I'll be posting a lot of questions here in the next few weeks as I try to get the car back up to speed. Background is: parents bought the car new in 87 - care was sold to me during college - drove the car lots when I lived in CO/PA/WV - moved to Denver in 07 and bought a Subaru while the Volvo sat in the garage and didn't move - sold the Subaru in 2012 and did the bike/girlfriend's car thing for a while - moved to a new (yet very old) house and figured it's time to resurrect the Volvo - the end. She's an '87 245 with ~251k and a few minor problems to work out, mostly due to lack of use.

I took the car to my favorite local Volvo guy. He said basically that the car's in decent shape, and that unless I'm planning to take it cross country there's no reason to tear into it; it's probably better to let what breaks break and fix it at that point. I'm game for that theory, since the major items seem to be holding together, and I only need it once a week or so.

My only recent worry is the brakes. I remember the 240 brakes being great, albeit often in need of new pads. Only problem is that they really feel spongy. The car will stop, and it has good brake pedal support (ie I don't need to pump the pedal to get pressure), but stops are still a very carefully considered task. My gut feeling is that brake fluid that's been sitting in the garage for 7 years may have absorbed some water and needs to be flushed out and replaced. Am I on the right track? The mechanic said the discs are in good shape and the pads are good all around.