engines or transmissions are things that repell me from a buy. Keep the Toyota clean, and fresh fluids/ filters in it and it will last you a long time. GOOD LUCK!

 

Man, paying nearly 40% to much from the jump is a sad thing. Then paying someone else to fix it every time a **** falls off will keep you moaning.

I met a lady stuck in the middle of a busy street about a year ago in a I30 (Infinity). After helping her out of the street she expressed her car woes which included throwing $6000 at it in the previous 7 months trying to stop it from having the random stalling issue which it still had. I adopted her and soon figured out that the car needed $2000 worth of repairs and reprogramming to get it right. She bailed and is now in a '09 Acura TSX. Her sister has a '01 Benz with a similar problem, bogs down randomly while driving with no resolution after dumping about $5000 in it in the past 2 years. Now her niece has a '03 Beetle that is pure junk. Paid $10,500 for it while the book is $7,800. Stereo doesn't work, alarms sounds when the car starts, windows are down and wont go up, etc.. Sad thing is that she can't even afford to drive it to the shop to get it checked out. Wouldn't be so bad if the darn VW forums were any help.

People claim they have wonderful cars but the fact is, most people claim they're great and they simply are not.

 

Personally,I have always owned old Volvos and never had any problems whatsoever,just minor stuff.. My previous was a 240 and it was 15 years old when I purchased it. I had it for 7 years and never had any problem besides the fuelpump once.. My wife got tired of the old junky car and so we took it to the scrapyard.Then I bouht a 91,740 stationwagon and that too was 15 years old. Now I have had it for 6 years and still no problems whatsoever other than changing cranksensor once.'. It is 22 years old now but starts every morning in a second and goes very smooth! I am more than satisfied. Just plain mantainence. For me it will only be old Volvos.

 

lol...just curious. If I was to keep it and let it sit for a few years in hoping that I would get rich, get a house and garage, and restore it- would it go bad just sitting there? I thought about parking it at my dads office for a few years.

 

any gas left in the tank will probably go bad. best bet is a full tank with a heavy dose of stabil. fill it with fresh oil so the innards of the engine don't corrode. rubber parts may dry out, and then when you resurrect it, seals might be leaky, hoses might fail.

 

Hope you got a good dealer for your Toyota for any warranty issues. The ones my way(in Maryland) go out of their way to avoid warranty repairs. Toyota corp office is no help at all.



I love my 2012 Scion XB but I will never ever buy another Toyota again due to Toyota dealer run arounds. What the heck is a warranty good for if you cannot get them to honor any warranty repairs.

I am looking into Hyundai for a replacement on the XB in a few months

Good luck on your Toyota

 

Sell the car cheap and live happy ever after. In future when you want an old Volvo there are plenty out there which will still be running imaculately. That I can guaranty you. Only problem is that you have to find it. Your biggest mistake was that the car was a wrong buy and you bought a piece of junk though it looked good.You were CHEATED,so my advice is DONT keep it. Sell it and buy a volvo later if you need or want one. So many old lovely Volvos out there so its waste of money to keep a junk. The car did not give you anything but problems and repairs and heavy expenses. So why keep it? I just dont understand your way of thinking,man.

 

My instinct would be to keep the 240 for parts or strip it for anything useful. Then go find a clean example. Finding a good car over 20 years-old is not easy. The best I've had were both bought off mechanics, a 1970 VW camper and a 1971 144. Very few people keep their cars up to my standard (which is not even super high), so a year or two of expenses is probably okay after purchase. I'm half way through renovating my new-to-me 1990 240, and it will be around $5000 to get it up to scratch including the purchase price. That's with new suspension, lots of bushes, radiator (still got its original Blackstone rad in it), relays and fuses, brakes, alloy GT wheels, AC regas and odds and ends. Seems like pretty good value to me.

Quite a few companies in the US and Europe now specialize in reconditioned or still-good 80s and 90s cars. Mostly Mercs, BMWs, Volvos and others that were good quality to start with. These cars can still be run reliably, and are a great alternative to big car payments. I plan to run my 240s until I can't get parts, or some new emissions rule or gas prices stop me.

 

If you put all this money in this car it must have all kinds of new parts. You'd probably get next to nothing for selling the whole thing, so you may consider some other way of cutting your losses. I'd buy a Volvo someone put $6,000 in even though the car may be bad overall, just for the parts.