question about Volvos (thought I would ask)

[innerware]

So, wife and I are thinking about buying a used Volvo wagon. I love the looks and so does she. Thinking about 1988-1995 as the years. Those were some nice looking cars. My questions as I have never owned one are: Are they expensive (parts etc)? What is the better year to look for? I have friends with two 88 and 87 wagons over 200k and going strong. So I know they last. We were thinking of around 3-6 thousand for it and Craigslist has a ton of them for sale from individuals.

 

Anyway thought I would ask my other familly what they thought. Thanks all,

Kyle

[Guest ON3GO]

i work on them at work.. not all the time but i cant say i dont see atleast 5 a week.

maybe 4 of the 5 are NON turbo's.. i never see any problems with the turbo ones though.. funny how that is.

most the time they come in for reg stuff like timing belts, motor mounts (alot of those for some reason) and electrical crap. also the last few that came in had auto tranny problems.

parts arent cheap but there not alot either, sorta depends on the parts i guess.

i love the cars..

i found a NICE volvo 244 today, really cool car!

 

73turbo240Z on here can say more as he has owned and even raced a few volvos.

 

mike

[rudypoochris]

Girlfriends dad has an 850 wagon with bilsteins sway bars and exhaust + intake. It is a pretty fun car. Change the ugly *** grill though and get urathane motormounts (apparently they have the motor mount problem). Nice car, get the 5 speed though for sure.

[JMortensen]

850T tends to burn exhaust valves or at least they did when new, they also burned the front tires off the car really fast. Other than that I don't recall any particular problems. Worked for a Volvo dealer around 98 or so.

[slownrusty]

T5-R....240hp....YUM!

[DavD3]

If you in a market for used Volvo then i'd suggest look for late moded n/a 940. Great RWD car, parts are not cheap but not very expencive either. Most importat thing look for a car which was regulary serviced, ask for papers, even better if the previos owner took it to the dealer for service.My dad has been driving Volvos for last 10 years, 2-240 and last one 940. He loves them and doesn't want any other car. 940 is more comfortable then 240. Well, hope this helps.

[wheelman]

I was given a 1985 Volvo 245 wagon not long ago (It's the first year with the square headlights). It has 300K+ miles on it but to look at it you couldn't tell. When I got it the timing belt was gone (thats why I got it free), $40.00 for a new one and some seals and $60.00 to tow it home and it's running. It idles good and has good throttle response but pings when under load. I think if I change the fuel filter and run some injector cleaner through it it will help alot.

I also need to replace the back window as some local hooligans had broken it out in retaliation for a call to the cops one night by the prior owner.

In the research I did on these (the 245s specifically) I found that they go through front brake pads/rotors very quickly, the motor and tranny mounts are another problem area. The mounts are designed to tear away in a collision so they are pretty soft and wear out after enough miles. Fortunately for me the mounts have already been replaced on my car. Once I get the rear window replaced I'm going to sell it as I don't need another project and my daughter (just turned 16) doesn't like and won't drive it.

I like the 242s and 244s and had seriously thought about doing a +turbo conversion on the 245 I have but would rather spend my money and time on the Z.

 

Check out brickboard.com and turbobricks.com for some good info.

 

Wheelman

[Guest 73Turbo240z]

Of everyone giving you advice, ignore the suggestions for an 850 or any of the newer FWD volvos, they are nice cars no doubt, but MUCH harder to work on than the RWD models of the early 90's.

 

Find yourself a 90-94 740 or 940 wagon/sedan... that will come with the B230FT motor, a inline 4 that can be N/A or turbo depending on how equipped. The motors will do 300k easy before being considered "broken in". Timing belts on these engines are so easy it's absurd, and they are a non-interference engine in the event that you do in fact snap the belt in operation.

 

The reason i specify 90+ is you get LH2.4 (more reliable and easy to work w/ than the prior LH2.2 or Regina systems) for EMS, you get the 13mm big rod engine as compared to the 9mm skinny rods, if you find a 93+ theres a good chance you get the oil squirters in the block as well.

 

If this is your daily whatever car this may not matter much to you as the motor would be relatively untouched, but those are all big plusses for maintence and durability.

 

Likewise if you look @ wagons don't freak when the rear of the car rattles... common volvo issue w/ the tailgate, you can get a kit to repair that easily.

Volvos are dirt cheap to work on, you window the block you can get another for $300ish easy. Maintaining one is cheap too, junkyards are usually plentiful w/ the wrecked ones, and since they rarely break down replacement parts are easy to find and usually operable.

 

http://www.fcpgroton.com

http://www.ipdusa.com

 

those are 2 big parts suppliers for the volvo guys, IPD is more expensive, but also offers performance goodies. FCPgroton is the discount version, however stay away from there offerings which are produced by scantech... lots of bad quality control from them.

 

That being said, i'd highly recommend a turbo model, much more fun as the B230F motor is gutless in it's N/A form. If you get a model w/ an automatic (which is most likely) keep the boost to less 10psi or less if you want a long living tranny... 16-18psi had me cooking 3 trannys in nine months...

