Hi,

First post.

Have a 15 year old son just getting started as a driver. Saw a 240DL wagon in a local grocery store lot tonight. 150,xxx miles, not sure what year yet (but it has the last gen headlights), rear bumper looks like it backed into a pole, paint is REALLY rough. Interior looks kinda rough. Window asks $1500. Haven't spoken to owner yet.

With all of the car choices available in this price range (including some rehab), is it still a good idea to buy a used 240 DL? Would you spend $1500 + rehab for this model Volvo or pick another Volvo? If you were not a Volvo enthusiast, would you choose a 240 DL or shop another make / model?

I realize you might have a million questions that I've provided no data for, but I'm just looking for more of a 'heck yeah, they're great starter cars if they pass a basic used car check out' or 'run away, they're a high-maintenance handful that only a true Volvo fan could appreciate'.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Axle

 

A 240 would be my 3rd choice after a 940 and a 740.

I've owned an 89 740 for 2 years and an 92 940 for 3 years. Between the two of them I've replaced a radiator.
..alternator..starter..pads rotors calipers..water pump..outer tierods...rear shocks...blower motor...heater core... plugs wires cap rotor tune up...no individual part cost more than 150. I did the work myself using basic tools...YouTube and this forum and Google. Most everything with the exception of the heater core was rather easy.

The ceramic fuses on a 240 are enough for me to put it in third.

I would stay away from anything before 1988. In central Ohio these cars seem to sell for not much more than 1000 in good condition. The 3 ive bought cost 3300 total.

 

$1500 seems a bit high for a rough interior/exterior. You should be able to find a decent model for that price. Keep in mind that any 240 you buy will probably need some money invested in it to make it a reliable daily driver. Figure a total of $3k to get it to that point - assuming you or your son do the work yourself. If you run to a mechanic to get things fixed then I would look for something newer.

When I am looking I look for a solid body and a nice interior. All of the mechanical parts can be fixed. The engines run forever (500k+) if you keep oil in it and don't overheat it. The automatic transmissions last 250k+ miles even when mildly abused.

 

Thanks for the replies....

We're pretty handy - own three 200K Land Cruisers and a 50 year old PD4106 bus with a Detroit Diesel 8V71 - so I'm not opposed to some work to keep it running (and a car I can use as a learning opportunity for my son is a plus), but I don't want it to spend more time in the garage then on the road.

It's an automatic. But I'd love to have him start in a manual (I'm of the opinion that I'd rather have him 'distracted' by driving a stick than distracted by his cell phone), so that's a strike against it already.

Since I have your ear, in addition to my questions above about the 240DL, anyone else want to suggest a $3-4K (total after purchase and initial rehab), Volvo or otherwise, car they think would be a great starter car for a 15 year old?

It'll get used primarily to drive himself to swim practice 3x / week before school and 5x / week after school, as well as school in between.

Thanks again for the input.

Axle

 

the 240 and 940 are virtually identical mechanically, same engines, transmissions, rear axles, but the 940 has a fair number of engineering improvements in the body, interior. I would suggest avoiding the turbocharged 940's (which don't always say 'turbo' on the back), as they guzzle gas.

a teenagers first car will be used to drive everywhere and anywhere they can go within the constraints of the amount of gas money they can scrounge from their friends. denying that inherent urge will just cause pent up frustrations.

finding stickshifts in later volvo 240/940 is not easy. anyways, manual stick shift + clutch transmissions are going the way of the dodo bird. higher performance vehicles use DSG and similar electronically shifted systems nowdays.

 

I bought an '85 240 almost a year ago (Sept / Oct 2014) so I don't have a huge amount of experience with the cars compared to some here.


My truck got wrecked last year and I wasn't interested in a car payment, and the insurance payout put me in pretty much the same $3000-4000 price range you are looking at.


The wrecked truck was a '96 Tacoma, the car before that was an '89 Toyota Tercel and I own a '69 Landcruiser so naturally I started looking at Toyotas.


In that price range I wasn't finding much, either much more expensive or really tired / trashed. I found the same when I expanded my search to Honda and Datsun / Nissan. I kept running across Volvos in the $1000-3000 price range that mostly looked well cared for if high mileage, many first or second owner. I did some research (how I found this place) and liked what I found. I eventually found the car I bought, 300,000+ miles on it but in really nice shape, the interior was very clean, and the paint was decent for a 30 year old car. I paid $1700 for the car and put maybe another $300-400 into some basic maintenance mostly to "reset the clock" than necessarily actually needed.


