Someone offered to sell me an 88 760 volvo (w/turbo) that has about 200K miles...

The brakes, power steering and fuel pumps are supposedly broken.

I would use it for parts mostly to replace my power seats, fix the climate control, and possibly a few other things (I've been slowly bringing my 87 760 back to life...) such as ABS (hopefully it still works), possibly replace the hood and trunk, rear bumper, harness (if its in good enough shape...), hoses (if in good shape), etc...

Is 250$ a good deal for a parts car with 200K?

If it's a sedan, the car will have IRS, which means the rear brake calipers and rotors will be totally different from your car. (But if the passenger side rear caliper isn't seized up, I'd buy it from you. My 780 needs a replacement rear passenger IRS caliper.)

Also there were some significant changes to how Volvo assembled their wiring harnesses that occured in the changeover from 1987 to 1988. You'll probably find the newer style of connectors ("Timer" and "mini-Timer") used to connect the engine harnesses to the vehicle chassis harnesses. However, don't let that deter you from grabbing the '88 harness since it's not biodegradeable like your '87 is, -and then splice on the '87 chassis connectors to the '88 harness. It's worth the time, rather than replace each individual wire in the '87 harness. You will need both the '87 and the '88 Volvo green wiring diagrams manuals for this operation.

Is the car worth $250? Consider this, the value of the car in scrap steel alone is between $100 to $150 depending on your location and market demand. The Nivomats alone retail new between $200 to $250 each, the headlight/foglights/grille section goes for about $100 or so in a salvage yard, the engine head is definately worth having as a backup or spare on the shelf in case your car suffers a bad overhead due to a blown hose/radiator or locked up thermostat. The turbo is worth $50 to $200 in used condition. The radiator is worth about $25 if it's the original, and a newer Blackstone (OEM) replacement is worth $50 or more (they cost about $220 to $300 new). The transmission is worth $50 to $75 for the automatic AW-71, and an M46 manual transmission with intact syncros is worth $50 or more. The interior and body speak for themselves, and are worth a decent amount to people looking for their components.

Take a close look at the '88, you may find that you want to take some parts from your '87 and make the '88 your daily driver.

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 240 Wagon, 273k miles.
'88 Black 780, PRV-6, 149k miles.

Just the parts that you need (power seats, climate control, ABS, hood and trunk, rear bumper) would be worth a couple of hundred bucks to me if they're all in good condition -- especially if I could have the car in my yard and not have to go to the pick-n-pull. What would that list of parts cost you at a salvage place?

I would also pick off things that would make good spares: turbo, relays, sunroof motor/or crank, window regs, door lock linkages (make yourself a keyless entry kit), injectors, etc. Then save them in a box in your basement. One of those parts might save your butt one weekend when you need a part at 9:00 pm.

Someone on here would likely want the Nivos... maybe even some other parts. So you could recapture some of you investment there, perhaps.

Personally, I'd counter-offer $150. If the owner is a friend, I might offer $200. But I wouldn't feel bad about paying $250 for it.

Good luck.

Jeff Pierce
--
'93 945 Turbo (201K miles), '93 945 (140K miles/I maintain for a family member), '93 945 Turbo (sold w 145K miles), '92 Mercedes 190E (174K miles), '85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (225K miles), '53 Willys Overland w/ Fisher plow (sold to a loving home)

What is the current market value on scrap metal? That is what the local boneyard will give you and considering the fact that they have to come pick it up on their dime the going rate is about $25.00. I would offer no more than $50.00 for it, but that is just me.

Mark

I just found out that the car has almost brand new nivomat shocks...do you have an idea of how much they're worth if I part them out? i.e. does it make the car worth $250?

Nivomats are like 200$/apiece new. I'm not a760 person but I wish I had bought a 740plain over the summer for 200$ for the seats and sunroof alone. It sounds like a steal and you can have a car to fall back on if yours gets totaled... though that's pretty poor reasoning to buy it.

-Will (also bringing my 90 740 back to proper specs)
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1990 740 Turbo, on its way to stock specs, maybe beyond