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I always considered Volvos to be heavy cars with all the alure of a pre 1955 Plymouth, lotsa body roll, non performing, durable and stodgy. A friend of mine got an 185K mile 85 745 non turbo to use as a contract UPS delivery vehicle. When he got it I was surprised how nice it drove. He finally sold it five years later with over 300K onit, still running but quite worn. I bought a 85 745GLE with 190K on it, three years later I have done vitually nothing to the car. Now having been around and helping work on about 10 of these cars, here are my thoughts. The Naturally Aspirated 240-740-940 series are almost indestructable. Just keep the oil clean, the flame trap changed and all normal maintenace stuff done. The 740-940 is more sporty, than the 240 with less body roll and better drivability. The wagons will haul most anything but are not as fast as the sedans. The GLE leather seats, cruise, and alloy wheels are very nice. If you get a 16 valve version which goes some better than the standard eight valve version, keep the timing belt changed. The turbos in the words of a local Volvo fixer, last about 150K most times before needing overhaul. The 60 series, 6 cylinders are a disaster, stay away. The French engine has cam troubles and the parts are very pricey. Many people replace these engines with V8s. If you want ultimate reliability, the Non Turbo 740s are my favorite. The 16 Valve versions and the turbos have more problems but do go better, at a price. Put it this way, the regular 745 wagon works just fine for me and still gets me speeding tickets. Jim
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