Hello I bought a 1988 Volvo 240 wagon for a 1st car I paid 4900 which I thought was pretty reasonable as they’re climbing in price and mines in pretty good shape but everyone thinks it was not the smartest move. It has somewhere around 180k(the odometer broke around there) it’s been great so far other then some electrical kinks. Just wanted your opinion.
-Thanks Kestin
Those old Volvos in their day were reliable as anvils and built like tanks but their day was over 30 years ago so you're bound to have quite a few "old car" type issues to deal with. Not many mechanics these days are going to know how to work on them. You might want to join a Volvo specialty forum where people help each other to keep those old "bricks" going down the road.
Thank you yeah I’ve been looking at forums a lot and a few aftermarket companies like ipd make some really good parts for them. And fairly close to me there’s a shop that specializes in vintage Volvo’s. I’m going to tech school right now to be a technician so all the stuff it’s needed I’ve done myself so far I figured being an older car it’d be a good car to learn how to work on vs a newer one.
IPD is a great source, I actually order some stuff for my Saabs from them since quite a few electrical parts like relays are the same. Sounds like you have bases pretty well covered. With proper attention that "brick" could run just about forever.
Yeah I would love to keep it forever if I can I’ve always had a soft spot for them. I just need a 2nd car next winter I’m up in Maine so stuff rusts pretty bad up here and I don’t want it to rust out. Saabs r sweet too I was actually looking at a few before I got the Volvo.
Keeping rust at bay is a major consideration! Spraying something like Fluid Film on the chassis each season can help. Also here's a great resource for Volvo electrical parts like connectors, once again Saab uses a lot of the same parts so I order from these guys as well:
Thanks man you’ve been a great help I’ll have to keep them in mind I’m currently dealing with a headlight problem atm so that cite might come into use here soon haha
Interesting choice. “They’re boxy, but they’re good!”
Not a bad choice for a first car because they are so hard to break and easy to work on. But you’re not just gonna bop down to your local Autozone to get parts for a 35 year old Volvo. And with the contemporary supply chain problems, you can’t count on Amazon Prime having parts for you next-day.
I had a buddy who had a Volvo wagon of that vintage, and he kept a box of spare parts in the back. Not a bad idea. Find a local Volvo club, and go pick their brains. What breaks? Where can you get replacement parts? What local shops know how to work on them?
Yeah I’m actually up in Maine and lately I’ve noticed a bit more Volvo’s around actually which has been kind of cool to see. I’m currently working at a Shepard dealership and there’s a guy there who’s a master Volvo tech so I’ve picked his brain quite a bit about them.
A little on the expensive side, but I think that is because rod the market right now.
Those are probably one of the 30 year old cars I still see hunkering down the road. They seem to have some life in them.
that's a lot of money for a 34yo car and unknown high mileage.
I paid less than that for a 7 year old van with 100k.
Did you at least have a mechanic check it out?
Yeah I had my uncle check it out he thought it was a good car but he said I may have paid a lil much. I live in Maine so it’s really hard sometimes to find vintage cars for cheap a lot of the time up here. Cars in general here kinda suck price wise.