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Hello all. I am very close to buying my first Volvo, and could use some words of wisdom. She is a 1988 240 GL with 136,000 miles. The exterior and interior are in very good shape. There is a small amount of rust under the windshield on the drivers side. It has been treated with some kind of epoxy. The interior is very good as well. It has a moon roof and heated seats. Everything works great. It also has a nice aftermarket CD player as well. The car is offerd for sale by the second owner. He bought it for his daughter who lives in Boston. She lost her parking space shortly after he bought it, and now he is looking to unload it. He bought it from the dealer who serviced it for the original owner. The owners manual shows all scheduled maintainance up to 120,000. After that, there are no more entries. However, the present owner has continued to maintain it. It has new Volvo plugs and wires as well as a new distributor cap. I dont know about the rotor. The oil and filter are fresh as well, as is the air filter. The present owner claims to be a Volvo enthusiast, and was well aware of this website. (I just found it yesterday in an attempt to educate myself) The car is gold with auto trans. The engine compartment appears very clean, as does the trunk. He also put in a new radiator hose, but Im not sure when it was last flushed. Im also not sure when the tranny fluid was last done. I read that its an easy job. So here are some of my Q's. The A/C does not blow really cold. I have read that the A/C in these cars are tempermental to say the least. Any thoughts? The owner says that I can buy a can of freon, and that I will be good to go. He says the compressor is fine. He says that the present bottle of freon is the old style kind that you cant buy over the counter anymore. (thats all greek to me.) Any other notorious problems that I should check for? Oh yea, hes asking 1600 bucks, but Im betting he will take a couple hundred off. It drives real nice. There is no play in the steering wheel, it brakes nice and straight. I didnt get to drive it that long, as its not registered at this time. My main concern is reliability. My wife is very skeptical about a 1600 dollar car. I try to tell her all the stories about them going 300k, but shes not convinced. My commute is only 2 miles each way. (I take the train into Boston) My Honda is coming off lease, and I want to be practical. (just had my second child, and college aint getting cheaper!) I have never been one to tinker with my cars, but Im up for the challenge. I hear you can do alot of maintanance yourself. I would be happy to learn. Am I barking up the right tree with this car? I sure like the idea of value, saftey and reliabiltiy that seem to be the hallmarks of these cars. Well, thanks to anyone who has read this far, and thanks in advance to any responses sent.
Best to all.
D.
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