Hey guys! i might be buying this car soon:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/Image153.jpg
More pics here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ealm666/Volvo/

Its a Volvo 240 GL wagon that was made in 1987, has 238,000km's (148,750 miles for you backwards people ) on the engine, almost everything is roadworthy on it.. no rust, really good clean body, really good interior.. going for $1500AU. Can people tell me what problems i should look for?

 

First you have to get somebody to put that steering wheel back on the right side where it should be! Oh, wait, you live in a foreign country, Australia looks like,where that's probably allowed. OK, then, never mind that! The rest, well, it should start easily, accelerate smoothly, not make ugly noises, not smoke, not miss or vibrate too much, steer straight, not make bumping sounds when going over bumps, not click when turning the wheel from stop to stop, not shimmy under speed, not shake under braking, not leak from the water pump, or engine oil too badly (some seepage is normal). The trans should shift smoothly and effortlessly, and not makebearing noises through the gears, clutch should engage not at the very top and without too much effort. Rear end shouldbe silentat speed.And things of that nature.But it looks good on the pix-good look!

 

Check also if the timing belt was done recently,( I just did mine today), water pump , brakes, smoke from the exaust( head gasket gone), run it and make sure that the coolant level stays on full, struts, catalitic converter, rust. Good luck

 

The biggest thing that goes wrong on these cars is electrical. Make sure there are no warning lights on and the there aren't any wires just hanging in the engine compartment. if it starts and idles well at a constsnt speed (should be around 900 rpm) then everything is probably in order.