I was browsing through the S40/V40 forums because my mom has a 2000 S40 that she has proposed giving to me in place of my 1989 240. I came across this post about lowering springs for a V40, which begins with this *wonderful* quote:

"It's not really a DIY job."

Now, I'm not a DIYer (yet), and I even had to get a mechanic just to change my swaybars, but I am aware of the ease with the 200-series of fixing nearly everything that goes wrong. I know that springs on our cars can be changed out by even a weekend mechanic, provided the proper tools. It's sad to find out that such self-maintenance and modifications are no longer possible with Volvos. At one time such a thought was heresy!

(As for the S40, it's had a handful of mechanical issues, and so I've told my parents that I'd prefer to keep my car over getting that one, even with the increase in speed. I don't want to throw away my 240's nice paint job and some modifications for a couple thousand bucks--it's worth much more than that to me!)
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'89 244 GL--25/22 ipd sways, Volvo truck amber turn signal lenses