Ok well I’m trying to decide if it is time to replace my brick with a newer brick.

I am going to list a brief history of my beloved 1985 240DL Volvo, including a description of major repairs and a listing of needed repairs.

I got the Volvo in 1997, when I turned 16. It had 117k miles and was purchased for $2500. The car was in near perfect shape.

125k. Apparently not perfect enough. One of the pistons hit a little high, causing the head to lift from the block, combined with a small water leak this turned deadly in 1998. My wicked awesome Vietnamese Volvo mechanic said the engine probably came that way from the factory. So we replaced the entire engine from a rear end wreck (56k).

135k Spring break senior year. I came over the top of a hill on a major interstate to find a truck stopped in the left lane, planning on taking a left turn onto a driveway. I steered to miss the truck and ended up clipping the passenger front corner of the Volvo on his large bumper (no fault accident). This was a Texas truck, so it was really high off the ground and I slide under most of it. No frame damage, only the front crumple plate, fender, hood, radiator, and bumper got hurt. Replaced all parts at the junk yard. Painted and beautiful again.

140k. Summer before college. I was t-boned (not my fault). Body shop reported no major frame damage, but had to pull the driver side door column out a half inch, as the new doors would not line up. They reinforced the beam incase I ever get hit like that again.

At this point the Volvo does not have any major problems, both aesthetically and mechanically.

The Volvo lived in the garage my first two years of college. It came out only during the summer and had no problems during the next two years.

2001. 145k. Driving my car up to school (University of Missouri-Rolla) from Houston turned out real bad. The Radiator basically stopped working and the head melted. Some how I managed to get back up to Rolla, where it spent the next month in the shop while they tried to find the right head and get everything fixed. Turns out the radiator was full of ‘gunk’ and was replaced at the same time.

2003 160k the clutch finally went out, new clutch was put in, no problems.

188k. Fast forward to the past year. Well the car had been going strong the last year. Only a few small problems. Most of which are age and mileage related. Below is a list of the major repairs of the past year. Below that is a list of needed repairs.


2004 Major repairs:

New Starter
New Alternator
Used Harmonic Dist. Pulley
New Battery
New Front Struts
New Muffler and pipe portion (not installed by a Volvo guy, so the pipe is not dented in the right place, touches rear end)
Full 134a charge.
New brake pads, rotors spun.
New Tie rods
Two new front tires.
New CD player

Problems to fix:
Clutch mount or U joints are shot (rattles on acceleration)
IPD overload springs
Could need all new bushings.
Tune up (plugs, wires, filters, flame trap)
Rear tires.

The only two body panels that are not dinted in some way are the two rear fenders. Every other body panel is dented or scraped. If I can find a good paint shop to spray it I would replace everything with either junk yard parts or bondo. Problem is all the shops I have called want to do the body work themselves

I love this car. It still starts every time and drives, though it makes a bunch of noise (as it flexes going over bumps, turns, and such). All the little run-ins over the years have left everything just a tad off, so you get a fair amount of road noise at 70 mph. But she will go all day and not complain, which is more than I can say for passengers.

I found a 1992 240 with 104k in town for only 2500$. From the pictures it looks to be in great shape. The owner says it has no major problems and the AC runs great (A must in TX) The only problem is it is an Automatic. I love my manual.

I will head back to school to get my Masters in Engineering in the fall of ’06, so I need a car to get me there and through 2 years of school. I would like a car that I can ‘improve’. I would love to put a handful of IPD toys on and have a fun little brick.

SO what do I do? Do I fix it or forget it? If I buy the 92, can I add a few options and actually make it a little faster? Or do I need to drop the V8 for that? Do I just keep driving it and replace it when a good manual comes on the market?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks Guys.

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1985 240DL 188k