The cars are a little quirky, but I'm finding it easy to work on and parts are for the most part readily available online (less so at the local NAPA or Autozone). I've got a few low priority projects in my future (fixing the A/C for one) but I've been driving about 250 miles / week with a couple of longer trips thrown in and have had no issues so far. Mine is a non-turbo so it isn't a fast car by any means, but it can get out of its own way and does fine on the highway. I've caught myself doing 85 a couple of times. They have some how gotten an undeserved reputation for being clumsy cars, but they actually handle quite well and have a really good turning radius.


They are not great on gas, but no worse than most small trucks. My odometer doesn't work so it is just a guess, but based on how often I fill up and my normal commute 25 mpg seems about right. These are not small, light weight cars, I can fit 3 adults, a teenage boy and a baby seat comfortably enough for an hour + drive. My 240 is a couple hundred pounds heavier than my Tacoma was.




Then of course there is the safety thing these cars are known for. With all the advances of the past 30 years they are no longer the safest car on the road, but they are still safer than most $2000-3000 used cars that you will find.






Oh, one of those quirks I mentioned is the stickshift. I'm not sure when they finally switched to a more conventional 5 speed, but a lot of these cars with a stick are 4 speeds with an electronic over drive. Perfectly reliable from what I understand, but something a little different.

 

Axle, the RWD Volvos have traditionally been billed as good starter cars for new drivers. Twenty, ten years ago I would say they were the best choice. Now, however they are becoming harder to find in decent mechanical and appearance shape. A "rough" one like you describe may lose it's charm after more and more money/time is spent on it. There are still some cream puffs to be had; even with high mileage good maintenance can keep a car looking and driving well.
The other issue is one of safety. These Volvos were some of the safest cars ever made in their time; however newer cars have ABS and airbags (yes, the very later 240's had a driver airbag; the 740's had ABS). That 240 you saw probably had neither. And after 25-30 years do you think those worn, sun damaged nylon seatbelts still will do there job in a serious crash? I didn't think so, so I installed new ones in the 240 I bought for my son 6 years ago.
Most of the parents I know say they want their precious progeny in "something safe".

 

Axle -

I purchased a 90 240 for by son almost two years ago. I made the choice for many reasons but to name a few ... I had a 240 Turbo and college and remember what a great car it was, 240 are safe for an old car and I went with a model with an air bag (the later years have ABS), 240's overall are slow, overall reliable one major things like engine and transmission and I wanted my son to learn to appreciate an automobile.

Overall I have been happy with the choice. We are a Toyota family like yours and recently sold our Landcruiser after 10+ years even though he wanted . We decided on something much simpler the 240. My son has had 2 very minor fender benders over almost two years. Easy fix by visiting the local wrecking yard and less the $300 for both repairs.

Recommendation - read the IPD top 10 240 issues and load up on this forum. As others have said go in to this expecting to do all the tune up stuff and handling the few 240's quirks. I spent about $500 within the first 3 months on all the typical tuneup stuff. Everything depends on condition of the vehicle on what you will spend. I'm closing in on $1k nearing two years but the big ticket items have been on performance / fun stuff - sport exhaust and sport lowering springs.

I dont know all the details on the vehicle you are looking at but based on what I have observed on Craigslist in Portland Or is $1k for fair condition, $1,500 for good/solid condition and $1,7500 to $2,000 very good. I paid $500 but if you check my pics it was super rough.

Welcome to PM me if needed.

 

yeah, around 25MPG around town average, and maybe as high as 28-29mpg on a long highway trip cruising easy and smooth, thats what our 87 240 has gotten consistently since new.

in the 400,000+ miles and 28 years since we bought this 240 new, its had 2-3 alternators, a new radiator, the automatic transmission was rebuilt circa 300k miles 15+ years ago. the main fuel pump died a few years ago, that needed a tow home. I replaced the radiator about 8 years ago. I've lost track of how many brake jobs and tires its been through, but Michelin tires in the 240 sizes last a long time. I recovered the beige leather seats with IPD's fabric covers about 8 years ago. I replaced all the outside lights because the originals were getting foggy and/or cracking. its been in a couple minor fender benders so had some paint.

The A/C hasn't worked since forever, so when I replaced the radiator, I removed the condensor and hoses.

