Like it says, tomorrow I am going to look at an 88' 740 Turbo with 155K miles on it.
What are the definitive places I need to look at?
What should I watch out for?
Any and all advice welcome.
Thanks.

please read this first!
http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/BuyingUsed7xx.htm

..I bought mine '90 740 turbo wagon a year ago (my first car ever) and can tell you what turned out to be wrong about it. For me this were small things but there were a number of them:

- check if the spare wheel is actually there (mine was absent)
- operation of the windshield wiper and if the washing fluid actually sprays up (in my wagon, one of the pump motors was bad, and also tailgate wiper motor was dead)
- check if the speedometer lights up if you switch on the lights (mine did not)
- check if antenna moves out when you switch on the radio.

these are small things, but checking them you either decide not to buy the car, or have your arguments to reduce its price. Also check the records for the car..

Wolandir

Well I looked at it today. What a turd. The engine had a terrible "Clatter" upon initial startup then settled down after a few seconds. Did this everytime I started it.
Removed the oil cap and plumes of smoke billowed out and the oil was pitch black, as were the oil passages and top of head.
Guy said he maintained it. I guess thats all perception.
Oh well, onto the next one.

...mine had neither of these bad sympthoms.. Overall that is a good condition car, with less than 100 Kmiles on it. I payed around S2,000 cash for that.

If I were buying a Turbo today, I would still go for a 4cyl. 740 which are said to be easy to work on and reliable (among Volvos), but rather manual tranny, because they have a better fuel economy. They are harder to find though. For an automatic, expect city miles-per-galon (MPG) around 18 or less.

Good luck!

Keep on the lookout, they can be had. My first Volvo/ car when I was 16 was a 1989 740 Ti M46 tranny. I learned a lot about exhaust systems, and gas leaks. I rebuilt the top of the gas tank with copper flex-line and some heavy duty epoxy. Bought it for $200 with 130k. Ran like a top. Frame was loosing its battle to rust... Sold it for $800 in favor of an 86 BMW 524td Diesel- sold that a few mos ago with 269k miles on it...Went out and started trying to find another 740 Volvo. Found a gorgeous Midnight Blue 89 740Ti with the alloy wheels, and M46 for a mere $2000 impecible mantinence, the guy had everything. Managed to get it for a sub $1500 price. Its squeeky clean. Replaced fluids with synthetics. Hall sensor kicked yesterday, gives me an excuse to change the plug cap wires etc. And since it needs to be timed, might as well do the harmonic crank balancer cause thats on its way too. Just fyi- I also looked at two others, one local and one about 100 miles away, the guy said it was great, just well used. OMG- dash was like broken glass, seatbelts were alllll mold. Headliner was soaked. Trunk was soaked. Had a funny thud when it was moving, pulled heavy to the left.... Bad motor mounts. The list goes on. Look for good records, true good maintenance, and originality.

Also- I found my old car, its for sale a few miles away too bad its been beat on a little. Although its hard to argue with $450 to buy it back....I just wish it still had the rare carbon color volvo hubcaps...Its only got 161k miles on it now...

-Tim