I bought an 83 240 with 203000 miles about three months ago for my girlfriend. Since the day of purchase, I have had nothing but problems with the car. It seems like it's been in the shop more times than it's been on the road. So far I've invested over $3500 ($2000 for the car and $1500 for repairs) which includes a new clutch, ball joints, tie rods, struts, alignment, water pump, overdrive wiring harness, Pioneer deck w/speakers, motor mounts, and other miscellaneous odds and ends.

Because this 240 keeps having to go to the shop, my girlfriend has become very frustrated and irritated with the car and now wants me to get rid of it and get her a Toyota or Honda to replace it. What makes this a worse situation for me is that she originally wanted a Japanese car but I talked her into a 240 Volvo.

And to add more misery to this madness, my good old trusty Volvo mechanic secretly told me that the early 80's 240's are known to be money-pits and they often need to be maintained and are expensive to repair. He also informed me that from 1988 on up are the best 240's made.

And get this. My mechanic secretly suggested that I would be better off with a good used Honda or Toyota because they are much more reliable and less expensive to repair.

So what do I do now? I prefer to keep the 240 for my girlfriend because I've already invested so much money in the thing. But on the other hand, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to keep spending money to keep her on the road. On top of all these negative thoughts, I keep hearing my Volvo mechanic's voice in my head telling me that I'd be better off with a Japanese car for my girlfriend. What to do, what to do?