You guys are terrific - part of owning a great car is the companionship of a great bunch - even across the internet. I'm seeing the mechanic tonight and will post later about the outcome. Feeling better . . . Fred

They are Good cars if they have had an average owner. They are Excellent cars if they have had a conscientious owner! That said, like any car, they are made up of a lot of complicated bits, so you are exposed to "the perversity of inanimate things" (Kipling, I think).

Our two (now college-age) children have 240's. They were unhappy in high school to be driving such boring, uncool cars - but I was comfortable. They're slow and safe and certainly don't inspire aggressive driving. Now our son is a mild Bricknut and I suspect he takes the long way to his destinations to hasten the arrival of 300k on the clock and the corresponding high mileage badge from Volvo. We work on the car and these are great father/son times. (We swear at it together...and at the end of the job, there is the clink of beer bottles squeezed by greasy fingers). Daughter has my 940 at college while I do some stuff to her 83, but is always asking for it back, despite manual trans and non-functioning A/C.

Stick with the car and it will stick with you.
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Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

I heard these cars are good for 500,000 miles . . . OK, I'm venting, but they are good cars . . . right?

With proper care your '88 will be running well after most cars coming off of the lot today are rusting away in the boneyard. Sounds like most of the problems you have experienced are perhaps due to bad advice from Tirerack, and not flaws of the vehicle per se.

That said, it doesn't mean that Volvos defy the laws of physics. You have a 16 year old vehicle after all. It's going to have problems now and then, and if you bring it in to the shop every time it needs work you will find it being more of an expense than is worth the vehicle's inherent benefits. Unless you are willing to tackle a good deal of the regular maintenance and repairs in the sanctity of your own garage, I would recommend against owning ANY 16 year old car, even a Volvo.

For safety and longevity, Volvos are an 11 on the scale of 1 to 10. You just can't get better. But for reliability, I'd say they're more like a 6 or a 7. Above average for cars of their age certainly, but not as trouble-free as say Toyota or Honda. Learning on this website, however, and keeping up religiously with the various maintenance items (most, not all, of which, are in the manuals), will go a long way towards a successful, *relatively* trouble-free ownership experience.

The balance weights should be the stick-on "mag" weights NOT clamp-on regular weights. If the clamp-on ones are being used have them switch. The stick-on weights can be positioned to miss the caliper or e-brake mechanism, whichever it is fouling. Second choice alternative is to get a (thin, 5mm or so) wheel spacer. Get quality ones that have the index snout for the wheel and index on the hub (hub-centric wheels).
Last choice would be to grind on the offending part. It would probably work but it is difficult to be certain you are not leading to a failure AND as the wheel flexes in cornering (they do flex a little) you may tag the part anyway if sufficient clearance isn't generated.

Mike!

That is the horn that keeps the gas tank from being completely crushed in a rear ender, I think. One of those safety innovations from the fun-loving Swedes (who want to live to have more fun). It can be shimmed inboard with a couple of washeres or the outboard edge can be ground down to clear the wheel. Shimming would be the best. I have done it on a couple of 240s that I put 7-series alloys on.

The great thing about these cars is that maintaining them is worth it. You don't have to worry about junking it after putting some money into it. I'm pushing 300000 miles and will pass it on to my now 4 year old grand daughter. The Brickboard is another reason to keep a Volvo. I haven't taken my car to a mechanic in years due in large part to this great forum. You can get cheap parts from Ebay and there are always 240s in the local pick-your-part. It is also an easy car to work on. Strange as it may seem I cannot imagine owning another car.
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Simon 80 240 296k 17 years.

Most of us here have 200K on our cars. So at 74K you have a puppy.
In the Speed Shops, They sell round shims with a hole pattern in them in 1/8th inch and 1/4 inch thicknesses just for the purpose of pushing the tire away from Ball joints , Car Frame and Brake parts.

As far as the bad running. Don't know, the guy was just replacing tires and rims. The hood wasn't opened I'm assuming
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

The nice about driving an older car, even if it is a Volvo, is that you can get "cheap" parts either replacement or junker parts.

I would recomment to get the following junker parts ASAP.

1) Get a known "Good" MAF Sensor. Having a know good one will save you allot of time and money plus they are relative easy to replace. 40-50$ US. I had replaced 2 of these over the past 5 years 60.000miles. This is the #1 thing that goes bad on these older Volvos

2)Get an extra user ECM computer for about 50-60$ on junkers or e-bay. I would recommend this if you get intermitent electrical/drivability problems that the spare MAF didn't solve. I had to replace mine since my old one was infrested....with moth cocoons and when it was humid I was getting drivability problems.

3)Get a new Fuel pump relay for about 18-20$

4)Replace the fuel pressure regulator as a precaution since these things can go bad and cause you one of the 2 problems

a) Cause the main fuel pump to go south due to excesive presure
b) Cause a fire in the intake manifold in cause of a soft failure, which means that the fuel will leak from the vacuum hose and drip from the manifold.

5)If you get various intermitent no start or cut-out problems driving in the HWY. I would recommend replacing the Distributor where a intermitent working Hall effect sensor will give you ALOT of headache.

If you pay attention to the information I gave you above you will easily drive your car for 100,000 miles more.

Good luck. My first reccomendation will be for you to replace the MAF sensor.

Among the myriad things that the rough running could be:

Make sure the Costco guy didn't disconnect a vacuum line or a partially or fully disconnect a spark plug wire - happened to me after a visit to Firestone (maybe not their fault - who knows?). These are the easiest and cheapest fixes. It's where I would look first given the suddenness and the driveability symptoms.

Don't know about the brake problem, but if you are using conventional clip on weights, you should make the tire place use stick-on weights that mount inside the rear of the rim. Maybe that will give you clearance.

Good luck.

Yes, they are good cars. An 88 with only 74k should be exceptional if it has been cared for properly. 88 was a very good year. I just talked to a man about a month ago who was selling his 88 because he couldn't drive any longer. It had 376,000 miles on it, and he said it ran perfectly. He was a stickler for maintenance. The stories, even the true stories, are endless. Sorry I can't help with your specific problems. You can save a lot working on these cars yourself if you are so inclined.
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Thanks everyone for all the information and advice, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, B21F (non-Turbo), M46; 86 244, B230, 140k , auto.