I hope I am not breaking this to you for the first time, but I think you might take a drive in a Honda or a Toyota, like an Accord or a Camry, and see what they are like. I have seen many of them exceed 400k kilometers without having the head off, and run like champs. They may chew exhaust systems, but then 240s do as well. What they don't do is eat fuel pumps, water pumps, heater fans, and especially wiring harnesses. Nobody does electrical like the Japanese, nobody. Perfect stuff.
I like 240's as much as the next Volvo lover - I have owned, and still own them, but lets be realistic. Volvo nearly destroyed the company with the 700 series, and stumbled on the 940 when the 850 was annointed the sucessor. I won't drive front drive and if I did it would be a Japanese model. So the newest Volvo in my fleet is a 1980 242DL single carb.
So the poor old 242 is a thrash about car, and I beat the hell out of it. Course I built a special engine for it, and its great fun to do that. But its not my daily driver, and I don't put the family in it. The family gets front and side airbags in more modern cars, because what Volvo puts airbags in I won't drive, and other brands have become at least as safe as what Volvos are now.
I have owned twenty six Volvos now, and the 242 will be the last. I enjoyed every one of them except the single 740. And now they make cars that don't appeal.
Life is short, don't look back.