My daughter brought it home from Arcata because the constant drizzling rain up there was making it very unreliable. the windshield frame needs some sealant as the original molding strip is funky, and I think theres a bit of rust in the corner under the seal, water gets in and gets the interior damp, then it stops runnign reliably. dried out it runs just fine. it is due for brake rotors and pads all the way around, and I think this time even the parking brake shoes should be replaced. the boge shocks are pretty much toast, so the ride is a bit bouncy. the front control arm bushings are shot, and need replacing so the front wheels can be aligned (all rear bushings were replaced about 6-8 years ago). I took the stereo and speakers out, its cut for 6" rear deck speakers.

the white paint looks good. the interior will probably clean up nicely with Zep Advanced Oxy + shopvac time

the trunk carpet got wet and mildewy in Arcata, it should be soaked down with Advanced Oxy, too.

has a trailer hitch and 4-wire adapter, was only used for bike racks and a 800 lb hobie cat trailer.

sunroof is broken and silicone sealed.

make offer

[seriously? I'd be happy to sell it for $1000 but its in my wife's name and she's got weird ideas]

 

About 8 weeks ago I did buy a 240 for my 18 year old daughter who will be going to college.....as well as I will be going too. Now my wife LOVES the car, so I hardly get to drive it. This 240 was a bit unusual, had been a one owner, and super clean, I bought it with only 130,000 miles. excellent condition AC blows cold. Boy, and we did need it this summer. I really like the car, so much in fact I have been looking for another.....

 

Thanks to all who posted for your insights and information.

I appreciate how much time folks took to provide all of the detail above.

Turns out the car we originally spotted was even more rough than we thought and had a pretty long list of troublesome issues, including significant underbody / rocker panel rust. So we passed on it,

But we've decided to keep our search for a 240 or 740 going. Since we are not in a hurry, I think at this point we'll stick to our 'wish list' and try to find a good condition wagon with a stick, but if we find a great car with an automatic, I'm sure we'll be tempted.

I'm sure you'll see us on here going forward.

Thanks again,

Axle

 

fwiw, the AW70/71 automatics used on the 240/740/940 mid 80s and later are the sturdier transmissions. AW is Aisin-Warner, which is Toyota's transmission factory, these are virtually identical to the trannies used on all toyota RWD cars in the mid 80s, and 2x4 pickups up until like early 2000s.

sure, the manual can get you a couple more MPG, as long as you short shift and drive mellow. the 'stronger' manual is the 4 speed + overdrive unit. the 5-speed used on some models is more fragile.

 

Pierce,

Thanks for the additional transmission info.

Agree it's hard to make a logical argument for a manual nowadays, whether looking at a new car or across used cars at a particular price point.

Being new to Volvos, I wasn't aware of the specifics regarding the transmissions you mentioned, so that's good info for us to file away.

But at this point, I'm looking at the manual as more of a 'life skill' effort than the particular merits of it over an available automatic.

I'd like him to be able to drive a stick, regardless of how likely or often that skill will really be needed in his future. And I'm not willing to forgo the automatic in my car, so I'm looking to put a stick in his car.

Thanks,
Axle

 

FWIW, I taught both my kids to drive in a 240 auto... we didn't have any sticks available for them, but when my kid was in college, he had to learn to drive the department 4x4 (he's a geology student) on a field trip, it did not take him long to master the clutch, even simpler since he was already a good driver... his current personal vehicle is a VW Vanagon w/ a stick, he drives it just fine. daughter still hasn't needed to drive a clutch, and may not ever have to.

 

Not sure what "fragile" means in reference to the 240 5-speed manual trans., but my 1991 240 (130,000 miles)has it and gets 30 to 33 MPG. It may be somewhat attributable to my living in a very rural area. No stoplights and few stop signs. Takes half an hour to get to "civilization", so the 240 cruises at 45-55 mph without interruption for that period of time. Had some clutch work a few years ago. $550. Has worked fine since then. Wish it had a passenger airbag, especially with the all those suburban assault vehicles and heavy pick up trucks that are popular nowadays driving around like they own the road. It's nice having a manual in the snow up here.

 

First make sure it's what your kid wants (yes, I know he really wants a Ferrari), I see tons of cars for sale "Bought it for my 16-year old but he/she doesn't like it".

 

Thanks again for the additional posts and information. I appreciate all of them.

Interestingly enough, the 240 DL car that caused me to start this thread is for sale by a family that had owned it for only 3 months.

Dad used to have a '93 240 and remembered it fondly, so he bought the 240 DL for his son to take to college. Son didn't like Volvos and car was so rough neither Dad nor Son wanted to deal with the rehab.

Dad admitted nostalgia got the better of his judgement.

 

Normally I would say "yes", but now that I'm experiencing a 740 I'd recommend one of those or a 940 over the 240.

Better design, better ride, and the fuses arent shared with vintage VWs.

Plus I'm always skeptical of car owners that sell their cars after 2-3 months, they haven't had much time to experience ortell you much about the car.