Hi, I was at a coffee shop talking about cars and a very nice older lady overheard me and nicely asked if I could help her market her Volvo. I have never owned a volvo, although I hope to one day, and have very limited knowledge. She seems like she could really use a hand but I'm not sure what it is even worth.

It is a 1979 white 245 DL. 4 speed manual w/ elec O/D. 205k miles. It is in pretty good shape mechanically and has very little if not zero rust. The underneath of the car is very clean. The body is in good shape besides a hood dent. Interior is more rough, tears and cracks here and there, drivers window wont roll up but fixable, headliner looks pretty good, interior needs a cleaning in general. I drove it and the brakes, clutch, shifter, and steering felt more or less normal. But that's just around the block a few times.

If anyone can help me out or point me in a good direction I would really appreciate it and I know she would as well! And if there is any other info about the car that might differentiate it from other models I can provide it. Thanks in advance!

 

is that a 'flathood' with single round headlights in square black bezels? those have more hipster cachet as they are getting increasingly rare.

if the interior was cherry, and its in top notch mechanical condition you might get $4000 maybe even $5000 for it in the right market (upscale college town, etc). every little thing wrong knocks it down from that price. a basic daily driver 240 wagon is probably not much over $2000 in reliable running shape.

 

Thanks for the fast reply! It has 4 round headlights, 2 on each side in black bezels. Blue interior. We are in the seattle area which I would assume is ideal for the young hipster factor, maybe even a good collector community too. So I'm thinking maybe after a clean up a listing price of $3000 could be a good, whilst maybe a little optimistic, starting point.

 

yeah, if she's in no hurry to sell, start high, feel the market.

'real' hipsters are mostly broke. its the poseurs (my generation called them yuppies) who have money for stuff like this.

 

lol hopefully the yuppiest yuppy comes and buys it from her for top dollar. Thanks again

 

Does she have maintenance records? Recent replacement of the engine / transmission mounts, timing belt and water pump could help increase the price as these are 4-5 year replacement items. The suspension bushings are an item that are often due for replacement on older / higher mileage cars so if she has replaced these within the last 5 years maybe even 10 it could also help boost the price.


On the other side, if these have not been done it could legitimately be used by a buyer to haggle the price down.


The round headlight 240s are getting fairly rare, and the 4 round headlights were only offered for 2-3 years so those cars in good condition can probably get a little more.


I've been keeping an eye out for the right 240 wagon, and I agree with Pierce at least for what I see in Northern California where we still have a fair number of these cars on the road.
It is not hard to find a decent 240 for $1000-1500, but really nice ones or those that stand out in some way as a decent '79 would do go for a bit more. The older round headlight cars are often pretty trashed, so a nice one could certainly attract a buyer willing to pay a little more than average.

 

Ebay seems to be a good place to see how 240's are selling. On the left hand side of the page there's a "sold" check box where you can see things that have sold. On Ebay I browse for 240's just about every week. There hasn't been anything local for me in about two years and I missed that one.