240 number eight just joined the family. Wife's '88, with 285k, no rust, and many new parts and loving hours of shade-tree labor, was hit in the rear on I-90 last Thursday. It did its job nicely- she was not hurt. The car, however, did not fare so well. Geico did give us $1300 for it though. Bought it back from them for $125. Its in my garage now- fulfilling its new role as "the parts car."

Necessity required finding a "new" 240 quickly and for cheap. In a stroke of apparent luck, I found a local '90 240 with 226,000 miles. No show car- a definite beater- not too much rust (rare for upstate NY car), faded black paint, scratches, dings. One wierdly repaired area on the right rear wheel arch from a minor fender-bender years ago. What mattered most was that it was a one-owner car, a 5 speed, and had been maintained by the same indie Volvo shop (Froelich Volvo in Voorheesville, NY) for 17 years. Oil was changed every 3000-4000 miles religiously. Major services done. Many PITA bushings replaced (i.e. rear TABs, TRBs, FCABs, etc.). New clutch. All maintenance was written down, so I had a decent idea what the car's baseline health was. It also came with a new set of Nokian I3 all-seasons and new Hakka 1 snows on rims (about $700 in tires!). AC and seat heaters worked as well (very important to wife!).

Just before going to look at the car last Sunday, the owner calls and tells me "you'll never believe this, but the car won't start, its never done this before, etc." At this time, I'm think "Oh boy, here we go again." I decided I would still look at the car. When I saw the car, my first thought was "well, its not pretty, but it looks serviceable." I checked the basic 240 no-starts and found a loose connection at the 25A fuse under the hood- fixed that and it started right up. Engine sounded great! Drove the car- not too bad, though the shocks probably could use replacement/upgrade. Nice clutch and tranny. Major systems seemed to work properly. $1700 sealed the deal.

This got me thinking about the "beater car" concept. At this point in life, either by choice or necessity, almost all of my 240s have been beaters. Basically mechanically sound, but not pretty to look at. I've driven them long distance, short distance, in all weather. I do 95% of the work on them myself. Most people think I'm nuts for driving a beater when I could buy a new car. How many of you do the same?

240 beater website: http://www.beaterreview.com/botw/BeaterReview_botw_13.htm