One of the black hinges on my 93 shattered yesterday. It was very cold (-17 C), but I have never seen this before. I have seen these hinges severely worn but I have never seen one break. The casting broke in 3 places.

I noticed the later black hinges are cheaper in price than the older type, so I was wondering if the older chrome ones are a better hinge?

I don't want this to happen again. I happened to be there when it broke on my wife, but it would have been bad if she had been alone. Will the older type fit on the later hatch doors?

I have noticed that volvo seems to have cost cut on quite a few parts on the later 240s. So far my list includes interior plastic trim, seat foam, seat upholstery, wagon seat back release and exterior trim fasteners. I have replaced a lot of these parts with ones from a much older 1984 turbo. The parts from the older car seem to be of a higher quality.