I just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce myself :). I'm a newbie, not only to the board, but to the "world of Volvo" so to speak. My aunt got me hooked on them when I was in HS---this is when she purchased her 1989 Volvo 745. It was 8 years old when she purchased it, and it still looks great. She also has a 97' 850.

I hunted high and low for a used (read; CHEAP) used Volvo ever since HS, but--since I'm still in college---cheap Volvos were hard to come by. As luck would have it, I found on Yahoo, an 84' Volvo 244 GL. 245K miles on it, silver w/ black leather, crank-open sunroof. While the paint on the hood is faded, it's in very respectable shape.

Already, I have found great information on this board, especially concerning that darn "Lambada-Sond" idiot lamp. Thanks to everyone here, I found out that it DID NOT mean that I needed a new O2 sensor every 30K, and that all I had to do, was just punch a button under the dashboard. It took me longer to get under the dashboard than it did to re-set it. Thank you everyone :).

But being new to this board, I have a few questions. They deal mainly with trivial things. I would like to get covers for the headrests. While I like the idea of see-through headrests, I've seen the covers on other 200 series cars, and frankly, it's classier looking. Where can I get them? Also, the car did not come with an owner's manual. Where can I get one? Also---is there any way to lower the seat height on the driver's seat? For the life of me, I thought that it was done by a pair of levers, but I cannot find them. Lastly---is it common for these cars to last up to 300K with routine mantainance? I haven't had a used car yet that did not crap out before the 180K mark WITH maintance.

BTW---is it worth the $$ to join VCOA?

Thanks so much, and I look foward to being here for a LONG time :)

Steve