Buying a Volvo 960 as a Pair with a 940?
#1
01-13-2016, 10:33 AM
Buying a Volvo 960 as a Pair with a 940?
Normally, I prefer not to cross-post threads, but this involves both a 940 and a 960, so I wanted to make sure to get the best and brightest to chime in on both. 
Without further ado, here's the copy and paste job:
Hey everyone, it's been a while since I logged in last. A couple years ago I had to sell my 244 to a great new owner due to life circumstances. I'm finally at a point again where I can consider getting back on the Volvo for life bandwagon. I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with North Dakota, but it's a bit of a desert for decent Volvos. The 244 I got previously was only available due to the passing of the gentleman who owned it. That's the same case now in what I'm about to ask. Not to make light of it, but I guess Volvos really are something you only can pry from a person's cold hands.
So, yesterday I got in touch with the brother of a gentleman who recently passed away and is holding an estate sale. Two of his cars, a 1991 940 Turbo SE and a 960, are being sold for what I think are reasonably prices. Here's the quick rundown on each.
The 1991 940 Turbo sedan used to be his commuter to a coal plant about 40 miles one way, each day. As a result, it has a shade over 300,000 on the clock. He left it on a battery tender and rarely used it after he got a Mercedes AMG. The interior is probably a 7.5-8/10 and so is the exterior. Pretty good considering. Allegedly, he parked it since the fuel pump (presumably the high pressure fuel pump) was either out or going out. For a lark, we tried to see if we could start it and wouldn't you know it, the thing started on the second attempt (I probably stopped cranking too early the first time). The idle was low, about 500-600RPM and was shuddering, so I assume it has some issue wither with fuel deliver or air fuel mixture. Cool.
The other vehicle is a 1994 960 sedan. He apparently took turns using this when he wasn't using his AMG, but it had fairly low miles at a little over 116K. The back story on this was that he bought it from a dealer and the previous owner didn't change the timing belt on time. A couple of the valves kissed the pistons on this white block and he took it upon himself and a mechanic friend to do the fix. They replaced the timing belt, replaced the head, the valves and the pistons were fine, so they were left as is (this is what I was told). The main thing I noticed was that there was some oil dripping from the engine drain plug, while the transmission looked fine in that regard. The anti-skid plate had some darker oil pooled in it, but I'm not sure if they didn't take that off while doing the head job or if there's some sort of seal leakage.
It drove pretty well during the drive. The only real disconcerting thing that popped up was that while accelerating from a start, first or second gear, what I could only describe as a turbine-like whirring would escalate in speed along with my acceleration. It was made even more obvious when I had the rear wheels on some icier spots. Some preliminary searching suggest it could be anything from a clogged a bad accessory bearing to a clogged PCV or a clogged ATF filter. I'm still not 100% on this yet, though. To it's credit, it idled smoothly and I couldn't hear a lot of valve train noise to speak of. Before I took it for a spin, though, I noticed that the rear wheel wells were dangerously close to the tires. The brother of the deceased man said it always looked that way to him. By the time I came back, I noticed the rear end level was more where it should be, which led me to believe this 960 has the Nivomat shocks. At least this suggests they work.
Now, to the fun part. He's selling the 960 for $2,250 and the 940 for $1,000 if they were purchased separately. He said if I buy the pair, he'd let them go for $2,750. I'm inclined to think this is a pretty good deal. If I did this, I would swap the good tires from the 960 wheels to the 940, as well as any good interior or exterior bits and sell the 960 to subsidize the 940. Even though I didn't really get to take the 940 anywhere, I'm more comfortable with the B230FT than the white block six (especially given this example's history). Plus, it has more of that Volvo character - the 960 seems to have had the character bred out of it. If, for some reason, saving the 940 ends up being a bad idea, I'd just keep the 960 and figure out what to do with the 940. Worst case scenario, I might just buy the 940 for the "non-discounted" price. As a bonus, there's a small chance a friend of mine might let me park one or both in his quonset while I get them sorted, which would help a lot.
So that's the situation as it stands. The wife gave me her blessing regardless of what I decide, but I'm still on the fence. Does anyone have any suggestions or input? Thanks in advance!
