I bought a 1993 240 sedan a few months back to replace the decrepit 1983 245. Once and a while the 93 seemed to be listing a bit on the drivers side but I figured I was imagining it. The other day I pulled up in front of a glass front building and was shocked to see the car leaning about two inches to the drivers side.

I took it to an independent garage that I use for tire and front end work. They told me the springs on the front and rear left side had lost their umph and were causing the sag. Has anyone else run into this with a car that is only ten years old? My 1983 had almost 200k on it when I sold it earlier this year. And despite its problems, the 20 year old Volvo stood tall on its original suspension.

The shop I took the 93 240 to is not a Volvo specialist shop but said they could replace the rear springs, pull the front struts and replace the front springs for $180 (3 hours ) labor. The had found a source for rear springs for $150 but had not found fronts and suggested I do some checking myself .

I called the dealership and as you can guess they told me the springs would cost $220 per corner. They also said there were four choices of springs for the front and 3 for the rear. He also wanted to know if I had ABS. Don't all 93s have ABS?

I have checked two sources on the Internet for springs.

www.ipdusa has some "stock " front springs for about $150 per pair and offer overlaod rear springs for $100.

www.fcpgroton has front and rear for about $38 per corner.

SO the choices are
$900 for four springs from Volvo (yeah right)
$250 from IPD
$150 from FCPGroton

I have no idea what the difference is between the FCP and the IPD offerings but one of the two will be my source.

I will have a shop do the work. Should I have it done by a Volvo specialist shop? Are there any other parts I should order.? Are there any other problems that might cause the driver's side lean besides worn springs?

Any other feedback, advise, comments are welcome!!!!

Thanks
Chris
nc_bus@mindspring.com