After driving a ' 97 850 turbo for almost a year, I've decided that I don't like it as well as the older Volvos. Over the years, I've had a few 240's. Most recently was an '86 that my brother drove for while. I found a '93 240 sedan with 240 K miles locally. The owner has had it since '94 and has all records. The paint and interior are excellent and everything works. I think I can buy the car for around $2500. When I drove it I didn't notice any of the common 240 problems (bushings, noises, etc.). Assuming I can get most of my money back on the 850 I'm thiking I want to buy this car. Does this seem like a fair price for a really nice 240?

Thanks in advance.
Dave

As far as determining "fair" price which I see asked from time to time, start at www.kbb.com, the Kelly Blue Book site. There are 3 categories; What you would expect to pay a dealer for a reconditioned car with a dealer warranty of some kind, typically 90 days on a vehicle that age and this is the highest. Next is private party value and it depends on correctly assessing the condition of the vehicle. This generally is the mid range. There are guidelines given for determining condition. Lowest is the trade-in value, what a dealer would give you as a trade-in. All are estimates and everything is negotiable. Primary inputs you enter are the mileage, year, model, equipment, your ZIP code. Print it out. That should help you when you negotiate. Every car needs something. Most expensive things are re-paint and body work, rust , engine rebuild, tranny rebuild. Other things like cracked door pockets, a sound system you don't like, even worn tires are all easily remedied and relatively inexpensive.

I'd say that is a lot for a sedan with that kind of mileage. If it were a wagon the price would be more reasonable, but I'd still say it was high. But it does depend where you live.

car will go 3 times that mileage... it's not a domestic folks. I missed one last year for that money and I am still thinking about it.

93 has the r134 a/c system, but it isn't inherently better than any other 240. All the motors/transmissions are great on the series. Anything else is body condition interior fussiness. Buy it.

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Stef (scotia blue 81 245 B21A SU M46 3.91 350000km)

I believe the '93 has the "L" block with piston oil squirters?
Can someone confirm?
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Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, e-codes, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 850 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

The 93, 94 and 95 940's have the "L" block. I believe the 93 240's do too. Not 100% sure though, so check the archives. Think Ken C. mentioned just that not too long ago.

Jim
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90 244DL 266k :)

What a coinincidence. I just bought myself a 93 850 glt sedan for $2500. It is the exact opposite of my 240 sedan (which I'll keep forever). I bought her from a volvo indy mechanic who bought it from the original who was a doctor who totally babied the car. The 850 is so refined and so fast but oy I've heard horror stories about the rms plus I'm skeptical about FWD with a 5 cylinder. So far so good as long as I keep up with the pcv system I guess. I think the price for a good 240 depends on where you live. Where I live 2500 seems kinda steep for a quater of a million miles. I'd offer 2000 at the most because you'll want to do all the tune up stuff and the timing belt. I bet you could do better, but no worse, the 93 240 is a very nice one indeed.

For price and for how cars "perform" in the market place (speed of sale, and seller's behavior), condition is everthing, pretty much.

If you want a nice clean car with known history, etc., and if you're lucky enough to find one that matches your budget, then I think you should go for it. Note that I said "within your budget". If you don't go for it, remember that the seller is convinced he/she has a "cherry" car and will attempt to hold out for the price they have determined.

I've usually been willing to accept cars with some known flaws. I usually end up finding additional issues after driving them for a bit. Just keep in mind that you may very well find unforseen expenses after buying it, so have the funds available.
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Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, e-codes, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 850 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

Price seems high considering high mileage. Here in NJ that car would go for $1500 tops. Good Luck.

93s are the most expensive of the 240s because they are the newest. If the car is in as good of shape as you say, I don't think $2500 is too bad. 240K is a good chunk of mileage, though. Has the owner replaced anything major lately? How is the A/C? Good luck.
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Patrick McHugh, Cincinnati, OH, 1993 244 Limited Ed. 'Classic' model (daily driver)

I have been told by the dealor that I could sell my '88 for $6000. It has 178 K on it and it is clean. $2500 for a 93 sounds like a good deal in a way.

HAHAH rofl. I think you've got it backwards mr brick driver. The stealorship fellow means to say that with a minimum amount of detailing the interior and buy turning the idle knob way up high, he would feel comfortable asking $6000 for your 88 brick! I think he just wants you to come in to buy a newer ford-vo off his lot while snatching your precious 88 away for peanuts.

Every used car is a case by case basis and it will vary alot depending upon what part of the country you are in. I had a customer bring in a 1987 245 last Friday for a POST-purchase inspection (bad move). Car has about 145K, came from the second owner, was garaged so the paint and interior was in pretty nice shape. However it needs the front suspension gone through, transmission completely resealed, complete cooling system, locating arm bushings in the rear, a brush holder, tailgate harnesses, 4 tires, and align. There were a few other items as well but the bottom line was it was in the area of $3500.00 or so to square it all away. Granted some of it could be put off but alot of it needed attention in fairly short order.

Now as chance would have it I had been actively looking for a replacement Volvo (240 preferably) for my 18 year old kid. I found one on Saturday. 1991 244 DL, black, sunroof, power windows, ABS, and airbags, 207K, in really nice shape, 3rd owner. They asked $1500.00, I offered $1200.00 and it was a done deal. The one I got needs a trans (no O.D.), water pump, pinion seal, rear T/A bushings, locating arm bushings, front lower control arm bushings, fluid flushes and an oil change.

So, as you can see it is a bit of a crap shoot. To answer your question though, if that late model 240 needed less than $200.00 in maintenance then I would say that you are going to be money ahead to buy it than to get a good deal like I did and go through it. Problem is that most of them need more than a couple of hundred bucks thrown at them so you really need to get them as cheap as you can.

Good luck and whichever way you go it is hard to go wrong with a 240, especially a wagon.

Mark