Without further ado, here's the copy and paste job:Hey everyone, it's been a while since I logged in last. A couple years ago I had to sell my 244 to a great new owner due to life circumstances. I'm finally at a point again where I can consider getting back on the Volvo for life bandwagon. I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with North Dakota, but it's a bit of a desert for decent Volvos. The 244 I got previously was only available due to the passing of the gentleman who owned it. That's the same case now in what I'm about to ask. Not to make light of it, but I guess Volvos really are something you only can pry from a person's cold hands.
So, yesterday I got in touch with the brother of a gentleman who recently passed away and is holding an estate sale. Two of his cars, a 1991 940 Turbo SE and a 960, are being sold for what I think are reasonably prices. Here's the quick rundown on each.
The 1991 940 Turbo sedan used to be his commuter to a coal plant about 40 miles one way, each day. As a result, it has a shade over 300,000 on the clock. He left it on a battery tender and rarely used it after he got a Mercedes AMG. The interior is probably a 7.5-8/10 and so is the exterior. Pretty good considering. Allegedly, he parked it since the fuel pump (presumably the high pressure fuel pump) was either out or going out. For a lark, we tried to see if we could start it and wouldn't you know it, the thing started on the second attempt (I probably stopped cranking too early the first time). The idle was low, about 500-600RPM and was shuddering, so I assume it has some issue wither with fuel deliver or air fuel mixture. Cool.
The other vehicle is a 1994 960 sedan. He apparently took turns using this when he wasn't using his AMG, but it had fairly low miles at a little over 116K. The back story on this was that he bought it from a dealer and the previous owner didn't change the timing belt on time. A couple of the valves kissed the pistons on this white block and he took it upon himself and a mechanic friend to do the fix. They replaced the timing belt, replaced the head, the valves and the pistons were fine, so they were left as is (this is what I was told). The main thing I noticed was that there was some oil dripping from the engine drain plug, while the transmission looked fine in that regard. The anti-skid plate had some darker oil pooled in it, but I'm not sure if they didn't take that off while doing the head job or if there's some sort of seal leakage.
It drove pretty well during the drive. The only real disconcerting thing that popped up was that while accelerating from a start, first or second gear, what I could only describe as a turbine-like whirring would escalate in speed along with my acceleration. It was made even more obvious when I had the rear wheels on some icier spots. Some preliminary searching suggest it could be anything from a clogged a bad accessory bearing to a clogged PCV or a clogged ATF filter. I'm still not 100% on this yet, though. To it's credit, it idled smoothly and I couldn't hear a lot of valve train noise to speak of. Before I took it for a spin, though, I noticed that the rear wheel wells were dangerously close to the tires. The brother of the deceased man said it always looked that way to him. By the time I came back, I noticed the rear end level was more where it should be, which led me to believe this 960 has the Nivomat shocks. At least this suggests they work.
Now, to the fun part. He's selling the 960 for $2,250 and the 940 for $1,000 if they were purchased separately. He said if I buy the pair, he'd let them go for $2,750. I'm inclined to think this is a pretty good deal. If I did this, I would swap the good tires from the 960 wheels to the 940, as well as any good interior or exterior bits and sell the 960 to subsidize the 940. Even though I didn't really get to take the 940 anywhere, I'm more comfortable with the B230FT than the white block six (especially given this example's history). Plus, it has more of that Volvo character - the 960 seems to have had the character bred out of it. If, for some reason, saving the 940 ends up being a bad idea, I'd just keep the 960 and figure out what to do with the 940. Worst case scenario, I might just buy the 940 for the "non-discounted" price. As a bonus, there's a small chance a friend of mine might let me park one or both in his quonset while I get them sorted, which would help a lot.
So that's the situation as it stands. The wife gave me her blessing regardless of what I decide, but I'm still on the fence. Does anyone have any suggestions or input? Thanks in advance!
#2
01-15-2016, 06:22 PM
Hard to answer these questions without seeing the cars. I personally love 940s and kind of hate 960s. You are right about the personality being bred out of the 960, well put! But, the '94 960 is still the old body so all the parts minus engine and tranny will swap to the 940 and vice versa. Plus the 940 being an SE, it's like a 960 so, yes, you should be able to make one car out of both if all else fails...
