This car hunting is making me crazy. Still looking for a 240 wagon, and finally testdrove a diesel I have been driving past for a month. I truly do appreciate any advice, based on the facts I have. Here goes...
1982 240. 200k mi even. 4speed manual w/ non-working overdrive. It started and idled nicely, although it sounds like my '68 Ford diesel tractor. VW diesel, block a faded green. Amazingly simple engine compartment compared to regular 240. Wiring harness at the firewall was not cracked, unlike the '86 they had. AC worked. Frostbite will not be an issue, but you could tell it was cooling, and clutch was energized. Interior is fairly crappy from a cleanliness standpoint, but it wasn't ragged. All windows worked, except the passenger rear. It didn't work from driver side or actual door switch. Now, the testdrive was interesting. It was very loud, esdpecially due to shifting boot being torn in half. Could lift it up and see the pavement. Car drove OK, steering was about like most 200k Volvo. Brakes seemed OK. Clutch seemed fine, although all I can say specifically is that it worked without noise. The most disturbing thing of all was this car smoked on acceleration like a coal burning freight train. Didn't smoke at idle. Bottom of car has no rust at all. Body is straight, faded white paint, but no wear-off. Roof rack. Tires have tread, but have age cracks. Guy is asking $1000. VIN is YV1AX7754C1409895.
I am grateful for yalls opinions. Jimmy

A grand? Let's see...how to put this gently...HELL NO! Actually, this is a Volvo, Audi, VW motor, and I think it is a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. There are no more 240 diesels in Tally that I know of because they all died. I know there are some "Wednesday" cars out there, and their owners absolutely adore them, but the majority of the diesels I have dealt with were the Volvo factory's Monday morning hangover cars, and the Friday afternoon Miller time cars. I just don't like them. I tell people to run fast and not look back. I tell people the first three letters are DIE and that is what they do. My husband is a Volvo master tech, I'm not a master but I've been to Volvo school, and I grew up in a shop. I appease my Dad by being the epitome of a responsible car owner...and she still died. I dropped a valve, had the head rebuilt, and then blew out the rings. That didn't seem quite fair! A customer of mine was kind enough to wreck his 1984 240 LH car, and Abbie got a new lease on life as a normally aspirated gas vehicle. I was dismayed that I had lost my "smutability" when someone was tailgating me, 'cause I could back 'em up two city blocks by sticking her in neutral and giving her a quick rev. I haven't missed that overly much though, because I can get out of the way now....

....but...if you love the car, feel some kinship to this car, and are willing to put up with all of the nuances that come with a diesel, buy her, find a really good technician that doesn't mind getting really nasty dirty, and don't, under any circumstances, pay more than $500.00...I'd say $250.00 if it were me.

>This car hunting is making me crazy. Still looking for a 240 wagon, and finally testdrove a diesel I have been driving past for a month.<

Don't buy it if you don't really like it is all I'd say.

It took me maybe six months of looking until my sedan sort of fell in my lap. (And Bob - if you're reading this - I don't know if I thanked you enough for the tip).

Good ones are out there but I recommend patience so you don't get lumbered with something you might regret.

First off, with the overdrive out, it may just be a switch, or you may have to rebuild the overdrive unit. not hard, but I'd call around some transmission shops to see what they hget for that to put it in perspective.
Have the compresion checked. any vw diesel or mercedes diesel mechanic would have the proper gauge for it, and it would be money well spent compression is everything on a compression ignition engine. The smoke could just be a timing issue, or low compression( low comp= incomplete combustion).
You would need a liberal minded vw diesel mechanic nerby, or be ready to invest in about$500 in special tools to maintain the thing.
Are there any signs of coolant loss?
is ther oil in the breather tube or on top of the air filter element( pop the air box open)?
Even with good compression, with the tranny problem, it's not worth over $500, and I love diesels, but for some reason people have some rediculous ideas of what these things are worth.
type diesel in the serch box at the bottom of thepage and read the old posts on the subject
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel

Setting aside the fact that it's a Volvo, and that it's rust-free- remember it's 20 years old, and "smokes like a freight train". And it IS an (ugh) VW motor.

Drive past it another 12 months, and then offer $400.

I don't know what the market is like where you are at but here in So. Cal I can buy a lot more car for a thousand bucks. I would not offer him a dime more than $500.00 and that is if you can't live without it. Diesels do not command any kind of premium with the small exception of being able to stuff a V8 in them and not worry about passing smog, yet. I bought one for my daughter that was in a damn sight better shape than the one you described and I think I paid something like $175.00 for it. When it was said and done I still ended up doing the following to it: head gasket, glow plugs, timing belts,drive belts, p/s rack, brakes, timing pump check and adjust, blower fan, central locking repair, fix a couple of power windows, rear coil springs,rear trailing arm bushings, rear main seal, remanufactured torque converter, and numerous other little things here and there. Now mind you I did some of this stuff right up front and the rest got worked in over the course of the next 12 months or so. This car was very clean when I got it and was top of the line with every option available when it sold new in '82 and it still needed what would equate to a couple thousand dollars worth of work if you had to pay someone to do. My one daughter recently sold it to my other daughter for $600.00 and everyone seemed to agree that it was a decent deal all the way around, but of course the deal went down with the added bonus that it comes with a 24 hour on call factory trained Volvo technician to boot. "Hey Daddy......."

Make sure that the engine starts flawlessly when it is cold. You
might also want to have a compression check done, if that's possible
with a Diesel. A worn Diesel will be a pain in the butt to start
in winter.


Me, I'd offer the guy $500-600. I bought my DL for $1200 and the
only problems that it had were minor floorboard rust (fixed for
$350) and worn rear bushings. The interior was in good shape,
although the A/C was broken. Mileage was 145k (low for a B230F).
If you can get the car for $5-600 and you have problems with the
Diesel, you can always drop a B230FT from a 740 in, and a rust-free
body is good, especially for an '82.


-b.