There's a huge variation in supply and demand depending where you are in the country. Just try to find a 240 Turbo in the upper Midwest that isn't rusted to hell (or even one that IS rusted)...people in the Pacific NW or Southern California can choose which ones to buy, but even if you're willing to spend $4000 you can't find one here. Same goes for clean low mileage 90-93 240s with manual transmissions, there just are so few for sale here that people can ask (and get) very high prices for them. I think that car in Luke's video would've commanded $5000 here.

Zack
1980 245DL M46 289k
1988 745T+ M46 231k

I think that you probably are looking at cars that have either been restored or are in very good shape. I turned down an 89 244 GL last week for $200 that I bought 2 years ago for $300 for a family friend. As is the case of so many people, no maintenance had been done to the car for the past 2 years and even the leather interior was trashed. (We ended up giving her $100 toward another car just to keep that thing out of my driveway!) The cheap, clean, reliable 240s are hard to find in this area, although there are always some good bodies with poor mechanicals that can be had for the tow or a couple of hundred bucks. I typically cruise the poorer neighborhoods and look for them parked because these will never see the classifieds.

Regards,
--
Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com, www.dallasprecision.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles

Last weekend there was an ad in the Washington Post for a 93 wagon with just under 100K on it for $10,500 firm (and it didn't even mention if it was a Classic or not) Of course, there is no way of knowing if he sold it or not.

I'm planning on selling my 89 sedan when I finish getting it sorted out and find a nice 740 wagon to buy, so I've been watching this run-up in prices with considerable interest. It has 195K on it but looks excellent and runs well.

The situation is a lot like that of approximately 20 years ago, at which time the 122 was first recognized as a classic, and jumped in price, but you couldn't give 140s away, as they were too modern-looking, just as 7s are now. I've driven both, and find the 7 to be the better car, though uglier, just as the 140 was a big improvement over the 122, in everything but appearance

It took a long while, but finally, the supply of very clean, low mileage, unmolested 240's is drying up. They can and do sell for prices like that, and even higher. But those cars are the tip of the pyramid, and underneath are the 95% of the cars that have too many miles, a rust spot or two, a tatty interior, etc and are worth a fraction. The only ones worth big bucks are the time capsule cars that spent much of their life so far sitting in a garage somewhere, protected from sun, salt, moisture, and just simple mileage from driving.

And why the 240? It's simply the iconic Volvo. They made them and the so-similar-nobody-but-a-Volvo-nerd-would-care 140's for about 25 years straight. They were the result of a long evolutionary line from the PV. And, in many people's opinion (mine included) they represent a cresting of the Volvo line. The 700 series car was just not quite as good of a car as the 240 it was supposed to replace. A slight decline, more gadgets in exchange for a slight drop in quality. The 940 was about the same, but then the FWD/AWD was a bigger drop. So the 240 is the best car (measured by certain standards) Volvo ever made. Prices for 240's will almost always exceed similar condition/mileage/year 700/900 series cars.

The people who tend to buy the 'pyramid top' cars generally (and I'm drifting off into pure speculation here) value originality more than condition. An immaculately restored car with 150K miles is probably not going to fetch as much money as a 50K mile car. These people want a new 240, but since they aren't available, they try to get the next best thing, a barely used one.

--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 +t

Oddly enough, on my local craiglist, there was my 240 for sale at the same time there was a 2000 V70 with 98k miles that the seller was asking 4850 (a dealership, no less)...

The 850/V70s from the late 90s are the 'good deals' right now, if you ask me.

In the midwest, finding a rust free, lower miles 240 is like looking for hens' teeth. I knew I wasn't getting a wagon like this at any time. I've had my eyes open for several years in a non-serious manner. I see nice wagons on the northeast and northwest coast, but that's 1000+ dollars just to get them to my location.

Meanwhile, nobody wants these 850s because they are deemed old looking. However, I think they're pretty simple to work on and straightforward to own. Not as muchso as the 240, but after owning one, I do like them.

The 93's are pretty desirable especially with low miles and in good shape

it's rare to find a '92 or '93 245 in good shape selling for what I could get for my 1986 245 in typical 240 condition which would probably be between 600 - 900 bucks

--
Bad Blue - '86 245 with 303,000 mi. (now for parts), Good Green 1990 245 with 178,000 mi., Blacky - '91 740 wagon with 180,000 mi., Mean Green - '94 850 with 222,000

I've seen them high in the NW. But the car has to be perfect. There is a 1990 245 that is in ok shape, 200k miles, asking $3800. But it hasn't sold for about three weeks.
--
1982 242 GLT 245k mi: 1985 245 205k mi.