#3
03-09-2016, 07:52 AM
Normally, I prefer not to cross-post threads, but this involves both a 940 and a 960, so I wanted to make sure to get the best and brightest to chime in on both. Without further ado, here's the copy and paste job:
Hey everyone, it's been a while since I logged in last. A couple years ago I had to sell my 244 to a great new owner due to life circumstances. I'm finally at a point again where I can consider getting back on the Volvo for life bandwagon. I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with North Dakota, but it's a bit of a desert for decent Volvos. The 244 I got previously was only available due to the passing of the gentleman who owned it. That's the same case now in what I'm about to ask. Not to make light of it, but I guess Volvos really are something you only can pry from a person's cold hands.
So, yesterday I got in touch with the brother of a gentleman who recently passed away and is holding an estate sale. Two of his cars, a 1991 940 Turbo SE and a 960, are being sold for what I think are reasonably prices. Here's the quick rundown on each.
The 1991 940 Turbo sedan used to be his commuter to a coal plant about 40 miles one way, each day. As a result, it has a shade over 300,000 on the clock. He left it on a battery tender and rarely used it after he got a Mercedes AMG. The interior is probably a 7.5-8/10 and so is the exterior. Pretty good considering. Allegedly, he parked it since the fuel pump (presumably the high pressure fuel pump) was either out or going out. For a lark, we tried to see if we could start it and wouldn't you know it, the thing started on the second attempt (I probably stopped cranking too early the first time). The idle was low, about 500-600RPM and was shuddering, so I assume it has some issue wither with fuel deliver or air fuel mixture. Cool.
The other vehicle is a 1994 960 sedan. He apparently took turns using this when he wasn't using his AMG, but it had fairly low miles at a little over 116K. The back story on this was that he bought it from a dealer and the previous owner didn't change the timing belt on time. A couple of the valves kissed the pistons on this white block and he took it upon himself and a mechanic friend to do the fix. They replaced the timing belt, replaced the head, the valves and the pistons were fine, so they were left as is (this is what I was told). The main thing I noticed was that there was some oil dripping from the engine drain plug, while the transmission looked fine in that regard. The anti-skid plate had some darker oil pooled in it, but I'm not sure if they didn't take that off while doing the head job or if there's some sort of seal leakage.
It drove pretty well during the drive. The only real disconcerting thing that popped up was that while accelerating from a start, first or second gear, what I could only describe as a turbine-like whirring would escalate in speed along with my acceleration. It was made even more obvious when I had the rear wheels on some icier spots. Some preliminary searching suggest it could be anything from a clogged a bad accessory bearing to a clogged PCV or a clogged ATF filter. I'm still not 100% on this yet, though. To it's credit, it idled smoothly and I couldn't hear a lot of valve train noise to speak of. Before I took it for a spin, though, I noticed that the rear wheel wells were dangerously close to the tires. The brother of the deceased man said it always looked that way to him. By the time I came back, I noticed the rear end level was more where it should be, which led me to believe this 960 has the Nivomat shocks. At least this suggests they work.
Now, to the fun part. He's selling the 960 for $2,250 and the 940 for $1,000 if they were purchased separately. He said if I buy the pair, he'd let them go for $2,750. I'm inclined to think this is a pretty good deal. If I did this, I would swap the good tires from the 960 wheels to the 940, as well as any good interior or exterior bits and sell the 960 to subsidize the 940. Even though I didn't really get to take the 940 anywhere, I'm more comfortable with the B230FT than the white block six (especially given this example's history). Plus, it has more of that Volvo character - the 960 seems to have had the character bred out of it. If, for some reason, saving the 940 ends up being a bad idea, I'd just keep the 960 and figure out what to do with the 940. Worst case scenario, I might just buy the 940 for the "non-discounted" price. As a bonus, there's a small chance a friend of mine might let me park one or both in his quonset while I get them sorted, which would help a lot.
So that's the situation as it stands. The wife gave me her blessing regardless of what I decide, but I'm still on the fence. Does anyone have any suggestions or input? Thanks in advance!