 

If you do acquire one drop me a PM and i'll tell you what offerings i can get you for the car at a decent price, i still have some of my old distributor contacts from my volvo days. Biggest things i push for up upgrading a volvo, start with new bushings, the rubber ones are probally rotted, upgrade the brake rotors to cross drilled mintex rotors and pads for a little extra safety, and put on some bigger sways to help keep the body roll happy volvo flat in the corners. Aside from that they really are wonderful cars, i had lots of fun with my wagon, took it pretty far for majoratively stock parts too.

 

Lastly the reason the motor mounts fail on 2/7/9 series cars so often is because alot of them have the oil filter directly above the passenger motor mount, so after however many hundreds of oil changes, that dripped oil has rotted and weakened the relatively flimsy rubber mounts. On most turbo motors they used an oil cooler that relocated the filter further toward the bellhousing and it helped to cure that issue, on some others dealers installed motor mount shields (metal panels that sat above the top bolt).

 

Good luck, let us know how it works out.

[innerware]

Thank you all for all the great info. This is really what I was looking for. And thanks 73Turbo240Z for the offer of parts knowledge. We went to a dealer today just to ask some questions about the older cars. Ended up test driving a 98 V70 fully loaded wagon. It was pretty nice for a NA car and it was the cross country version. It had 58k miles and was in really good shape. But of course they were asking 14K for it. We weren't going to buy from a dealer anyway as they are always overpriced. But it is such a comfortable car. Here on craigslist there are a bunch listed under 100 K miles for 3-6 thousand. We will probably look at some this week or next weekend. That means I get the 97 corolla and get to put Z #1 on jackstands next to Z #2 and strip the parts and combine the two. I might just get a nice Z out of it and a dependable (not fast) car.

 

Thanks for all the info and please add more.

 

Have a nice weekend

[DavyZ]

I have owned a 760T, a 244, and a 242. The company 73turbo240Z just mentioned is ipd and I can assure you they make some serious suspension packages for Volvos. I installed their parts on my 242 and it just became a totally different (read: better) car from then on. Also, everything he said was spot on.

 

I sold Volvos for years and used to know a lot about them. The 740 and 940 turbo models are the best IMO and have a little comfort level then the 240 series. Either is good, but the 7 series is a bit nicer.

 

Parts can be a $$$ nightmare as even trim pieces and signal lights cost really big bucks. However, the money you save in buying a car that just seems to last and last offsets everything else. Plus, they are slightly overbuilt when it comes to safety and can take an extreme amount of accident abuse.

 

"Boxy, but good."

 

Davy

[Moridin]

My friend owns a Volvo service shop. The FWD cars a more difficult to work on, but still very good. They have much better creature comforts, safety features, and power. The 240s and 7xx's are both awesome cars though. Just look out on the road. You see dozens upon dozens of old 240 wagons and sedans. Its a testament to their durability. My friend and his dad (the shop owners) both own 7xx series cars. My friend's 740 is completely modded (read: over 350 RWHP) and still a tank. His dad's 760 turbo is going strong with over 300,000 miles. My friend's sister had a 240 for years. She totalled out 3 other cars with it, because it was so strong. Ever seen an SUV get taken out by a poor little 240 sedan. Pretty interesting to say the least.

[BrandonsZ]

I own a 240 DL

 

Base model 1991 nearly 200k, the motor mounts are shot, but since they are entirely captured, it doesn't seem to matter. I can move the engine with my finger and it moves about 2 inches in it it's mounts.

 

The front brakes wear out every 10k, but they are cheap and take only 5 minutes to change, and basically just need a C-clamp and a pair of needle nose plyers to remove.

 

Every time I work on it, I get the feeling they knew what they were doing because everything is so easy to get at and work on, and nothing is burried.

 

Slow as a dog, AC sucks, no good for mountian roads, starting to rust, paint is still as shiny as the day it sold. (white).

 

Nice car for Grandma, but too gutless for me. I hear the turbo versions are good though. You don't want any model after the year Ford bought them.

 

The 90's were their peak. Reliability is good but not since Ford tainted them.

[innerware]

Thanks for all the help guys. I just bought a 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo wagon today!!!! Yeah! It has 73,000 miles on it. Was only a California car, and owned by the same person who works and lives in the same town. She is an architect and he a cardiologist. They took remarkable care of the car. Everything was done by the book and he has all the records to prove it. Timing belt just done at 68000 miles as well as a tranny fluid change and new tires. Boost held great and there were no rattles at all when driving. It is Champaign in color (not first choice) but looks good. No fading at all and just one little small dent / scratch ( foot long). Interior looks great although the front seats are a little worn. Everything else works and it was 6,000 bucks. Not bad. About 800-1000 under Kelley blue book.

 

Thought I would share. I pick it up next weekend as I don't have all my money yet and left a deposit. (transfered money from Orange account). So I will post pics next weekend. It will be the wifes car so no big upgrades or anything. I think she will like the 222 horses it puts out. She'll probably never take it out of economy mode...LOL. Good thing is I drive where ever we go together though. I now get the 97 Corolla (her old car). Not bad, it drives great and is in good shape. Guess it means the Datsun gets stripped and I put my two Z's together into one good one. I'll have spare parts for sale soon.

 

Thanks again all,

Kyle