Hi, I came across this auction on Ebay motors for a 1989 240DL.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1843319800


Car looks to be in nice shape with 125k miles, with one owner and service records. Also comes with a 3 month warranty. The "Buy Now" price is only $2700 or so. At that price, don't you think there might be some problem with it? And would buying a car online without a test drive and lookover be a good idea? I personally am not interested in the vehicle but might be if I did not have a brick already. I would be worried also that whoever owned the car before might have been a smoker and the smell is hard to get out of the fabric.

LP

Call the dealership. Ask as many questions as you would if you were there in person checking out the car. I bought my 84 240DL on ebay, also from a small used-car dealer in New Jersey. It turned out to be BETTER than described...one owner, always dealer serviced, with new Volvo plugs, battery, wires, etc. and even the original window sticker! I ran a carfax, called the dealer and talked to them (for info on the car and to get an idea about who I might be dealing with). They were just a used car dealer, not Volvo-specific, but they were good people to deal with. 84's in the same shape (when you can find one) around here in Wmass go for at least $1000 more than I paid ($1425).
Good Luck. Trust your instincts.

take a look at the background of the pictures in the ebay site. The condition of the lot, barbed wire fence, the type of cars for sale, junk strewn about..you probably wouldn't even dream of buying a car from that lot if you lived next door.

I will give you the benefit of my experience with bricks on ebay.. i live in central florida, convenient to miami, fort lauderdale and clearwater/tampa, where many of these so-called "mint condition" vehicles are sold. When I wanted a second Volvo, I would go see these vehicles. They were not what they were advertised at. A dark green 940 with cloth gold interior sticks out in my mind. It was dirty inside, sticky stuff was still in the map pockets on back of seats, the plastic covers on the front seat rails were missing, headliner was dirty, the automatic xmission shifter handled was eaten through as if someone poured acid on it..and when I asked to drive the car, the owner said it would not be fair to other Ebay bidders, so his policy is he will not allow visitors to drive the cars or EVEN START THE ENGINES!!!

After a few trips, I made up my mind I would NEVER NEVER NEVER buy a vehicle on the internet. Ebay has nothing to do with it, and I am sure there are legitimate, honest dealers and private owners out there. Problem is, which ones are they?

Like I said, I am personally not interested in the car but just thought that the deal looked too good to be be true, so I thought to see what others thought. I have always been curious about buying cars on Ebay cause I have seen some that seem like they would be good deals.....like this one, but did not know if generally it is a good practice considering you cannot get a good feel of what the car is really like.

BTW, my 89' 240DL was advertised at the dealership for $4995, but I ended up only paying $1000 and traded in my 87' Honda Accord LX which was in fairly nice condition but had fairly high miles (130k)and the AC was not functioning. My Volvo has given me absolutely no problems whatsoever, besides the following day after purchasing it the battery died at a espresso drive through stand!

For those interested in seeing my car I have pics of it at cardomain.com. It is a site where enthusiats post pictures and descriptions of their cars and sound systems, upgrades, etc. If you want to take a look, or post your car, take a look here.


http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=219335


Luke

The '89s have a weakness in the FI ecu. However, my brother's '89 (around 100k) has had no problems so far.

Do you live near the seller? If not, then the 3-month warranty is meaningless to you unless you can get them to pay your local mechanic for warranty repairs (unlikely). Therefore, you might be able to negotiate the price down a bit by eliminating the warranty.

I agree -- $2800 does not sound unreasonable for it, but you'd be smart to have a look-see and test drive before parting with cash. And be prepsred to invest another $1000-1500 on the stuff this guy glossed over.

Note also that the seller has four complaints out of sixty-six. Three of the four complaints allege hidden problems and expensive repairs. The most recent complaint was for a car that was as glowingly described as this 240. Moreover, if you look at his other auctions, you'll see all flavors of cars -- so this guy probably doesn't know his head from his ass about 240s.

Proceed slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully. Keep your money close to you.

A nearby friend bought a '90 240 through eBay, and when it arrived the "slight piston slap" turned out to be horrendous rod knock. The seller, in Texas, said, "Gee, I don't know the difference. Sorry, sucker."
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

Go to: http://www.kbb.com/ It appears the car may be worth over $3000--rate it at that blue book sight yourself. Also try edmunds.com You can also email them and ask to make the sale contingent on the results of an independent place to do a thorough inspection-at your expense of course-generally around $100--well worth it. ASK them if it was a "smokers" car. Whatever they reply to you-hopefully by email--print it out as proof of what they said. Get a name also. Oh wait-I just scrolled up and noticed you said you are not personally interested--why are you asking about it then?? For a friend maybe?