Without further ado, here's the copy and paste job:Hey everyone, it's been a while since I logged in last. A couple years ago I had to sell my 244 to a great new owner due to life circumstances. I'm finally at a point again where I can consider getting back on the Volvo for life bandwagon. I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with North Dakota, but it's a bit of a desert for decent Volvos. The 244 I got previously was only available due to the passing of the gentleman who owned it. That's the same case now in what I'm about to ask. Not to make light of it, but I guess Volvos really are something you only can pry from a person's cold hands.
So, yesterday I got in touch with the brother of a gentleman who recently passed away and is holding an estate sale. Two of his cars, a 1991 940 Turbo SE and a 960, are being sold for what I think are reasonably prices. Here's the quick rundown on each.
The 1991 940 Turbo sedan used to be his commuter to a coal plant about 40 miles one way, each day. As a result, it has a shade over 300,000 on the clock. He left it on a battery tender and rarely used it after he got a Mercedes AMG. The interior is probably a 7.5-8/10 and so is the exterior. Pretty good considering. Allegedly, he parked it since the fuel pump (presumably the high pressure fuel pump) was either out or going out. For a lark, we tried to see if we could start it and wouldn't you know it, the thing started on the second attempt (I probably stopped cranking too early the first time). The idle was low, about 500-600RPM and was shuddering, so I assume it has some issue wither with fuel deliver or air fuel mixture. Cool.
The other vehicle is a 1994 960 sedan. He apparently took turns using this when he wasn't using his AMG, but it had fairly low miles at a little over 116K. The back story on this was that he bought it from a dealer and the previous owner didn't change the timing belt on time. A couple of the valves kissed the pistons on this white block and he took it upon himself and a mechanic friend to do the fix. They replaced the timing belt, replaced the head, the valves and the pistons were fine, so they were left as is (this is what I was told). The main thing I noticed was that there was some oil dripping from the engine drain plug, while the transmission looked fine in that regard. The anti-skid plate had some darker oil pooled in it, but I'm not sure if they didn't take that off while doing the head job or if there's some sort of seal leakage.
It drove pretty well during the drive. The only real disconcerting thing that popped up was that while accelerating from a start, first or second gear, what I could only describe as a turbine-like whirring would escalate in speed along with my acceleration. It was made even more obvious when I had the rear wheels on some icier spots. Some preliminary searching suggest it could be anything from a clogged a bad accessory bearing to a clogged PCV or a clogged ATF filter. I'm still not 100% on this yet, though. To it's credit, it idled smoothly and I couldn't hear a lot of valve train noise to speak of. Before I took it for a spin, though, I noticed that the rear wheel wells were dangerously close to the tires. The brother of the deceased man said it always looked that way to him. By the time I came back, I noticed the rear end level was more where it should be, which led me to believe this 960 has the Nivomat shocks. At least this suggests they work.
Now, to the fun part. He's selling the 960 for $2,250 and the 940 for $1,000 if they were purchased separately. He said if I buy the pair, he'd let them go for $2,750. I'm inclined to think this is a pretty good deal. If I did this, I would swap the good tires from the 960 wheels to the 940, as well as any good interior or exterior bits and sell the 960 to subsidize the 940. Even though I didn't really get to take the 940 anywhere, I'm more comfortable with the B230FT than the white block six (especially given this example's history). Plus, it has more of that Volvo character - the 960 seems to have had the character bred out of it. If, for some reason, saving the 940 ends up being a bad idea, I'd just keep the 960 and figure out what to do with the 940. Worst case scenario, I might just buy the 940 for the "non-discounted" price. As a bonus, there's a small chance a friend of mine might let me park one or both in his quonset while I get them sorted, which would help a lot.
So that's the situation as it stands. The wife gave me her blessing regardless of what I decide, but I'm still on the fence. Does anyone have any suggestions or input? Thanks in advance!
If you buy both cars, and the spare one has a beige interior (the 960) I am interested in buying the seat covers if they are decent.
Michigan is a Volvo desert except for a few 850 automatics.
Feel free to e-mail me using the PM system. We can discuss and make your choice easier, because you will have some outside cash in hand to help pay for things.
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