Hey guys,

Looking at getting a 1986 Volvo 240. Just want to know some tips and tricks to determine what kind of condition the car is in and if i should steer clear from it. I've found one with 70 000 kms on it, going to check if they have logbooks to see if its legit. maybe even a revs check. What else should i look for if i was going to inspect it.

Cheers

 

The main thing I look for is good body and interior. Anything mechanical can be repaired cheaply if you are mechanically inclined and not afraid to tackle it. Help is always available in this forum and other Volvo forums. If you take your car to the mechanic to fix everything, you would be better off buy a newer model car as the typical mechanic is not familiar with the old Volvos.

One thing to look out for on an '86 is the biodegradable wiring harness. Do a google search on it and you will find examples of he insulation flaking off the wires - mainly in the engine compartment. This can cause all kinds of strange failures that take a significant amount of time to chase down and fix. Unless the engine harness has been replaced, you are likely in for a slew of problems.

 

70k KMS? Highly suspect! This car should be "like new", no wear anywhere. Unless the owner has a pretty good paper trail, I wouldn't believe the kms shown. These cars are known for bad odos. It may still be a nice car, what's the price?

 

while this article is addressing 740/940 cars, much of it is applicable to 240's too, as they used the same engine, transmission, nearly the same suspension, etc.
Buying a Used 7xx/9xx

 

Its up on sale for 2500 and almost 9 months rego too, I can't use the rego as its in NSW and im in qld but still sounds a bit too good to be true, if its been sitting around for a while will the seals have degraded and cracked ? I'm reckon I'm mechanically inclined, however my last car was a 1970 beetle so that car wasn't complicated what so ever

 

Regarding the kms of these cars with a half decent maintainance history, what would you say is a reasonable km range if I was to drive it for at least another 80 thousand kms l

And thanks for the responses guys, appreciate it

 

Typical low end mileage you see here in the US is around 140K miles - which translates to 224K km. Really though, it depends on where you are located. Check the odometer to see if it is working. If the trip odometer is at 000, chances are he odometer isn't working either.

Really, I don't care about the mileage too much when shopping for a 240. The engines will last upwards of 500K miles if not totally abused. The AW70 transmissions last about 250K as long as they are minimally maintained.

The price seems reasonable if it is running and has good body and interior. I generally pay less - not much more than $1000 but usually I expect to put another $1000 to get it up to reliable condition.